In Vancouver, Dakota Joshua collected his second goal of the game to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead over the Anaheim Ducks. with 2:13 left on the game clock on Sunday afternoon. 
“That was big,” said Joshua, who was playing in his second game after missing 18 with a hand injury. “It was nice to get on the score sheet again. Maybe not my overall best game, but nice to see the puck go in.”
There was nary a Ducks defenseman within 10 feet of Joshua at the front of the net.
The marker stopped a two-goal rally by the Ducks earlier in the third that tied the game, 2-2.
“We need to focus on the next game more importantly right now and not look ahead because if we play like we did tonight, we’re going to lose most games,” the Canucks’ J. T. Miller said. “We need to make sure that we’re focused on the present, not worried about [the playoffs].”
Arturs Silovs, who made 20 saves, protected the margin for the win.
The Canucks moved to 46-20-8, stopping a two-game slide.
“I don’t know if I try it a whole lot, but back in the day I used to be on the power play, so I know some things to do out there,” Joshua said. “And I was just lucky enough to have that one go in.”
The Ducks had trailed 2-0 entering the third period.
Anaheim rallied back to tie the game, 2-2, with a p[air of goals in a span of 27 seconds to knot the match.
Olen Zellweger and Mason McTavish scored 71 seconds apart in the third period, and
Zellweger trimmed the deficit to 2-1 when he potted a marker at 3:37 of the third,scoring form below the left circle for his first career NHL goal.
“It’s kind of like a dream for everyone to score their first NHL goal, so I’m pretty happy to be able to do it,” Zellweger said. “I came off the bench and I kind of jumped in the play, and [Isac Lundestrom] made a good drop pass to me and I kind of just got some room there, maybe they had a miscommunication, and seen a little spot there and it went in.”
Anaheim then tied the game, 2-2, on McTavish’s goal at 4:48, scoring off a shot attempt that drifted to his position on the left post.
The Ducks dropped to 24-47-4 off their fifth straight loss.
“It’s a shame. We get a power play with five minutes to go in the game and we don’t get a shot on net,” Cronin said. “It didn’t do much tonight. I think we had three shots on net in four power plays. It’s ironic, last night it was a 6-1 game but we just took a point shot from the blue line and we tipped it in, and tonight we’re trying to make plays. We just didn’t generate any scoring chances.”
The Canucks took a 1-0 lead in the opening stanza on a strike by Brock Boeser at 11:26, scoring off the power play with a rebound at the left side of the goal mouth.
Joshua collected his first of the game at 9:34 of the middle frame, scoring off another power play after a between the legs move and chip shot for the 2-0 advantage.
“Getting two goals is big. We won the special teams,” said Canucks coach Rick Tocchet, who wasn’t happy with the other two power plays. “Some bad passing in critical moments, hold the puck and then throw it away. We’ve got to keep working on execution.”
Lukas Dostal made 27 saves in the loss.
“I thought overall we put some pressure on them,” Zellweger said. “I thought the whole game was pretty competitive from us. Not what we wanted at the end, but I’m sure we’ll continue to build on our effort and competitiveness here.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.