National Hockey League
Columbus 4, Vancouver 3
When: 4:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 18, 2016
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Referees: Jake Brenk, Jean Hebert
Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Ryan Galloway
Attendance: 18113

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- It took overtime but the Columbus Blue Jackets earned head coach John Tortorella his 500th NHL victory on Sunday.

Seth Jones scored 46 seconds into overtime to give the Blue Jackets a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Tortorella, who has coached the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and for one season in Vancouver, becomes the sixth active coach and 24th all-time to win 500 games.

"I have been so privileged to have the opportunity to coach as many games as I have in the league and to get this opportunity with his club, when there are so many other people dying to get in," said Tortorella, 58. "That's what I'm so grateful for. Not numbers, just having the opportunity.

"I'll readily admit I have gone through a little bit of a grind here the last few years and trying to get consistent with a team, I am trying to enjoy it more. I am on the back nine (in his career), that's just the way it is. I know it's not going to be forever, so I do want to try to enjoy it."

Tortorella, who won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with Tampa Bay, has a career regular season record of 500-413-127.

"I don't think it is really an individual thing, wins and losses," he said. "I think it's a team thing."

Team captain Nick Foligno gave Tortorella the puck that scored the winning goal after the game.

"I'm happy for him," said Foligno. "He says it doesn't mean (anything) but it's a lot of wins. He's gone through a roller-coaster of a career.

"We're happy to have him at the helm here. He's really helped push this group forward."

Brandon Saad scored twice for the Blue Jackets, who also extended the NHL's longest active win streak to nine games. Cam Atkinson scored once and assisted on the winning goal.

Alex Wennberg had a pair of assists for Columbus (20-5-4).

The game was decided when Jones and Atkinson broke into the Vancouver zone. Atkinson was patient, then passed to Jones, who slid the puck under Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller.

"I didn't know if (Atkinson) was going to shot or not, so I just went to the net with my stick down," said Jones, who scored his fourth goal of the season. "Cam made a heck of a play there."

Jannik Hansen, Brandon Sutter -- on the power play -- and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver (13-16-3).

It was a wild third period. Columbus had allowed four goals in the third period in their previous 15 games but gave up three against Vancouver.

The Canucks battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game 2-2. They then fell behind 3-2 on Saad's second goal at 15:21 but forced the overtime when Hansen scored with just 1:09 remaining.

Vancouver had a chance to win it in the three-on-three overtime when Ben Hutton's shot hit the crossbar behind goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. The rebound of that shot set up the winning two-on-one rush.

"It goes in and we're having a different conversation," said Sutter, who has goals in three consecutive games. "It's tight.

"I thought we played pretty well through the whole game. You want to come out with two points. You get that chance in overtime."

The Canucks are 1-3-1 in their last five games. Hansen said the team can't afford to keep giving points away.

"We had a chance to get two," he said. "We don't have to look very hard at the standings to see we need two points.

"We had a chance today. We found a way to get the one. We kind of let it slip away a little bit."

Tortorella's 2013-2014 season in Vancouver was stormy. He was fired after the Canucks failed to make the playoffs.

He denied there was anything special about earning his 500th win here.

"It makes no difference, quite honestly," he said. "You guys may think "he wants to get back at them.' That's not the way I'm thinking.

"It's a tremendous city. The people always treated me well here."

NOTES: Canucks D Troy Strecher, who has averaged near 21 minutes of ice time, played despite missing Saturday's practice with an undisclosed injury. ... D Erik Gudbranson will undergo wrist surgery and is out indefinitely. ... Healthy scratches were C Brendan Gaunce for the second consecutive game and D Andrey Pedan, who was recalled Saturday from the AHL's Utica Comets. ... LW Sven Baertschi played in his 101th game with the Canucks. ... Vancouver's homestand continues Tuesday against Winnipeg. ... Columbus last lost in regulation on Nov. 23. ... Blue Jackets scratches were RW Oliver Bjorkstrand and D Scott Harrington. ... The Blue Jackets set a team record with 19 wins and 42 points in the first 28 games of the season. ... Columbus has six players with 20 or more points. ... The Blue Jackets had a nine-game winning streak from March 18 to April 4, 2015. ... The Blue Jackets return home to play the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
Top Game Performances
 
Columbus   Vancouver
Brandon Saad 2 Points Troy Stecher 2
Brandon Saad 2 Goals Jannik Hansen 1
Cam Atkinson 1 Assists Troy Stecher 2
Brandon Saad 1 Power Play Goals Brandon Sutter 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Sergei Bobrovsky .824 Save Percentage Ryan Miller .840
Sergei Bobrovsky 14 Saves Ryan Miller 21
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Columbus 25 4 2-2 3-4 8 21
Vancouver 17 3 1-4 0-2 4 31
Upcoming Games
  • Vancouver will play their next game at home against Winnipeg. The Canucks have a W/L % of .357 after a win and .444 after a loss.
  • Columbus will play their next game at home against Los Angeles. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .700 after a win and .667 after a loss.