The Vancouver Canucks came up huge in the final minute of regulation and picked up an overtime winner from Kiefer Sherwood to pick up two points to begin their final road trip of the season.
We saw a combined five power play goals in the second-last road game of the season and the Canucks made history in the third period with some late-game heroics from Aatu Räty and Pius Suter.
“It was a full 60 minutes, going down 2-0 in special teams [goals] is not easy, but we stuck with it,” said Suter following the win. “We got a couple of nice power play goals, and then at the end, it’s just because we believed and battled to the end and made some nice plays.”
The Canucks trailed 3-0 after two periods but came out and dropped a five-spot in the third period, making history by becoming the first team to comeback from a three-goal deficit in the final minute of play.
Conor Garland had a big night and picked up three primary assists. He is now up to 48 points through 77 games played. Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes each had two assists in the game. Hughes is now up to 58 assists and 74 points this season.
When he spoke to the media at the morning availability, Rick Tocchet said he wanted his team to play hard and to the end. He liked the way his team played on Tuesday night and credited the young players for their emotional involvement in the comeback.
“It’s huge for development. You’re sitting on the bench as a young kid. It’s 5-2, and with whatever time is left, it looks like we’re going to lose. Then we score a goal, and you see the fight, the diagrams, ‘hey, we’re doing this,’ there weren’t guys hanging their head,” said Tocchet.
“I think it’s huge for the young guys. And to be honest, they were up on the bench, and they were alive. They were cheering the guys on who were on the ice. So, yeah, that’s big for development.”
Goals
Mikko Rantanen and Mason Marchment scored power play goals in the opening frame to give the Stars a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
Matt Duchene put home his 30th of the season in the second period. The Stars would take a 3-0 lead into the third period.
But that is where it got fun.
Jake DeBrusk got the party going with his 25th goal of the season just 17 seconds into the third. He came down the left wing on the power play and banked the puck off Casey DeSmith to give the Canucks their first goal of the game.
