VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Elias Pettersson broke a tie 3:29 of the third period, Thatcher Demko stopped 21 shots and the Vancouver Canucks held on to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Saturday night.
Pettersson also had two assists, Sam Lafferty and Ilya Mikheyev each had a goal and an assist and J.T. Miller also scored. The Canucks improved to 18-9-1 with their second straight victory.
“I think our last two games we’re playing faster,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “We’re not massaging the puck, the defense is getting up quick, the forwards are getting back quicker. That’s the utopia I’m looking for. That fast hockey and everybody playing the same way.”
Jordan Martinook, Brady Skjei and Stefan Noesen scored for Carolina, and Antti Raanta made 20 saves. The Hurricanes have lost four in a row to fall to 14-12-1.
“We gave them two goals,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Just lack of coverage, just standing there watching the guy tap it in and that can’t happen against any team, especially a good team that knows how to play and plays hard.”
On the deciding goal, Pettersson took a pass from Mikheyev and held off a defender to finish a wraparound.
”I just tried to create space for myself and did a wraparound,” Pettersson said. “I’m glad it went in.”
Carolina tied it at 2:10 of the third period when Jack Drury tipped a shot in front of the goal, with the puck hitting the crossbar before falling to the open Noesen.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: At Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Canucks: Host Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
The Associated Press