Brock Boeser had a hat trick and set up the winning goal in overtime as the Vancouver Canucks rallied to beat the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 on Saturday in their final game before the All-Star break.
Elias Pettersson scored twice, including the winner for the Canucks, who closed out a five-game homestand in style by rallying from a three-goal deficit by scoring three unanswered power-play goals to open the third period.
J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes each collected three assists as Vancouver extended its points streak to 11 games (9-0-2).
Pettersson's winner came with 59 seconds left in overtime as Boeser's backhand pass across the crease deflected in off the Swedish forward's skate.
Alexandre Texier, Sean Kuraly, Jake Bean and Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus, who have two more games on its five-game road trip before the break.
After a scoreless first period, the floodgates opened in the second as the teams combined for five goals. The Blue Jackets seized command, getting a short-handed goal to open the scoring and two more just 57 seconds apart late in the second to take a 4-1 lead into the final period.
Texier scored his second short-handed goal in as many games on a two-on-one to open the scoring at 4:30 of the second.
The Blue Jackets added to the lead on their next shot just 1:44 later, when Kuraly beat goalie Thatcher Demko (25 saves) low to the glove side.
Boeser scored his first at 15:20 of the second to make it 2-1, tipping a hard pass from Miller just under the crossbar and in.
Bean and Marchenko then scored less than a minute apart late in the second to make it 4-1.
Pettersson cut it to 4-2 just 71 seconds into the third, taking a cross-ice pass from Miller and waiting patiently for Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins (28 saves) to go down.
Boeser then showed off his soft hands again, tipping a shot from the point on the power play to cut the deficit to 4-3 at 3:24 of the third.
With the Canucks again on the man advantage, Boeser completed the hat trick with his 30th goal, standing on the edge of the crease and poking in a loose puck to tie the game at 4-4 at the 6:28 mark.
--Field Level Media
Columbus | Vancouver | |
Alexandre Texier 2 | Points | Brock Boeser 4 |
Alexandre Texier 1 | Goals | Brock Boeser 3 |
Alexandre Texier 1 | Assists | Quinn Hughes 3 |
Kirill Marchenko 1 | Power Play Goals | Brock Boeser 2 |
Alexandre Texier 1 | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Elvis Merzlikins .853 | Save Percentage | Thatcher Demko .862 |
Elvis Merzlikins 29 | Saves | Thatcher Demko 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Columbus | 29 | 4 | 1-3 | 1-4 | 8 | 20 |
Vancouver | 34 | 5 | 3-4 | 2-3 | 19 | 36 |