Marchenko scores the winner in a shootout, Blue Jackets beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko scored the only goal in a four-round shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 win over Vancouver Monday, ending the Canucks' five-game winning streak.
After Marchenko slid the puck between Casey DeSmith's pads, Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins blocked Pius Suter's shot to help the Blue Jackets' end a three-game losing streak.
Columbus rallied three times in regulation with Dmitri Voronkov’s second goal of game with 9:03 left in the third period forcing the overtime.
Yegor Chinakhov also had a goal and Merzlikins made 27 saves.
Merzlikins played for the first time since Dec. 29 and said Friday he was angry and talking management about moving him to another team.
“I’m really happy for the boys,” the 29-year-old Latvian said. “After my last interview, everybody knows I requested a trade. Everyone was still here, playing for me and playing for me, and blocking shots me. This was awesome. I really appreciate that. It wasn’t an easy game for me, and they made me feel (better).”
J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson each had a goal and an assist for Vancouver. Conor Garland also scored and DeSmith had 41 stops for the Pacific Division leaders.
The Canucks finished their long road trip at 5-1-1.
“I loved that we got a point," Miller said. “(DeSmith) was unreal. It could have been a lot worse than it was. We’ve done a good job as a group lately. That was kind of a dud for us.”
Miller got credit for his 20th goal on a deflected puck that tumbled past Merzlikins in the first period.
Thirty seconds later, Chinakhov was waiting for a perfect pass from Johnny Gaudreau from behind the goal line and beat DeSmith in close. Garland's one-timer from the slot gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead late in the first.
Voronkov deflected in a long shot by Adam Boqvist to tie the game at 2 early in the second period. On a power play later in the period, Pettersson beat Merzlikins over the glove from the right dot for his 23rd goal of the season and eighth in the last six games.
“Our skating is good, and we wanted to pressure them, force them make plays under pressure that’s what we’ve done," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said.
NOTES: Miller’s 20th goal of the season made him the third Canucks player with 20 or more goals this season, joining Brock Boeser (27) and Pettersson (23). The Avalanche is the only other team with three 20-goal scorers. … Columbus F Sean Kuraly returned after missing eight games with an abdominal injury. ... Blue Jackets C Cole Sillinger played a career-high 24:35 and finished with seven shots. The Gaudreau-Sillinger-Chinakhov line finished with 17 shots.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Host Arizona on Thursday night.
Blue Jackets: Host New Jersey on Friday night.
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