In Vancouver Sunday night, the Canucks were bitten by an old nemesis of sorts when Taylor Hall potted the overtime game-winner for the New Jersey Devils’ 2-1 victory.
The goal came off a break out from the Devils’ defensive zone after a failed odd man rush by the Canucks.
Cory Schneider picked up the win in Vancouver – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“It’s all [Travis Zajac] getting back there and creating another turnover,” Hall said, “And on that 2-on-1 when both guys have a lot of speed it’s tough for Damon to pivot and open up for a one-timer there so I thought the play was to shoot and just tried to get a shot off as quickly as possible and luckily it looked like I surprised him a bit.”
Travis Zajac fed Hall with a break out pass that lead to the goal.
Kyle Quincey was the Devils’ scorer in regulation.
Cory Schneider made 21 saves for the Devils who improved to 18-18-9/
“It might have been a slower-paced or a tighter-checking game but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for us. We’re comfortable in those games, especially the way our D stepped up without Andy [Greene] and John Moore and Yohann [Auvitu], it’s been impressive how they have played as a unit,” Schneider said describing the game’s tempo.
WATCH: All Devils vs. Canucks highlights
Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves in the Vancouver loss.
Loui Eriksson was the lone goal scorer for the Canucks who lost their third straight but have picked up the loser’s point in three of those losses.
“We’ve got to find a way to win and it’s unfortunate the last few games have gone the way they have,” Brandon Sutter said of his team’s struggles. “We’ve been right there.”
Vancouver did little to help themselves in the loss as they went scoreless in three chances on the power play and that is killing their efforts to make any kind of a run at the playoffs.
“I said at the start of the year that if we wanted to make the playoffs we needed our power play. I believe that,” Vancouver head coach Willie Desjardins said. “And none of those guys are happy with the way it’s going. But they are our best group. Shuffling it up and mixing it up will take 3-4 games to gel. I’m not going to change for 3 or 4 games. We’re all frustrated. The top of the organization all the way through.”
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