Jackets top Canucks for 9th straight win
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Seth Jones scored 46 seconds into overtime as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 Sunday, giving head coach John Tortorella his 500th NHL victory.
The Blue Jackets also extend the NHL's longest active win streak to nine games.
It was a wild game which saw the Canucks come back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits.
The Blue Jackets won after Cam Atkinson carried the puck into the Vancouver end, then passed to Jones, who slipped a shot under goaltender Ryan Miller.
Brandon Saad scored twice for the Blue Jackets. Atkinson, on the power play, also scored for Columbus (20-5-4).
Jannik Hansen, Brandon Sutter, on the power play, and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver (13-16-3).
Tortorella, who has coached the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and for one season in Vancouver, becomes the sixth active coach and 24th all-time to win 500 games.
Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who now has wins in eight straight starts, made 14 saves. He also leads the league with 19 wins.
Miller stopped 21 shots.
Hansen tied the game with 1:09 left in the third period. Breaking into the Columbus zone he took a shot that deflected off Blue Jack defenseman Ryan Murray and past Bobrovsky's glove.
Saad gave had given Columbus a 3-2 lead at 15:21 when he took a pass from Alex Wennberg and beat Miller.
Daniel Sedin tied the game 2-2 at 7:42 of the third. He took a shot from above the faceoff circle that hit the back of Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson's skate and past Bobrovsky.
Vancouver cut the Blue Jackets' lead in half with a power-play goal early in the third.
Sven Baertschi took a shot from the faceoff circle that Bobrovsky kicked out. The puck sailed into the high slot where Sutter scored on a shot over Bobrovsky's pad.
It was the third consecutive game Sutter scored a goal after having just one in the previous 10.
Columbus took advantage of two penalties called on Canuck defenseman Luca Sbisa to score twice in the second period and take a 2-0 lead into the third.
The first goal came 1:10 into the period after Sbisa was sent off for interference.
It took the league's top power-play just 34 seconds to strike. Zach Werenski took a shot from the point which was tipped. Miller managed to make the save but Atkinson put in the rebound for his 12th of the season.
Saad made it 2-0 at 14:18 with Sbisa off for slashing. Scott Hartnell made a pretty blind, backhand pass through the crease, giving Saad an open corner for his 10th of the season.
The teams combined for nine shots, six by Columbus, in the first period.
NOTES: Canucks D Troy Strecher, who has averaged near 21 minutes of ice time, played despite missing Saturday's practice with an undisclosed injury. ... D Erik Gudbranson will undergo wrist surgery and is out indefinitely. ... Healthy scratches were C Brendan Gaunce for the second consecutive game and D Andrey Pedan, who was recalled Saturday from the AHL's Utica Comets. ... LW Sven Baertschi played in his 101th game with the Canucks. ... Vancouver's homestand continues Tuesday against Winnipeg. ... Columbus last lost in regulation on Nov. 23. ... Blue Jackets scratches were RW Oliver Bjorkstrand and D Scott Harrington. ... The Blue Jackets set a team record with 19 wins and 42 points in the first 28 games of the season. ... Columbus has six players with 20 or more points. ... The Blue Jackets had a nine-game winning streak from March 18 to April 4, 2015. ... The Blue Jackets return home to play the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.