Canucks cruise past Ducks, move closer to Western wild-card spot

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks scored five goals in a span of 4:30 in the first period and defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

It was the fastest five goals at any point of a game in Vancouver history, and they came from five players, starting with the first NHL goal for 21-year-old rookie defenseman Elias Pettersson.

“Anytime you get depth scoring, it's good,” said Canucks forward Brock Boeser, who had a goal and an assist. “Those guys work really hard, all those young guys, so I'm happy for them, especially [Pettersson], he's been pretty close to scoring a few times now.”

Quinn Hughes had two assists, and Thatcher Demko made 30 saves for the Canucks (35-28-13), who ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Vancouver moved within six points of the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with one game in hand.

"Getting to the postseason is slim,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “We talked [on Friday] about details and professionalism, that's something we’ve got to work on every day, so got to give a lot of credit. Really enjoyed the first period, a lot of fun watching the guys make some plays.”

Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras scored, and Lukas Dostal made 20 saves for the Ducks (33-35-8), who have been eliminated from playoff contention. Anaheim has lost three of its past four.

“It didn't feel like we weren't ready to play,” Terry said. “They were determined, they were playing simple, they were just shooting pucks at the net and it felt like every time they shot a puck, they were getting a stick on it in front. I think they were just beating us to our net and maybe we weren't ready for that to start, and it cost us.”

Terry put the Ducks ahead 1-0 at 1:21 of the first with a shot over Demko’s glove from below the right face-off dot for his 20th goal of the season.

Pettersson scored in his 23rd NHL game to tie it 1-1 at 9:40, taking a drop pass from Linus Karlsson and one-timing a shot over Dostal’s glove from the high slot.

“It was super cool. I got really happy,” Pettersson said. “I saw we got the puck and I tried to join the rush, and [Karlsson] made a really good play, and I just tried to one-time it and it went in. … After the first one, we just kept going and rolled.”

Filip Hronek put Vancouver ahead 2-1 at 10:46 with a wrist shot from near the blue line that deflected off an Anaheim stick and fluttered over a screened Dostal.

Boeser made it 3-1 on the power play at 11:32 when he deflected a shot pass from Hughes over Dostal’s shoulder from the slot.

“Me and Quinn have connected a lot on that high tip play, so I came from the goal line and snuck in the middle, and he had some time up there,” Boeser said. “I knew Quinn would get me the puck there.”

Conor Garland extended it to 4-1 on the man-advantage at 13:25 by converting the rebound of a Hughes shot. Vancouver finished 2-for-2 on the power play.

“We started out really well,” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “We scored a goal, we had two consecutive 2-on-1s where we had a no-shot on one, and Thatcher made a good save on the second one. Then we break down on a rush arrival and it seemed to elevate their game and for the like next five or six minutes, they played on their toes. They got rewarded with penalties. They score two consecutive power-play goals and for that stretch they controlled the game.”

Dakota Joshua then made it 5-1 at 14:10. He scored from close range after a deflected shot bounced onto his stick.

Anaheim called a timeout after the fifth goal.

“That wasn't Lukas' fault,” Cronin said. “Two came off our sticks, they're seeing-eye shots through traffic, and he's been our best player all year. I thought it was a moment in that timeout to rally the guys around him. He didn't deserve that. It wasn't on him, so I told them to dig in and support the goalie.”

Zegras cut it to 5-2 at 2:49 of the second period, scoring with a one-timer from below the left circle after Radko Gudas’ shot rebounded off the end boards.

Max Sasson, called up from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, scored on a breakaway at 5:33 of the third period for the 6-2 final.

Cronin noted that the Ducks hit the post or crossbar four times.

“What people don't realize is we also had three pipes in the first period, three dead on pipes,” Cronin said. “I know it's a different game when you're down 5-1, but we had a lot of scoring chances to get it back to 5-3 but we just couldn't do it."

NOTES: Terry became the fourth Ducks player with 20 goals this season, joining Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and Frank Vatrano, who each has 20. It is the seventh time in Anaheim history that it has had four or more 20-goal scorers. … Ville Husso backed up Dostal after John Gibson sustained a lower-body injury in the second period of a 4-1 loss at the Calgary Flames on Thursday, and Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. There was no timeline for either injury. … Hughes has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past 12 games. … Boeser has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his past nine games.