In Vancouver, the Canucks are getting a little healthier against the most unexpected opponent in the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Saturday evening, the Canucks doubled-up the Leafs, 4-2.
Thatcher Demko made 37 saves in the win.
John Tavares and Jimmy Vesey scored for the Maple leafs.
“We have to take responsibility for what happened in terms of two losses,” Toronto’s Morgan Rielly said. “We have to look in the mirror. It’s not pointing the finger at the other team, saying, ‘Wow, what a great job.’ It’s up to us to be in control of the game, how we play, how we compete.”
Toronto dropped to 18-6-2.
Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller led the Vancouver charge with a goal and three points apiece.
“It’s been a tough go, and for our team to keep battling and stick to the process tonight, I think it’s huge for our group and give us a lot of confidence,” Boeser said.
Vancouver improved to 11-15-2.
“We take a lot of pride in beating a team like that at home twice when we really need wins,” Miller said. “We’ve shown we could beat anybody in the League. We still believe that, even though the record wouldn’t necessarily show it.”
Toronto has dropped two straight to the Canucks.
“It just goes to show that anyone in our division can beat you on any given night, and we’ve got to be good all the time and stay with the process that works for us,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Go off script, and you get the results you get here.”
Nils Hoglander closed out the scoring when he rang a shot off the cross bar that dropped in for a goal.
“You know when you play a team like that, your goaltender is going to have to make some big saves,” Canucks head coach Travis Green said.
Bo Horvat tied the game 2-2 after the Canucks entered the third period trailing by a goal.
Frederik Andersen made 27 saves in the loss.
“There’s still a lot of good things in our game, but we had an opportunity to make this a real great road trip, and it ended up only being a good one,” Tavares said.
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