The only thing standing in the way of the Blue Jackets’ win streak Tuesday night was a somewhat lucky shootout goal that will definitely raise some eyebrows.
Make no mistake: Mason Raymond’s shootout and game-deciding goal was not the most creative or quirky attempt the NHL has seen in the last 48 hours, after Kaspars Daugavins of Ottawa stole the hockey headlines last night at Scotiabank Place with his twirling manuever. But Raymond stretched NHL rules to the limit with his spin-o-rama, appearing to come to a complete stop before roofing it into an empty net behind Sergei Bobrovsky.
After a combined three failed attempts by both clubs, Raymond’s stood tall as the winner – and the Canucks ended a four-game losing skid with a 2-1 victory at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets, who weren’t at their best in this game and relied heavily on Bobrovsky, extended a points streak to eight straight games by getting beyond regulation but saw their five-game winning streak halted.
With one club (Vancouver) scuffling over the past week and the Blue Jackets riding high after a shootout win in Detroit on Sunday, the first period was surprisingly uneventful. There was little push from the Canucks and the Blue Jackets played a patient opening 20 minutes before getting on the board early in the second period.
Mark Letestu started and finished his own play three minutes into the frame, putting a shot from the right wing boards into Roberto Luongo’s pads, driving to the net and collecting his own rebound for a 1-0 Columbus lead.
Despite failing to beat Bobrovsky on a late second period power play in which they spent nearly the entirety in the Blue Jackets zone, the Canucks were finally able to break through on their 25th shot of the hockey game at 16:11 of the middle stanza. Jason Garrison, foiled on a prime scoring chance minutes earlier, collected the puck at the left point and fired a slap shot through a double screen that Bobrovsky never saw, pulling Vancouver even at 1-1.
Adrian Aucoin had the best chance of overtime, pinching in at the high slot and rifling a one-timer just past Luongo’s stick side post after a great feed by RJ Umberger.
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