VANCOUVER 鈥� Playing a team almost as bad at killing penalties as they are was the remedy the Vancouver Canucks needed to cure a five-game NHL losing streak Friday night.
The Canucks got power-play goals from Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland for a much needed 3-2 victory. Defenceman Kyle Burroughs, with his first NHL goal, also scored for the Canucks (6-10-2) who were 0-13 on the power play over the last five games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 big,鈥� said goaltender Thatcher Demko, named the game鈥檚 first star after stopping 36 shots, including one off Nikolaj Ehlers in the dying seconds of the game with the Jets playing with an extra attacker.
鈥淭hings haven鈥檛 been going the way we want them the last few. We have some ground to make up. Hopefully tonight is the start of stringing a few together and building some confidence in the room.鈥�
Head coach Travis Green made some changes on his power play, moving Garland to the top unit.
鈥淎nytime you make a change you hope it pays off,鈥� said Green. 鈥淚t was nice to see the guys get rewarded tonight for sure.鈥澛�
Ehlers, on a pretty individual play, and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets (9-4-4), who lost their second consecutive game. Goaltender Eric Comrie stopped 26 shots.
鈥淔or the most part we played a decent game,鈥� said Winnipeg鈥檚 Adam Lowry. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 like we weren鈥檛 in it or were giving up a lot of zone time or things like that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a couple of areas of our game we want to clean up. Maybe the sharpness wasn鈥檛 there.鈥�
The win was just the third in 12 games for Vancouver but may cool the temperature of disgruntled Canuck fans who have been calling for general manager Jim Benning and Green to be fired. There seemed a little extra enthusiasm singing "Sweet Caroline" in the third period.
Vancouver was 2-3 on the power play and didn鈥檛 play shorthanded all night.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a win, it鈥檚 big,鈥� said Garland, who collected his fifth goal of the season and first on the power play. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big night for our power play. It was the difference in the game.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited now to get some confidence and get rolling.鈥�
The Canucks, who came into the game with the league鈥檚 worst penalty kill (60.3 per cent), took advantage of the Jets having the second worst (64.3 per cent) when Winnipeg was assessed an extra penalty during a first-period scrum.
Ekman-Larsson took a pass from Elias Pettersson in the high slot and took a seeing-eye shot that travelled through traffic and past Comrie at 13:51. It was his second goal of the year.
Burroughs made it 2-0 at 3:12 of the second on another shot through traffic that hit the left post and into the net. The Vancouver native, who has played several seasons in the AHL, said he was hit just as he released the shot and didn鈥檛 see the puck go in.
鈥淚 think I was the last one to celebrate,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a big accomplishment, especially for me. I don鈥檛 score a lot of goals in any league.
鈥淭o get it here is nice and a little bit of weight off the back. It鈥檚 even better to get the win.鈥�
Ehlers cut the lead in half just a minute later. He scooped up a loose puck in the Vancouver zone, skated around defenceman Quinn Hughes and scored his sixth of the season.
Garland notched Vancouver鈥檚 second power-play goal at 6:54 of the second after Blake Wheeler was called for high-sticking. Alex Chiasson found him at the top of the faceoff circle, and he beat Comrie with a bullet of a shot over the goaltender鈥檚 shoulder.
Dubois made it interesting with his 10th goal of the season with 2:28 remaining.
Demko said the team hasn鈥檛 let the criticism it has faced become a distraction in the dressing room.
鈥淲e are all on the same page as far as what we want to accomplish,鈥� he said. 鈥淕uys aren鈥檛 turning on each other and getting negative.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a huge sign. It鈥檚 something we have to keep building with.鈥�
NOTES: Pettersson鈥檚 assist on the first goal broke a four-game pointless streak. 鈥� The Canucks had scored one or less power-play goals in the last seven games. 鈥� The Jets lost 2-1 to the Oilers in Edmonton in shootout Thursday night. 鈥� Vancouver forward Justin Bailey cleared waivers and was assigned to the Canucks AHL team in Abbotsford, sa国际传媒 鈥� Proceeds from the Canucks 50/50 draw went to flood relief in sa国际传媒
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2021.
Jim Morris, The Canadian Press
