from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,
Call it the John Tortorella Revenge Tour.
In a span of eight days, the Columbus Blue Jackets took four points off the Vancouver Canucks and donated another four to the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. So that’s negative eight points for the Canucks in the Pacific Division playoff race.
Spectacularly one-and-done as the Canucks’ coach after a 2013-14 season that saw Vancouver miss the playoffs for the first time in six years, Tortorella, impossibly, has the Blue Jackets still holding down a playoff spot in the merciless Eastern Conference despite Columbus leading the National Hockey League in injuries and nightly dressing a lineup that comes with a media guide.
Playing their second game is as many nights – after losing Saturday in Edmonton – the Blue Jackets largely suffocated the Canucks, refusing to yield any space in front of their net and beating Vancouver 2-1.
It occurred one week after the Canucks blew a two-goal lead in Columbus in the final eight minutes and lost 5-3, spooking the team and its fan base and making clear to all that Vancouver may actually miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs after squandering a nine-point cushion in the standings.
Vancouver has lost five of its last six games. Columbus has won three out of 15, but swept the Canucks.
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