Bo Horvat scored his second goal of the game with 58.8 seconds left in regulation to cap the Vancouver Canucks’ comeback from a three-goal deficit en route to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
The Canucks made the comeback after falling behind 3-0 and losing defenseman Tucker Poolman, who was removed late in the first period and placed in the NHL’s COVID protocol as the game continued.
Poolman was the fourth Canuck to land in the COVID protocol on Tuesday. Early in the day, forward Juho Lammikko and defenseman Luke Schenn were ruled out of the contest, and defenseman Brad Hunt was scratched shortly before the opening puck drop.
The Canucks ran their winning streak to five games, dating to when Bruce Boudreau took over as coach.
Vancouver trailed 3-0 after the first period, but Horvat started and finished the comeback. He buried a pass from J.T. Miller on a late power play for Vancouver’s fourth unanswered goal and seventh victory in eight games.
Roughed up in the first period, Jaroslav Halak stopped 20 shots to post his first victory in six starts with the Canucks.
Three days after blowing a 4-1 third-period lead before winning 5-4 in overtime in Seattle, Columbus was not as fortunate Tuesday — even after Eric Robinson scored twice and Max Domi registered his seventh goal to build the 3-0 lead.
On a two-on-one, Alexandre Texier sprawled out to push the puck through the slot to Robinson, who beat Halak just 4:25 into the game.
Columbus, now 2-6-1 in its last nine games, made it 2-0 with 8:23 remaining in the opening period. Halak initially stopped a shot from the point, but he could not stop the puck from squirting behind him. Domi then chipped it into the net.
Robinson’s second goal came with 3:42 left in the first. He outskated Hughes to the puck, raced toward the net and beat Halak through his legs.
Things were much quieter for Halak in the second, when Vancouver outshot Columbus 18-5. However, the Canucks managed only Horvat’s blast by a poorly positioned Elvis Merzlikins to make it 3-1 at the 7:41 mark.
The Canucks got within a goal just 4:07 into the third, when Elias Pettersson pushed Conor Garland’s slot-pass past Merzlikins (35 saves).
About 5 1/2 minutes later, Quinn Hughes (three assists) delivered a cross-slot pass through traffic onto the stick of rookie Vasily Podkolzin, who buried the puck to level the contest at 3-3.
–Field Level Media
