The Vancouver Canucks led 2-0 and 3-1, but a late goal and an empty-netter in the third period ultimately made the difference as they defeated the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks. 5-4 on Wednesday evening. The Canucks snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 10-12-2, while the Ducks fell to 14-8-1.
Linus Karlsson, Evander Kane, Conor Garland, Max Sasson and Drew O’Connor scored for the Canucks. Rookie Tom Willander had his first two-point night in the NHL, with two assists. Nikita Tolopilo made 37 saves in his first start of the season.
Jackson LaCombe, Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and Cutter Gauthier scored for the Ducks. Petr Mrazek made 23 saves.
Summary of the game
The Canucks opened the scoring at 9:49 of the first period with Karlsson’s fourth of the season. After Marcus Pettersson shot a slapshot wide, he took the rebound off the boards and placed it behind Mrazek. Then, a few minutes later at the 11:47 mark, Kane doubled the lead to 2-0 on the power play, also hitting a wrist shot off Mrazek for his fourth. The rest of the period was back and forth with very few interruptions, including a period of over six minutes without a whistle.
The Ducks got on the board nine seconds into the second with LaCombe’s third of the season on the power play. The Canucks extended their lead to two on Garland’s sixth at 9:04, when he made a beautiful move around LaCombe and then Mrazek to put his team up 3-1.
But then the Ducks’ explosive offense started to work, scoring two goals in less than three minutes. First it was Carlsson who backhanded his 12th into an empty net after Tolopilo was taken out of the game by Troy Terry, then McTavish made a nice rush with his fifth with LaCombe and Beckett Sennecke. And just like that, it was tied 3-3 heading into the final frame.
The third period wasn’t the offensive show that the second was, but it was still entertaining and fast-paced. It remained tied until the final five minutes of regulation, when Max Sasson tapped his fifth past Mrazek to give the Canucks a 4-3 lead. It looked like this would be the game winner, but an empty-netter from O’Connor in the final minute and a goal from Gauthier with 6.8 seconds left stole it from Sasson. O’Connor’s goal ultimately made the difference in a 5-4 final.
The Ducks outscored the Canucks 41-28 and went 1-for-6 on the power play. The Canucks went 1-for-3 on the man advantage.
Next
The Canucks and Ducks’ next games are both Black Friday matinees, with the PT puck dropping at 1 p.m. The Canucks head to San Jose to take on the Sharks, while the Ducks stay home to host the Los Angeles Kings.
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