Miller propels Canucks past Panthers in OT

SUNRISE, Fla. -- J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks their first win of the season, 3-2 against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.

Miller made a move around Anton Lundell at the offensive blue line, skated into the right face-off circle and scored with a wrist shot to the far side.

“The longer you go without a win, the more pressure you put on yourself,” Miller said. “It is nice that we can hopefully take a deep breath and keep going.”

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes also scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves for Vancouver (1-1-2).

“We have some work to do, but there was some good stuff in there,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “There were times where we had some possession time, had some chances. Hey, that’s a championship team and they are missing some key guys. It was a hard-fought win. Winning in overtime is nice, because that’s our third overtime.”

Lundell and Jesper Boqvist scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for Florida (3-2-1) which played its fourth straight game without center Aleksander Barkov (lower-body injury) and forward Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

The Canucks took a 1-0 lead at 11:42 of the first period when Blueger stuffed the puck past Bobrovsky on a wraparound at the left post.

It was initially called no goal on the ice, but that was overturned after The Situation Room determined Blueger’s shot completely crossed the goal line.

“It’s a good feeling to win,” Blueger said. “It was a tight game. They’re obviously a good team even though they are missing some key guys. … This is good for our team, good for our character and morale, finding a way to get it done.”

Boqvist tied it 1-1 11 seconds later with his first goal for the Panthers, one-timing a rebound at the side of the net at 11:53.

Hughes put the Canucks back in front 2-1 at 6:30 of the second period with a slap shot from the left point.

The goal was upheld after Florida challenged for a missed game stoppage on a possible hand pass during the face-off. Video review determined the puck deflected off the glove of Vancouver forward Nils Aman and, therefore, did not constitute a hand pass.

“The puck went off the glove,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Thought I could get a call off of it.”

Lundell tied it 2-2 on the power play with 1:00 remaining in the second, scoring his fourth goal in three games when he shot from below the right dot to the far side.

“I thought we fought pretty good. It was not easy,” Lundell said. “The start was not as good as we wanted, but we got better later in the game. It was tight. It’s always fun to score. I’m trying to do my best. I know we have some guys away, so I am just trying to step up and be a leader.”

Lankinen made 14 saves in the second period and nine in the third but did not face a shot in overtime.

“I am not going to lie. It feels great,” said Lankinen, who has given up two goals in each of his first two starts with the Canucks. He lost his Vancouver debut 3-2 in the shootout against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.

“Obviously this was a huge team win for the guys. We played an extremely solid road game against a very talented team. I am glad we got the win.”

NOTES: Florida forward Jonah Gadjovich left the game with an undisclosed injury after playing three shifts in the first period. Maurice did not have an update. … The Panthers are 2-1-1 without Barkov and Tkachuk. … Florida forward Mackie Samoskevich had an assist on Boqvist’s goal for first NHL point. It was his 13th game. … Miller scored his 10th overtime goal with the Canucks, passing Brendan Morrison for second in their history. Daniel Sedin is the leader with 16.