Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for his seventh shutout of the NHL season, and Josh Anderson posted two goals and an assist as the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets blanked the Vancouver Canucks 5-0 on Sunday night.
Bobrovsky returned after being sidelined Thursday in Edmonton due to an undisclosed upper-body injury. He recorded his second shutout in three games.
Columbus (41-30-4) ended its losing streak at three games. The Blue Jackets moved within two points of the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
The Canucks (32-34-10) suffered their second straight loss as they completed a pair of back-to-back games.
Pierre-Luc Dubois recorded a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, while Ryan Dzingel and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored for Columbus.
Vancouver netminder Thatcher Demko recorded 28 saves on 33 shots as he made a rare start in place of the resting Jacob Markstrom.
The Blue Jackets' first three goals came off quick counterattacks.
Anderson opened the scoring on a shot from right wing at 16:19 of the first period as the Blue Jackets were allowed to come out of their zone easily after defending a Vancouver rush.
Dubois gave the Jackets a 2-0 lead 56 seconds into the second period as he beat Demko with a long shot following a Vancouver turnover. It was the first goal and only the second point for Dubois since the NHL trade deadline in late February.
About five minutes later, Anderson set up Dzingel, who beat Demko with a backhander after the Canucks committed another giveaway.
Bjorkstrand increased the Columbus lead to 4-0 at 7:32 of the third period as he fired home a high shot from the slot during a rush. Just over three minutes later, Anderson notched his second goal of the night with an unassisted effort off another quick counterattack.
Winger Sven Baertschi returned to the Canucks' lineup after being out since Feb. 2 due to post-concussion syndrome. He replaced winger Josh Leivo, who sat out because of illness. Baertschi missed 30 games earlier in the season because of a concussion.
--Field Level Media
Columbus | Vancouver | |
Josh Anderson 3 | Points | N/A |
Josh Anderson 2 | Goals | N/A |
Josh Anderson 1 | Assists | N/A |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Sergei Bobrovsky 1.000 | Save Percentage | Thatcher Demko .848 |
Sergei Bobrovsky 21 | Saves | Thatcher Demko 28 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Columbus | 33 | 5 | 0-2 | 4-4 | 8 | 30 |
Vancouver | 21 | 0 | 0-4 | 2-2 | 4 | 24 |