Canucks continue late roll
Much-hyped rookie makes debut as Henrik records 30,000th shift of his career
The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — Defenceman Derrick Pouilot snapped a 1-1 tie with his third goal of the season early in the final period as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Thursday night for their third consecutive win.
Sam Gagner also scored for the Canucks (29-40-9), who have won four of their past five games.
Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers (3438-6), who have lost two in a row. Edmonton is 3-2-1 in its past six games.
Pouliot gave Vancouver the lead just two minutes into the third period. Nikolay Goldobin fed the Canuck defenceman a pass from along the boards. Pouliot skated in on Oilers' goalie Cam Talbot, make a deke then scored his first goal in 42 games.
Leon Draisaitl had a chance to tie the game on an Oiler power play late in the third, but his shot hit the post. A Ryan Strome slapshot also hit the post after a Canuck giveaway with just over two minutes remaining.
McDavid's goal was his 41st of the season, giving him an NHL leading 103 points, leaving him six ahead of Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov. McDavid trails Washington's Alex Ovechkin by four goals in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy.
Vancouver goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 35 shots. He's 4-0-0 in his last four starts. Talbot made 28 saves for the Oilers.
Markstrom kept the Canucks in the game with some big stops, including getting a pad on a Milan Lucic shot in the first period.
McDavid showed some of his magic on the game's opening goal at 11:33 of the first period. After defenceman Andrej Sekera flipped a puck down the ice McDavid showed his speed by skating around Gagner then muscled defenceman Michael Del Zotto off the puck. He scored on a shot that hit Markstrom's blocker, went off the post, and into the net.
The Oilers' captain has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his last six games.
Gagner earned some redemption by tying the game at 15:14 of the second. Daniel Sedin took a shot from the faceoff circle that Talbot stopped. Gagner, alone at the side of the net, put in the rebound for his third goal in four games.
An engaged crowd cheered on two teams not in the playoff hunt. In the third period there were loud chant of "let's go Oilers." That brought boos from the Canuck fans at Rogers Arena.
Adam Gaudette, the former Northeastern University Husky who recently signed with Vancouver after leading the NCAA with 30 goals and 60 points, played his first NHL game. On his opening shift he sent a sizzling shot just wide of the Oiler net.
NOTES: Gaudette is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in NCAA hockey. … Henrik Sedin’s opening shift of the game was the 30,000th of his career. … Brendan Gaunce returned to the Canuck lineup after missing 24 games with a foot injury. … With several Canucks down with the flue Jake Virtanen was a late scratch. … The game’s first penalty came at 12:33 of the second period when Vancouver’s Darren Archibald was called for interference. … Al Montoya dressed as the Oilers backup goaltender after missing two games with an injury.
PENS 4, DEVILS 3 NEWARK, N.J. — Sidney Crosby batted his own rebound out of the air and into the net 19 seconds into overtime and Pittsburgh beat the Devils, denying New Jersey a sweep of the four-game season series.
Kris Letang stole Taylor Hall’s pass in the opening seconds in the Pittsburgh zone and sent Crosby on a semi-break the other way. His initial shot hit the goalpost, but then the star centre pulled his hands in and swatted the puck out of the air — a fitting move on the opening day of baseball season.
Crosby extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, including a similar goal against Montreal last Wednesday in which Crosby juggled the puck once on his stick before smacking it from just below shoulder height.
BRUINS 4, LIGHTNING 2 BOSTON — Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Boston took over first place in the Eastern Conference with a win over Tampa Bay.
Tim Schaller and David Pastrnak scored goals 32 seconds apart in the final minute of the first period and Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal.
PREDATORS 5, SHARKS 3 NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ryan Ellis scored the go-ahead goal with 9:54 left and Nashville beat San Jose to set a franchise record with 111 points this season.
With their 50th victory, the NHL-leading Predators padded their lead to four points over Boston in the chase for their first Presidents’
Craig Smith and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and an assist, Kyle Turris had a goal, and Filip Forsberg had three assists. Nick Bonino added an empty-net goal with 17 seconds left for Nashville, which won the season series against San Jose 2-1.
SENATORS 3, PANTHERS 2, OT OTTAWA — Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored on a penalty shot in overtime to lift Ottawa over Florida.
The Panthers dropped three points behind New Jersey with a game in hand for the final wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Devils lost to Pittsburgh 4-3 in overtime Thursday.