Pettersson gets winner in OT, Boeser has hat trick as Canucks rally to beat Blue Jackets 5-4
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Elias Pettersson got his second goal of the night 4 minutes into overtime, Brock Boeser had three goals and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks rallied from three goals down in the third period to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 on Saturday night.
J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes each had three assists, Pius Suter had two, and Pettersson also had one to help Vancouver improve to 9-0-2 in its last 11 games. Thatcher Demko finished with 25 saves.
After missing the playoffs seven times in the last eight years, Vancouver heads into the All-Star break at 32-11-5 and leads the Pacific Division with 71 points.
Alexandre Texier had a goal and an assist, and Kirill Marchenko, Jake Bean and Sean Kuraly also scored for Columbus, which has lost six of eight (2-4-2). Elvis Merzlikins finished with 28 saves.
In the extra period, Boeser got the puck high above the left circle, skated around Columbus' Kent Johnson and sent a pass across the front of the crease and Pettersson put it past Merzlikins for his 27th of the season.
The Canucks trailed 4-1 after two periods before Pettersson began the comeback on a power play as he knocked in a backhander in front off Miller's pass from the left side at 1:11 of the third.
Just 2:13 later, with Vancouver on another power play, Boeser deflected Suter's tip of Hughes' shot from the right point past Merzlikins for his second of the night to make it 4-3.
Boeser then tied it at 6:28 with the Canucks' third power-play goal of the period as he knocked in a loose puck in front after a pass by Pettersson from the right circle. It was his 30th of the season and completed his third hat trick of the season and sixth of his career.
After a scoreless first period in which Vancouver outshot Columbus 11-4, Texier scored a short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 breakaway at 4:30 of the second to give Columbus a 1-0 lead.
Just 1:44 later Texier sent a pass from behind the Canucks net to Kuraly in the slot, who scored his seventh of the season to make it 2-0.
Boeser got the Canucks on the scoreboard when he snapped a six-goal goal drought as he tipped Miller's pass past Merzlikins with 3:40 left in the middle period.
Columbus rebounded with two goals 57 seconds apart. Yegor Chinakhov picked off Miller's errant pass and fed the puck to Bean, who blasted a shot past Demko with 2:33 remaining in the period. Marchenko then made it 4-1 as he scored on the power play with a pretty tip off a shot by Johnny Gaudreau that hit the post behind Demko, fell on the ice and rolled into the net.
Vancouver defenseman Tyler Myers was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct at 11:55 of the third period for elbowing Kuraly. Vancouver killed the penalty, allowing only one shot on goal.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: At Seattle on Sunday night.
Canucks: At Carolina on Feb. 6 in first game after All-Star break.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL