The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their six-game road trip on Thursday with a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Brock Boeser scored on the power play, which broke a 21-game goalless drought. As for Kevin Lankinen, he stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced in the loss.
With the loss, the Canucks pushed their winless streak to nine games. Vancouver has only had two other nine-game winless streaks since the turn of the century, with the other two coming during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. The last time Vancouver went winless in 10 straight was during the 1997-98 season, which led to the Canucks finishing 24th out of 26 teams.
Thursday was a high-paced game from the start. Vancouver and Columbus each hit double digits for shots in the first and second, and both finished above 30 shots for the game. In the end, the difference was the Blue Jackets' ability to convert on their chance, while the Canucks could only produce one goal.
While this game featured another loss, there was a positive as Boeser broke his 21-game goalless streak. The 28-year-old's last goal came on November 28, which was 48 days ago. Boeser looked relieved on the play as he finally potted his 10th of the season and 214th goal of his career.
Speaking of Boeser, he showed some chemistry late in the game when put on a line with Elias Pettersson and Liam Öhgren. The trio played 6:10 together as per Natural Stat Trick and finished with a 4-3 shots advantage. Watch for these three to stay together next game, as they were one of the more successful lines over the final 20 minutes.
The penalty kill was a focus in this game as Columbus scored on both of their opportunities. After gaining some momentum, Vancouver's penalty kill has struggled over the past few weeks, and has now given up at least one goal in four of it's last five games. At this point, it is hard to determine what the solution to fixing the penalty kill as pucks are going in regardless of which players are on the ice.
Let's just call it as it is; this was the perfect road trip for the Canucks. Vancouver didn't pick up a point over the six games and put some distance between themselves and other teams at the bottom of the standings. While some may view this opinion as negative, it is a positive from a rebuilding perspective as the Canucks main focus the rest of the year should be to finish 32nd in the league.
Stats and Facts:
- Elias Pettersson records his 100th career power play assist
- Brock Boeser's 75th power play goal breaks his tie with Stan Smyl and moves him into sole possession of sixth all-time in franchise history
- Elias Pettersson extends his point streak to three games
- Vancouver has scored one goal or fewer in four of its last five games
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
17:25- CBJ: Charlie Coyle (10) from Kirill Marchenko and Adam Fantilli (PPG)
2nd Period:
5:59- CBJ: Kirill Marchenko (17)
10:14- CBJ: Zach Werenski (18) from Kent Johnson (PPG)
14:09- VAN: Brock Boeser (10) from Elias Pettersson and Zeev Buium (PPG)
3rd Period:
10:13- CBJ: Kent Johnson (5) from Boone Jenner and Damon Severson
Up Next:
The Canucks return home from their road trip to start an eight-game homestand. Their first matchup will not be an easy one as the Edmonton Oilers come to town on Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT.
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