The timing of Bruce Boudreau’s firing in Vancouver was timed to give new head coach, Rick Tocchet a shot at two teams with lower records than the Canucks.
Vancouver won two of the three matches since Tocchet took over, including a 5-2 win on Friday night over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“I liked the resiliency and in the NHL you have to be a resilient team,” Tocchet said. “We had a stinker in Seattle, and we came back and put in a good game plan. I thought the coaches did a great job. We met with some players that we thought didn’t play well in Seattle, and they came back strong with some good efforts.”
Collin Delia made 24 saves in the Vancouver win. f
The Canucks moved to 20-26-3.
Kirill Marchenko scored a pair of goals for the Blue Jackets.
“We just weren’t really in this one,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. “We didn’t have much energy really all game. We had a little bit of juice in the third, but a couple of tough bounces obviously off the end wall and another one off us, but didn’t have the gas, the execution. It was throughout our lineup. I don’t know if we’re just low on energy or what, but we didn’t have it tonight.”
The Blue Jackets dropped to 15-31-3.
Elias Pettersson hit for a double for the Canucks, including the game’s first strike in the opening period.
“No one was happy [with] the way we played in Seattle, so we wanted to bounce back and come out with a good effort,” Pettersson said. “And I think we did. Obviously, some parts of the game we can work on, but overall I think it was good.”
Marchenko tied the game, 1-1, before the Canucks buried two more goals in the first for a 3-1 lead.
Quinn Hughes and Ilya Mikheyev scored for the lead, it held up until the third period.
Bo Horvat had four assists in the game, a career high.
“Everyone was burying their chances for me,” Horvat said. “I’m not the type of guy, especially in recent years, to be dishing the puck like that but it definitely feels good to see them go in when I do.”
In the third, Dakota Joshua and Pettersson scored to give the Canucks a 5-1 lead.
Marchenko scored late in the third for the 5-2 final.
“Of course, I have more confidence, but we talk about goals,” Marchenko said. “I want to play better in all components and just play better each puck, play better in the [defensive] zone. I want to play better [throughout] my whole game.”
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Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves in the Columbus loss.
“It’s tough when you’re chasing the game, but you work for your bounces and they were working and we didn’t create enough because we just needed to up it,” Columbus captain Boone Jenner said. “We weren’t at the same level as them in the battles.”
After the game, the Canucks announced that Mikheyev was being shut down for the remainder of the season for a torn ACL. The injury was sustained in preseason but he has played on the injured leg with a brace.
“It was a real challenge, but we worked with [the] medical staff and [tried to] find some way [so] I can play much better like with this knee, [but] now it’s time [to have surgery],” Mikheyev said.
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