Ducks fall early in overtime against Canucks
J.T. Miller scored 26 seconds into overtime and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Ducks 2-1 Wednesday night for their seventh straight win since Bruce Boudreau took over behind the bench.
Boudreau is the third coach in NHL history to start 7-0 with a new team, matching Geoff Ward in 2019-20 with Calgary and Jacques Lemaire in 1993-94 with New Jersey.
Miller assisted on Tanner Pearson’s tying goal early in the third period then got a breakaway chance in overtime. He put a wrist shot past John Gibson for his 11th goal of the season, extending his point streak to seven games. He has three goals and 11 points in that span.
Boudreau took over Dec. 3 following a leadership purge in which two Canucks executives, coach Travis Green and an assistant coach were fired.
Vancouver was in last place in the Pacific Division with a record of 8-15-2 when Boudreau came in. The Canucks are seventh in the Pacific now but only four points back of third.
Boudreau was working in familiar territory Wednesday — he was the Ducks’ coach for nearly five seasons (2011-16) and led them to four postseason appearances.
Thatcher Demko made 22 saves for Vancouver, which was playing its first game since Dec. 16 as COVID-19 caused league-wide interruptions to the schedule.
After shutting down for a week, NHL play resumes Tuesday. The league is bringing back taxi squads while announcing three more games have been postponed.
Sam Carrick scored the Ducks’ only goal and Gibson stopped 35 shots. It was the team’s first game since Dec. 17.
Carrick got behind the defense, took a stretch pass from Hampus Lindholm off the left side of the boards and put a wrist shot past Demko at 16:26 of the first period for his seventh goal of the season and third in the last seven games.
Pearson evened it 1:21 into the third when he took a cross-ice pass from Miller and scored from the right circle. It was Pearson’s fifth of the season and his first since Dec. 1.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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