Bo Horvat put up three points and the Vancouver Canucks exacted some revenge on the visiting New Jersey Devils with a 6-3 win on Tuesday.
The Canucks captain had two goals and an assist, while Tanner Pearson added one of each. Brad Hunt, Nils Hoglander and Juho Lahmmikko also scored for the Canucks (30-24-7), and J.T. Miller tallied three assists to extend his point streak to 13 games.
Jack Hughes scored and notched an assist for the Devils (22-33-5), Ryan Graves and Nathan Bastian each scored, and Yegor Sharangovich had a pair of helpers.
Thatcher Demko made 32 saves to snap Vancouver’s two-game losing skid.
Nico Daws stopped 17-of-21 shots for the Devils before being pulled midway through the second period. John Gillies made eight saves in relief.
The victory comes after the Devils routed the Canucks 7-2 in New Jersey on Feb. 28.
Now this, this is the good stuff!!
(we told you we had lots of angles) pic.twitter.com/IuBGI7vcBY
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) March 16, 2022
Vancouver sealed the score at 6-3 midway through the final frame when defenceman Luke Schenn sent a long bomb toward the New Jersey net and Lahmmikko tipped it in past Gillies.
The Devils started the third with just over two minutes on the man advantage after Canucks forward Tyler Motte was handed a double-minor for high-sticking Andreas Johnsson late in the second.
Demko preserved Vancouver’s lead with a brilliant glove save to stop Hughes from collecting his second goal of the night at the 1:06 mark.
Quinn Hughes — Jack’s older brother — then sprang Horvat for a short-handed breakaway and the Canucks captain went top shelf for his 22nd goal of the season, putting Vancouver up 5-3.
After falling behind by two goals midway through the second, New Jersey took advantage of an odd play to bite into Vancouver’s lead.
A shot from Sharangovich hit Demko in the mask and as the goalie scrambled for the rebound, Bastian swatted the loose puck into the net from his knees, collecting his 11th goal of the season 11:55 into the second.
Pearson gave the Canucks a 4-2 cushion earlier the frame, directing a slap pass from defenceman Tyler Myers past an out-of-position Daws.
The goal prompted the Devils to swap Daws for Gillies.
Just 17 seconds before Pearson scored, Horvat found the back of the New Jersey net.
He forced a turnover at the Vancouver blue line, creating a breakaway, then launched a long blast that trickled through Daws to put the home side up 3-2.
The Devils tied the game up 4:25 into the second when Jesper Bratt flipped a high pass into the neutral zone. The play unleashed Hughes on a breakaway and the star centre sent a shot under Demko’s arm from the bottom of the slot for his 19th goal of the season.
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Graves cut New Jersey’s deficit to a single goal ahead of the first intermission, whipping a shot from inside the faceoff circle that beat Demko cleanly glove side at the 17:17 mark.
Vancouver went up 2-0 midway through the frame when Hoglander jammed the rebound off a Horvat shot into the Devils net. It was the Swedish winger’s 10th goal of the second but just his second in the last 26 games.
After a string of slow starts in recent games, the Canucks opened the scoring 3:34 into Tuesday’s matchup.
Miller waited patiently in New Jersey territory before slicing a pass to Hunt. The defenceman blasted a slap shot from inside the faceoff circle to beat Daws and put Vancouver up 1-0.
The assist extended Miller’s point streak to 13 games, with 25 points (eight goals, 19 assists) going back to Feb. 12. He is the first Canuck to put up a 13-game point streak since Ryan Kessler accomplished the feat in 2010.
The Canucks continue their homestand Thursday when they host the Detroit Red Wings. The Devils will be in Calgary Wednesday to face the Flames.
NOTES: The Devils were 0-for-3 on the man advantage. The Canucks went scoreless on their lone power play. … New Jersey centre Pavel Zacha went hard into the boards early in the first period and stayed on the ice for several moments before skating off with a trainer. He went directly to the Devils locker room and did not return to the game.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
