Late surge leads to Canucks win in Anaheim

Send a link to a friend  Share

[April 02, 2016]  ANAHEIM, Calif. -- For the second time in two nights, the Vancouver Canucks used a late surge to win despite a depleted forward corps.

Dan Hamhuis and Emerson Etem scored within three minutes of each other late in the third period as the Canucks rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night in front of 16,331 at the Honda Center.

Goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 shots in the third period and finished with 34 saves as the Canucks (29-36-13) won their second consecutive game after a nine-game losing streak. Bo Horvat contributed a goal.

"Our goalies have been playing tremendous," right winger Jannik Hansen said. "It's definitely not their fault we lost nine in a row. They were keeping us in a lot of games we found ways to lose. Tonight, we can pay them back."

The Canucks ended their losing streak Thursday night by scoring twice in the final five minutes to defeat the San Jose Sharks, 4-2.

"We have a little bit of resiliency," Hansen said. "We've had a tough go in a lot of third periods throughout this season, giving up a lot of leads and not finding ways to get the goals we needed. In the last two games, we found them."

Vancouver, which began the game with two of its forwards injured and a third suspended, lost two more as the third period began. Right winger Linden Vey and left winger Chris Higgins sustained injuries in the second period and did not return.

"Our bench got short," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "We ended up going down to three lines. We usually don't run three."

Josh Manson and Nate Thompson scored for the Ducks (43-24-10), who remain one point behind the first-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division. Goalie John Gibson made 25 saves.

"We should've won and gotten two points," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We didn't play a 60-minute game. We haven't played a 60-minute game in a while."

Hamhuis forced a 3-3 tie with 8 minutes, 58 seconds to play when he dragged a rising wrist shot from the left circle between Gibson and the left post for his third goal. Etem, who played his first three seasons with the Ducks, scored the winning goal 2:21 later.

Vancouver defenseman Alex Biega fired a slap shot from the blue line that Manson deflected. Etem, while being checked by defenseman Cam Fowler, swept the deflection inside the left post for his fourth goal.

"I've had a lot of special moments in this building and with the guys over there," Etem said of his former teammates. "There are a lot of good buddies of mine over there. It's just nice to get one in my former arena."

[to top of second column]

 

Thompson gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead at 8:42 of the third period. After securing a loose puck at the right boards, Chris Wagner skated on goal and fired a shot that Markstrom blocked. But Thompson, trailing the play, backhanded the rebound for his second goal of the season, and second in two games.

"We were good in spurts but not good over the whole 60 minutes," Thompson said. "It caught up to us."

Anaheim needed just 48 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. Manson scored his fifth goal after a scrum around Vancouver's goal.

The Ducks' Jakob Silfverberg began the sequence with a pass across the crease to Andrew Cogliano, whose attempted redirection hit the left post. Canucks defenseman Christopher Tanev tried to clear the puck but it hit a prone Cogliano. After retrieving the puck, Silfverberg took a shot that deflected off a player.

With four Canucks surrounding Cogliano, an unchecked Manson secured the puck and lifted a wrist shot under the crossbar from just outside the crease.



Horvat used his 14th goal to tie the score 4:22 into the second period. Jannik Hansen's pass from Vancouver's zone freed Horvat for a breakaway behind the Ducks' defense. Horvat finished the play with a backhand between Gibson's legs.

NOTES: Vancouver scratched LW Sven Baertschi (lower body), RW Jake Virtanen (suspension) and D Yannick Weber. Baertschi left Thursday night's game against San Jose in the first period. ... Canucks D Andrey Pedan played forward for the second time this season because of the spate of injuries. ... Canucks C Henrik Sedin needs one power-play goal to tie former teammate Ryan Kesler for ninth place on the team's career list with 61. ... Anaheim scratched G Frederik Andersen (concussion), D Kevin Bieksa (upper body), D Simon Despres (upper body), D Hampus Lindholm (flu), C Rickard Rakell (appendicitis) and C Mike Santorelli. Andersen suffered his concussion in the second period of Wednesday night's game against Calgary. ... Ducks LW David Perron will be out until late April or early May after separating his right shoulder on March 20 against Winnipeg, the club announced Friday. ... The Ducks recalled G Anton Khudobin and RW Chris Wagner from their AHL affiliate in San Diego.

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Back to top