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Tag: Andrei Kuzmenko

  • Pettersson has 5-point night, adds SO winner for Canucks

    Pettersson has 5-point night, adds SO winner for Canucks

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    VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Elias Pettersson scored his second goal of the game to tie it with 1:20 left in regulation and added the shootout winner in the Vancouver Canucks’ 6-5 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.

    Pettersson, who also had three assists, drilled a hard shot from above the faceoff circle to tie it with goalie Spencer Martin off for an extra attacker.

    Pettersson returned to the lineup after missing two games because of a non-COVID-19 illness.

    “I was running on no energy, just wanting the puck to go in,” Pettersson said.

    Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau heaped praise on Pettersson.

    “That’s six days off the ice and then he came in and did what he did tonight,” Boudreau said. “Pretty amazing. I don’t think you guys realize how much of an anomaly that is, being off six days and then playing that great. It defies logic.”

    The Canucks had a power play with a minute left in the 3-on-3 overtime after Seattle’s Jordan Eberle was called for holding, but couldn’t score.

    Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and two assists for Vancouver, Lane Pederson scored his first goal in his third NHL game and added an assist, and Brock Boeser also connected. The Canucks have beaten the Kraken all six times they’ve met.

    Martin stopped 31 shots for Vancouver.

    Daniel Sprong scored twice for Seattle, and Jared McCann, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Alex Wennberg also had goals. Bjorkstrand and Sprong struck 10 seconds apart in the second to give Seattle a 3-1 lead.

    “The result is disappointing,” Wennberg said. “We just worked really hard. “I feel like we emptied the tank today and unfortunately it didn’t work out.”

    The Canucks erased three, two-goal deficits.

    “We don’t do anything the easy way,” Boudreau said. “Give the team credit for not quitting. That’s a testament to the boys in the room.”

    Kuzmenko cut it to 4-3 at 5:13, scoring off the rebound of Pederson’s shot.

    Sprong scored his second of the night just over a minute later, tipping in a pass from Brandon Tanev. Boeser got Vancouver back within one, redirecting Pettersson shot past goalie Martin Jones on a power play at 8:52.

    Jones made 32 saves.

    “We’re here to win a hockey game and we didn’t do that,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We have to do better when we’ve got a two-goal lead. That’s a game we feel like we should be able to close out.”

    UP NEXT

    Kraken: Host Calgary on Wednesday night.

    Canucks: At Edmonton on Friday night.

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    More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Kuzmenko scores in SO to give Canucks 4-3 win over Flames

    Kuzmenko scores in SO to give Canucks 4-3 win over Flames

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    CALGARY, Alberta — Andrei Kuzmenko scored the only goal of the shootout and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 Wednesday night for their sixth straight road win.

    Bo Horvat, Conor Garland and Sheldon Dries scored in regulation for the Canucks who gave up an early two-goal lead and had to come back to tie the score. Nils Hoglander had two assists and Spencer Martin stopped 35 shots to improve to 9-3-1.

    “I was proud of the way we played tonight,” Horvat said. “It’s a tough building to come into, they got a good team over there. Obviously, I’d like to not give up a two-goal lead but at the same time we didn’t panic. In previous games or early in the year, we might have a little panic in our game, Dries scored a big goal and I thought we did a good job after that, kind of limiting their Grade-As. Overall, it was a great game and Marty was fantastic.”

    Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane and Trevor Lewis scored for Calgary, which lost its fourth straight overall — third straight beyond regulation — and fell to 6-1-1 in its last eight at home. Dillon Dube had two assists and Jacob Markstrom finished with 24 saves.

    “Big point for us,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. “A little bad luck early. I thought we had a really good start and they scored a deflection goal and a lost-coverage goal quick. I thought we were pretty resilient and battled back.”

    Kuzmenko scored on the Canucks’ first attempt of the tiebreaker, firing a shot over Markstrom’s glove. Dube and Backlund both missed on Flames’ final two attempts to give Vancouver the win.

    “Just trying to time it depth-wise and meet them at their decision point and let them make a move and hold my edges,” Martin said of Calgary’s three tries in the shootout.

    In overtime, Markstrom denied Ilya Mikheyev on a breakaway with a minute remaining to keep it tied.

    Horvat and Garland scored 34 seconds apart to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead less than 2 minutes into the game. Horvat deflected a Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s shot from the left point past Markstrom at 1:14 for his 21st to get the Canucks on the board. Garland got the puck near the left corner and beat Markstrom from the left circle for his fifth at 1:48.

    With the Flames on the power play, Backlund redirected a feed from Dube at 9:40 for his sixth to make it 2-1.

    Mangiapane tied it with 3:51 remaining in the first as he quickly scored from the left circle off a pass from Nazem Kadri from behind the goal. It was Mangiapane’s seventh.

    “Obviously not ideal to be down 2-0 right away,” Markstrom said. “Leaving the first period tied hockey game was a great effort by us and unfortunately we can’t get the win.”

    Lewis put the Flames ahead 3-2 at 3:51 of the second as he banked his own rebound from a sharp angle off Martin’s glove and in for his sixth.

    Dries tied it from the left circle on a Canucks rush off a pass from Hoglander to tie it at 5:31 of the middle period with his third.

    PENALTY PARADE

    After a road trip in which Calgary was short-handed 20 times in three games, the parade to the penalty box continued in the first period. The Canucks went on the power play twice. The Flames have been short-handed 115 times, tied for second-most behind Edmonton (116). St. Louis has been short-handed the fewest times at 65.

    LINEUP SHUFFLES

    Flames D MacKenzie Weegar (non-COVID illness) returned after missing one game while D Chris Tanev (upper body) sat out after taking a shot to the side of the head in Montreal on Monday. Calgary also got C Elias Lindholm (upper body) back after a one-game absence and inserted RW Brett Ritchie for rookie forward Matthew Phillips. … For the Canucks, F Brock Boeser (non-COVID illness) did not play, which opened up a spot for Dries’ return.

    UP NEXT

    Canucks: Host Winnipeg on Saturday night to open a three-game homestand.

    Flames: Host St. Louis on Friday night to wrap up a two-game homestand.

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    AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://www.twitter.com/AP—NHL

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  • Canucks top Penguins 5-1 for 2nd straight after opening skid

    Canucks top Penguins 5-1 for 2nd straight after opening skid

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    VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Bo Horvat scored twice, Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist and the Vancouver Canucks won their second straight after a season-opening skid, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Friday night.

    Tanner Pearson and J.T. Miller also scored, Ilya Mikheyev had two assists and Spencer Martin made 34 saves. On Thursday night in Seattle, the Canucks beat the Kraken 5-4 to end their season-opening losing streak at a franchise-record seven games.

    “Obviously there’s a lot more energy, obviously the smiles on our faces,” Horvat said. “But I mean, we’ve got to dig ourselves out of the hole here. Obviously, we put ourselves in this situation. Just because we won two games, you can’t be satisfied. We’ve got to keep going here.”

    Rickard Rakell scored for Pittsburgh and Tristan Jarry made 24 saves. The Penguins have lost three straight in regulation to fall to 4-3-1.

    “I just don’t think we’re putting a 60-minute effort together, and it’s hard to win in this league when you don’t,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.

    Weariness appeared to creep into the home side’s game, with the Penguins outshooting the Canucks 30-19 across the second and third periods, but Martin held fast for the victory. The 24-year-old goalie is 4-0-4 with Vancouver.

    “Eight games now and he’s gotten points in eight straight, so I haven’t seen him do anything negative,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “And that’s great when you can have your other goaltender doing that, that makes an inner competition a little bit.”

    The Canucks took a 2-1 lead into the third period and struggled in the opening minutes, fighting mightily to get out of their own zone.

    Martin said he wasn’t concerned.

    “Honestly, I don’t think they had much,” he said. “We did a fantastic job, obviously. They have a lot of firepower there. They did a good job getting behind the net, I thought, but we kept them to the perimeter. So it was a good game.”

    After the barrage, Vancouver erupted with three goals in just over seven minutes.

    Kuzmenko tipped in a long shot from defenseman Luke Schenn and Horvat scored on a power-play before Miller added an empty-netter with 2:10 remaining.

    Third-period collapses have become a trend for the Canucks this season, and Boudreau said his group appeared as if “the weight of the world was lifted off (their) shoulders” after weathering the adversity.

    “Every other third period has been like ‘Oh, what’s gonna happen that’s negative?’” Boudreau said. “And I think once we got through the first three minutes, and it was like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ And everybody just played. … And I thought it was really good.”

    TRADE ADDITIONS

    Vancouver acquired defenseman Ethan Bear and forward Lane Pederson from Carolina a few hours before the game for a fifth-round draft pick. The 25-year-old Bear has not played this season after finishing with five goals and nine assists in 58 games for the Hurricanes last season. Carolina will retain $400,000 of Bear’s $2.2 million contact. Pederson, also 25, is scoreless in four games this season for the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League.

    UP NEXT

    Penguins: At Seattle on Saturday night.

    Canucks: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.

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    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Connor McDavid opens with hat trick, Oilers beat Canucks 5-3

    Connor McDavid opens with hat trick, Oilers beat Canucks 5-3

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    EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid had three goals and an assist and the Edmonton Oilers overcame an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Wednesday night.

    Leon Draisaitl added a goal and two assists and Darnell Nurse also scored for the Oilers in the opener for both teams. Jack Campbell made 33 saves.

    “It wasn’t according to anyone’s script, for sure,” said Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft. “I don’t think we were sharp. I don’t think we were in sync early. We found a way to win the game, that’s a really good sign, but we can be better.”

    Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Andrei Kuzmenko — in his NHL debut — scored for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko stopped 20 shots.

    Pettersson and Miller scored in an early 51-second span and Kuzmenko made it 3-0 39 seconds into the second on a power play. He’s the first player in Canucks history to score a power-play goal in his debut.

    “That was pretty disappointing, I thought we came out pretty good in the first and special teams kind of cost us the game,” said Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. “The power play wasn’t good enough and we couldn’t keep the puck out of our net on the (penalty kill).”

    Edmonton got on the board 4:12 into the second when Draisaitl took a deflected pass at the side of the net and slammed it past Demko on a power play.

    The Oilers pulled within a goal with another power-play goal with 5:59 left in the second on a three-way passing play from Zach Hyman to Draisaitl and then to McDavid.

    “It was just not a good start for our group. It was the first game and maybe there was a little bit of jitters,” McDavid said. “It is not going to be perfect every night. You are not going to have the game you want every night and sometimes you get a win with your ‘B’ or ‘C’ game. It was certainly not our ‘A’ game to start, but we found a way to get our legs going and get ourselves back in it.”

    Edmonton pulled even with 41 seconds left in the period on a 2-on-1 short-handed break as Draisaitl fed it across to Nurse, who beat Demko with a one-timer.

    The Oilers took the lead with 4:59 left in the third period with McDavid orchestrating a give-and-go with Hyman before depositing his own rebound past Demko. It was McDavid’s 700th career point, making him the sixth-fastest player to hit the mark in 488 games.

    McDavid completed the hat trick with 25 seconds left when Evander Kane dropped it back to him for an empty-net power-play goal.

    ———

    More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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