High-flying Ducks soar past Canucks
VANCOUVER — Corey Perry and Patrick Eaves scored 1:14 apart early in the first period as the Anaheim Ducks cruised past the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 to extend their season-high win streak to five games on Tuesday.
Nick Ritchie, with a goal and an assist, and Brandon Montour also scored for Anaheim (42-23-11), which clinched a playoff spot earlier in the night when the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1.
Jonathan Bernier made 33 saves and Antoine Vermette added two assists as the Ducks, who sit first in the Pacific Division, improved to 9-1-1 over their last 11 games.
Highly touted rookie forward Brock Boeser scored in his home debut for Vancouver (30-37-9). Ryan Miller stopped 35 shots in taking the loss.
The Canucks were eliminated from playoff contention Thursday and are 2-7-2 over their last 11, including a 2-3-0 mark on a recent five-game road trip.
With captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf a late scratch because of a lower-body injury, the Ducks opened the scoring 23 seconds in when Vermette stripped Canucks defenceman Alexander Edler behind the Vancouver net. Ritchie swept the puck in front to Perry, who beat Miller over the glove for his 16th of the season.
Eaves then scored his fifth goal in the last five games at 1:37 after taking a pass from Rickard Rakell and firing a shot past Miller’s blocker for his 28th.
Anaheim defenceman Cam Fowler nearly made it 3-0 a couple of minutes later off the rush, but his backhand effort that squeaked through Miller’s pads was fished off the goal line by Vancouver counterpart Christopher Tanev.
The Ducks thoroughly dominated the listless Canucks and finally got their third with 15.4 seconds left in the period. The visitors controlled the puck in the offensive zone after an icing before Ritchie tipped Josh Manson’s shot through traffic past a frustrated Miller for his 14th.
Anaheim made it 4-0 at 3:44 of the second moments after Miller stopped Jakob Silfverberg on a partial breakaway when Montour’s point shot off a faceoff beat the Vancouver goalie through a screen for his second.
Bernier — who improved 9-0-1 over his last 10 starts, including eight in a row — made a nice save on Boeser just over a minute into the third before also stopping Michael Chaput on the rebound.
But the Anaheim netminder will want the 20-year-old Boeser’s next shot back after it leaked through his five-hole at 2:34 for the rookie’s second NHL goal in his third game.
Selected 23rd overall at the 2015 draft, Boeser scored the winner in his debut on Saturday in a 4-2 road victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Canadiens 4, Stars 1
MONTREAL — The biggest Bell Centre ovation on Tuesday night was not for Carey Price’s brilliance in net, Brendan Gallagher’s gamewinning goal or the Montreal Canadiens’ 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars, but for an assist by veteran defenceman Andrei Markov.
By flipping a pass to Artturi Lehkonen for a one-timer that beat Kari Lehtonen, Markov moved into a tie with Hall of Famer Guy Lapointe for second in career points by a Montreal Canadiens defenceman with 572, behind only Larry Robinson’s 833.
Alexander Radulov also scored for Montreal (43-24-9), which won a second game in a row.
Curtis McKenzie scored for Dallas (31-34-11).
Even the much-anticipated Benn vs. Benn matchup turned out to be a snooze, as the Stars’ Jamie Benn and Montreal defenceman Jordie Benn were only on the ice at the same time for a few brief moments in their first-ever game against one another. The longest stretch was during a third-period Dallas power play.
“I skated by him on the bench once and punched him in the glove, but that’s as close as I got to him,” Jamie Benn said. “Losing is not fun, but playing against him was pretty fun.
“Not sure if we even had a shift together, but he looks good in the red and blue. We’ll probably remember that one for a while.”
Leafs 3, Panthers 2
TORONTO — Auston Matthews had a record-breaking night and the Toronto Maple Leafs scored a huge two points as they continue to push for the post-season.
Matthews broke Wendel Clark’s 31-year-old franchise rookie record with his 35th goal of the season, the Leafs prevailing 3-2 over the Florida Panthers.
The victory kept Toronto (87 points) one point up on the Boston Bruins (86) for the third playoff spot in the Atlantic division and now four up on the Tampa Bay Lightning (83).
Oilers 2, Kings 1
EDMONTON — Cam Talbot made 34 saves as the Edmonton Oilers officially qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-2006 season with a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
Connor McDavid and Eric Gryba scored for the Oilers (42-25-9), who have won seven of their last eight games.