Canucks keep slim hopes alive

In Las Vegas, the Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson hit for a air of goals and four points on Wednesday night in a 5-1 win over the Golden Knights.

“It’s easy to say (that I was feeling it) after a night like that,” Pettersson said. “It could be anyone on any team. The whole team worked. My teammates set me up.”

Thatcher Demko made 33 saves in the Vancouver win.

Jack Eichel was the lone goal scorer for Vegas, his goal gave them a 1-0 lead in the first period.

“We knew that we weren’t going to win every game the rest of the way in,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “We dropped an opportunity tonight.

“You just want to flush it. Nothing good to say, we got what we deserved. I don’t think we gave ourselves a chance to win that game right from the first period, the way the game started. It’s disappointing, but we played some pretty good hockey lately. We’ve got to rebound here quickly.”

Vegas dropped to 39-29-4, and had their five-game win streak end.

The Golden Knights are one back of the Dallas Stars for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Canucks are seven points back.

“For the time of year and what we needed, it was a good all-around game,” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “The goalie had to be great, but the players in front of him had to be great too.”

After Vegas took the early lead, the Canucks replied with two goals from Bo Horvat and Brad Richardson, scored 17 seconds apart.

“He’s balanced out our lineup nicely coming in,” Vancouver’s Tyler Myers said of Richardson. “We knew what kind of player he was coming in when we got him. Especially for us defensemen, we love playing with guys like him. He’s always in the right spot.

“He talks to you all over the ice. He makes your life a little bit easier out there, which is nice for a D-man. He stepped into our group and brought a lot of balance to our lineup.”