Vancovuer Canucks battle Anaheim Ducks
ANAHEIM 4 VANCOUVER 3
ANAHEIM, California — Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist, John Gibson made 25 saves and the Anaheim Ducks snapped a threegame losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the skidding Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.
Ondrej Kase, Adam Henrique and Kalle Kossila also scored for the Ducks, who had lost 12 of 15 since the last time they scored four goals in a game back on Oct. 17.
Bo Horvat, Derrick Pouliot and Jake Virtanen scored in the Canucks’ seventh consecutive loss. Jacob Markstrom stopped 32 shots as Vancouver failed to rally from a late two-goal deficit and remained winless since Nov. 8.
Anaheim has been struggling through the past injury-plagued month, but still collecting enough points to stay in the Pacific Division race. This win pushed the Ducks past Vancouver and into third place in the Pacific, just three points off the lead.
Getzlaf put the Ducks ahead in the first period with an unassisted backhand goal created by his own nifty puck-handling. The captain is Anaheim’s leading scorer this season despite missing six games due to injury.
Pouliot evened it early in the second period with a one-timer on a slick cross-ice pass from Sam Gagner, who got his first point since returning to the Canucks. After scoring 31 points for Vancouver last season, Gagner was waived Oct. 1 and eventually sent to the AHL, only to be recalled last weekend when injuries decimated the Canucks’ forward lines.
Kase scored on a pass by defenceman Josh Mahura, who earned his first NHL point in his second game.
The Ducks are playing without injured defencemen Hampus Lindholm and Cam Fowler, forcing them to use four rookie blueliners — including Mahura — who have all played in fewer than 50 career games. Anaheim hadn’t used four rookie defencemen in the same game since the 1994-95 season, but coach Randy Carlyle must improvise in the absence of his two team leaders in minutes played.
Kossila put the Ducks up 4-2 midway through the third period when he converted a pass in the slot from Brian Gibbons for his first goal of the season and second of his NHL career. Gibbons’ assist was his first point in 17 games with Anaheim.
Horvat scored his 11th goal on a deflection with 4:44 left to keep Vancouver in it.
Hurricanes 5, Leafs 2
RALEIGH, North Carolina — Coming into the night, the Toronto Maple Leafs were tied for the NHL lead in scoring and ranked second in goal differential on the strength of a top-notch power play.
Still, the Carolina Hurricanes found a way to neutralize the Leafs behind a former Toronto goaltender and solid specialteams play.
Trevor van Riemsdyk and Justin Williams scored 22 seconds apart in the first period, sending the Hurricanes to a 5-2 victory Wednesday.
Curtis McElhinney, claimed off waivers from Toronto in early October, made 30 saves as Carolina snapped the Maple Leafs’ fourgame winning streak. Jordan Staal had two assists for the Hurricanes, who killed three penalties.
“The defencemen and the forwards did a phenomenal job, and we got a couple of key blocks, which were huge,” McElhinney said.
Micheal Ferland scored his 11th of the season with 12:15 remaining, a power-play goal that put the Hurricanes ahead 3-1. Teuvo Teravainen assisted on the play.
Kasperi Kapanen answered for Toronto with 8:05 left, racing in to score his ninth of the season and cut the margin to 3-2. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov added empty-net goals for Carolina.
“It feels good. I’m not going to lie, it was a tough way to leave Toronto, but I certainly understand what the circumstances were,” McElhinney said. “But it’s a huge win for us, especially considering where they are in the standings.”
The Hurricanes (10-8-3) dominated the first period and handed Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen (40 saves) his first loss in seven starts.
“We weren’t prepared to go, for whatever reason,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “The message is pretty clear: You don’t work, you don’t win.”
Devils 5, Canadiens 2
NEWARK, New Jersey — Pavel Zacha is back from the minor leagues and brimming with confidence.
Zacha scored twice, Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2.
The teams were tied 1-1 in the first period before New Jersey scored four straight goals. Zacha had two during that stretch after returning from Binghamton of the AHL a week ago.