Blue Jackets 4, Canucks 2: Vancouver blocked by a hot goalie

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This Vancouver Canucks season has already seen a lot. A terrible death penalty has been seen. Lifeless efforts. Offensive fights. Rejection at the reports of a clique dressing room. Pressure on management and coaching staff. Stars in struggle.

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And now he counts “bumping into a ridiculously sexy doorman” on the list.

In a game in which the Canucks dominated in many ways, they were finally defeated by a goalie on Friday night, when the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated them 4-2 at Nationwide Arena, almost entirely behind the back of goalkeeper Elvis Merzlikins.

The great Latvian is one of the best puck studs in the league. His team has scored a lot this season, but their steady and steady work in the Jackets area has helped them get off to a good start this year.

The Canucks found out the hard way how good he is, as they riddled him with 40 shots on the night but managed just two goals, from Vasily Podkolzin and Tyler Motte. And that is still a big problem for this team. They’re still not generating enough quality shots, even on nights when they dominate possession.

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Thatcher Demko, who has been very good on many nights this season, was not on Friday night as she gave up three goals on just 18 shots.

NEXT GAME

Sunday

Vancouver Canucks vs. Boston Bruins

4 pm, TD Garden. TV: Sportsnet. Radio: AM 650.

Columbus received goals from Gustav Nyquist, the home team’s second shot on a penalty, Adam Boqvist and Jack Roslovic, with the winner of the third period. Max Domi edged out Elias Pettersson with a loose puck in the neutral zone to score an empty net goal and seal the win – a fitting metaphor for how this season has gone.

This is what we learned:

Opening with pep

Outings for the Canucks have been a big problem. It almost seemed like they had gone to another poor guy that night, but then they weren’t … and then they basically were. Now they did concede a goal that disappeared into the ether because it turned out to be offside, but even putting that aside, they played very, very well in the first half. The shots were 12-1 Canucks before Colón scored on personnel foul.

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It was a ridiculous turn to the time.

Score first

That Columbus scored first wasn’t much of a surprise if he pulls away: The opposition had scored first in 15 of the Canucks’ 20 games this season. So do it 16.

There are a lot of things that have gone wrong for the Canucks, but the simple truth is that teams that fall behind tend to be left behind.

Sniper

The Canucks didn’t give up after that first goal, and were finally rewarded when a bad turnover from the Blue Jackets ended up at Podkolzin’s stick and the impressive rookie fired home the puck, proving once again just how much. good that it is hiding his intentions of shooting before a goal. quick release.

It was also a two-way dynamo, the Canucks getting five times as many shots into the net as the Jackets than they gave into their own. He has become a very, very skilled forward.

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Too bad the whole team isn’t built like him.

While they were writing it

It may not be the most effective way to score, but Motte’s tip goal at the end of the second period was the kind of count the Canucks talk about a lot: a point shot, through traffic, that went over the goalie.

It was a fair reward for one of the hardest-working Canucks, whose efforts have been lost in the swamp that has been the Canucks’ season thus far.

Stinky numbers

The Canucks are just five in their last 45 power plays. That is not winning hockey. Training has some impact on the success of a power play. But the players need to score in the end.

Demko hasn’t been doing very well lately either. His uniform force save percentage throughout the season is .926, not a bad number, but essentially the league average. And the Canucks need more than the league average right now.

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The goalkeeper needs to execute more than anything, and goalkeeping coach Ian Clark’s track record is solid enough to blame him here either.

Do not divide

“It’s not true,” coach Travis Green said before the game. “Whoever says them is a lie.

The head coach was unequivocal: Any suggestion that there was a rift between Captain Bo Horvat and JT Miller was nonsense. Horvat and Miller have different leadership styles. But they are close friends, who often go to dinner together.

In a season where the team is not winning, it is inevitable that the players will become more frustrated with each other than usual. But is that the same as a crack?

“Total bullshit,” Tyler Myers said of the idea that there is a terrible division in the locker room. “It just doesn’t have any merit.”

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