$19,950,000 Canucks forward calls team’s collapse "unacceptable" after blowing a 3-goal lead in loss to Blue Jackets

The Vancouver Canucks were unable to hold on to a commanding 3-0 lead, eventually falling 7-6 in a shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

Forward Brock Boeser, who carries a hefty $19.95 million contract, didn't mince words in his assessment of the Canucks' performance.

"That was a highly emotional game. We didn't quit, but that said, we let them score three goals straight, twice," Boeser said. "That's obviously unacceptable. We've got to clean up whatever happened."

Aatu Raty (two goals), Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Linus Karlsson, Tyler Myers scored for the Canucks, while Kevin Lankinen had 32 saves in the loss.

Boone Jenner (two goals) and Dante Fabbro, Kirill Marchenko, Denton Mateychuk and Mathieu Olivier scored for the Blue Jackets, while Kent Johnson did so in the shootout. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 31 shots in the win.

The Canucks find themselves six points behind the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, with a 34-26-13 record and nine games remaining in the regular season.

"We've got to learn from this one and focus on that one. We only have nine left now and every game matters. We've got to make sure that we're ready and prepared," Boeser added.

The Canucks will look to rebound from the difficult loss when they take on the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg on Sunday night.

---

Game recap: Canucks 7-6 SO win against Blue Jackets

Vancouver jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, with goals from Karlsson (PP, 8:51), Boeser (10:35) and DeBrusk (PP, 13:26).

Columbus stormed back in the second, with Jenner (0:34), Marchenko (4:54) and Fabbro (8:44) scoring to tie the game at 3-3.

"When pressure hits, you've got to face it. I think sometimes we're sinking, but it's a learning process. That's why we learn. Some young guys, they're trying hard, but this is a good lesson for them," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said.

Myers scored short-handed at 11:23, and Raty made it 5-3 early in the third (6:42). The Blue Jackets stormed back with three straight goals again. Mateychuk responded 21 seconds later, Jenner tied it on the power play (16:46), while Olivier gave Columbus a 6-5 lead (17:08) before Raty tied it again at 17:31.

Kent Johnson netted the lone shootout goal to lift Columbus to a 7-6 win.