Horvat, Eriksson each score 2, Canucks top Bruins
BOSTON >> The Vancouver Canucks keep on showing that they are the surprise of the Western Conference.
Bo Horvat had two goals and two assists, and the Canucks extended their winning streak to five games with an 8-5 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
“There is a lot of resiliency in this room,” Horvat said. “We played a pretty good game in Detroit and after a tough loss like that to come back shows a lot. In preseason, people didn’t think we were going to be that high-scoring of a team, but we keep proving people wrong and that’s what we need to continue to do.”
Canucks 2017 first round pick Elias Pettersson, despite notching an assist, built on his rookie scoring lead, giving him 17 points on the season. He is a big part of the reason the Canucks seemed to have made significant strides to start the season.
Loui Eriksson added two goals and an assist and spurred a five-goal outbust in the second period for Vancouver. Ben Hutton and Erik Gudbranson each had a goal and an assist, and Antoine Roussel and Jake Virtanen added goals for the Canucks, who have scored 26 goals in the last five games.
“I had some puck luck today probably,” Eriksson said. “We know we have some young guys playing, and they are still learning, but they are handling their situations and responding well.”
Jake DeBrusk scored twice, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Grzelcyk and Danton Heinen added goals, and David Krejci finished with three assists for Bruins. Boston lost for the second time at home this season and has dropped three of five overall.
LIGHTNING 4, ISLANDERS 2 >> Andrei Vasilveksiy made 35 saves, Tyler Johnson broke a tie with 1:26 left in Tampa Bay’s victory over New York.
Vasilevskiy has allowed two or fewer goals in nine of 12 games.
Johnson scored from just outside the crease off a pass from Nikita Kucherov. Steven Stamkos added an empty-netter. Mathieu Joseph and J.T. Miller also scored to help Tampa Bay improve to an NHL-best 12-3-1.
Josh Bailey scored twice and Robin Lehner stopped 23 shots for the Islanders.
PANTHERS 4, OILERS 1 >> Roberto Luongo made 26 saves in his second start since missing nine games with a knee injury to help Florida beat Edmonton.
Evgenii Dadonov, Nick Bjugstad, Jonathan Huberdeau and Colton Sceviour scored for the Panthers. Mike Hoffman and Vincent Trocheck each had two assists.
Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers, and Cam Talbot stopped 29 shots. SABRES 6, CANADIENS 5 >> Rasmus Ristolainen scored at 1:38 of overtime to lift Buffalo past Montreal.
Vladimir Sobotka and Jeff Skinner each scored twice, and Conor Sheary added a goal. Linus Ullmark gave up five goals on 32 shots through two periods, and Carter Hutton made five saves in the third.
Jonathan Drouin, Matthew Peca, Andrew Shaw, Tomas Tatar and Nicolas Deslauriers scored for the Canadiens. Max Domi had three assists to extend his points streak to five games.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, SENATORS 3. >> William Carrier put Vegas ahead for good after Ottawa rallied from a three-goal deficit.
Jonathan Marchessault, Shea Theodore, Nick Holden and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored for the Golden Knights, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves. Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel and Thomas Chabot scored for the Senators.
Founding Wild owner Naegele dies of cancer at 78
ST. PAUL, MINN. >> Bob Naegele Jr., the founding owner of the Minnesota Wild, has died of complications from cancer. He was 78.
The Wild said Naegele died on Wednesday night with his family by his side. Players will wear a jersey patch with his initials for the remainder of the season, and a moment of silence will be held before Minnesota’s next home game on Tuesday night against Washington.
“A piece of his heart and soul will remain forever as a part of the Wild,” said current owner Craig Leipold, who bought the club from Naegele in 2008. “We will honor that. My family and I are so fortunate to have the chance to build on the great foundation he established here.”
Naegele was the lead investor in the expansion franchise that began play in 2000.