Canucks fall to Senators in shootout
VANCOUVER — Mark Stone scored in the fifth round of the shootout as the Ottawa Senators picked up their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
Kyle Turris kept Ottawa alive in the third round of the shootout after Markus Granlund gave Vancouver the early lead.
Cody Ceci and Ryan Dzingel scored in regulation for Ottawa (1-0-2), which got 26 stops from Craig Anderson.
Chris Tanev and Thomas Vanek scored in regulation for Vancouver (1-0-1), while Henrik Sedin added two assists. Jacob Markstrom made 40 saves.
Tanev hit the post 28 seconds into overtime, before Sven Baertschi was stopped on a breakaway as Vancouver came close a couple of times in the extra period. Ottawa lost its first two games of the season in a shootout.
With his team down 2-1 in the third period, Dzingel took a cross-ice feed from Bobby Ryan at the side of the Vancouver net before roofing a shot past Markstrom after a Ben Hutton turnover at 5:09.
Bo Horvat had a chance to give the Canucks a two-goal lead a few minutes earlier, but his blast off the post that beat Anderson stayed out.
Anderson then took a penalty for tripping midway through the third after Dzingel’s tying goal, but Ottawa killed it off as the team played it tight the rest of the way in regulation.
Vanek, who signed a one-year, US$2-million contract with the Canucks just before training camp, took a pass off a set play from a faceoff in the Senators’ zone and fired a shot through traffic that beat Anderson at 14:28 of the second period to snap a 1-1 tie. It was Vanek’s first goal with Vancouver.
Anderson made a nice stop on Derek Dorsett on a 2-on-1 earlier in the period, while Markstrom foiled Mike Hoffman and Tom Pyatt at the other end. Hoffman then hit the post on a shot that stayed out before Vanek gave the Canucks the lead.
Tuesday also marked the return of Alex Burrows to Vancouver after the rebuilding Canucks dealt the veteran winger to Ottawa at the NHL trade deadline in February.
The 36-year-old Burrows — who clawed his way from the third-tier ECHL as an undrafted free agent to Vancouver’s top line — was a fan favourite during 12 seasons on the West Coast thanks to his grit, tireless work ethic and memorable playoff performances.
Burrows received a raucous ovation from the crowd at Rogers Arena following a video tribute on the scoreboard above centre ice during a first-period television timeout.
Players from both teams watched the montage that included Burrows’ overtime goal in Game 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the 2011 post-season, with the Pincourt, Que., native acknowledging fans by waving and tapping his chest.
Ottawa opened the scoring 4:08 into the game when Ceci’s innocent-looking shot from the sideboards squeezed between Markstrom’s glove and pants on the Senators’ second shot.
Markstrom, who allowed a goal on the game’s first shot against Edmonton, then robbed Burrows with that same glove on a 2-on-0 rush moments later after Vancouver defenceman Troy Stecher turned the puck over.
The hosts got the equalizer at 7:03 when Henrik Sedin played the puck off the back of the Ottawa net to himself to shake a defender before his pass found its way to Tanev, who beat Anderson with a low drive through a screen.
Minus captain Erik Karlsson (ankle) and fellow defencemen Johnny Oduya (lowerbody) and Ben Harpur (upper-body) to kick off a three-game road trip, the Senators dressed rookies Thomas Chabot and Christian Jaros as Ottawa went with seven blueliners and 11 forwards.
The Canucks iced the same lineup that beat the Oilers, meaning rookie forward Brock Boeser, who led Vancouver in preseason scoring, was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row.
NOTES: Ceci and Tanev each scored twice all of last season . . . . Karlsson and/or Oduya could join the Senators in time for Friday’s visit to Calgary or Saturday’s game in Edmonton . . . . Jaros played his first NHL game, while Chabot suited up for his second . . . . Vancouver welcomes Winnipeg on Thursday before hosting Calgary on Saturday.