VANCOUVER — There was a different air in the Vancouver Canucks locker room on Friday night.
The team earned its first home win — a decisive 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. And after starting the campaign on a disastrous seven-game skid, the Canucks were officially on a new winning streak.
“Obviously there’s a lot more energy, obviously the smiles on our faces,” said Bo Horvat, who scored twice on Friday.
“But I mean, we have to get out of the hole here. Obviously we put ourselves in this situation. Just because we won two games doesn’t mean you can’t be happy. We have to continue here.”
Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist for the Canucks (2-5-2), while Tanner Pearson and JT Miller also scored and Ilya Mikheyev provided a pair of assists.
Rickard Rakell replied for the Penguins (4-3-1), who saw their loss stretch over three games, all in regulation.
“I just don’t think we put a 60-minute effort together, and it’s hard to win in this league when you don’t,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said.
The Canucks were coming off their first win of the season, a 5-4 victory over the Kraken in Seattle on Thursday. Pittsburgh entered the game rested, having lost a 4-1 decision to the Flames in Calgary on Tuesday.
Weariness seemed to creep into the home team’s game as the Penguins edged the Canucks 30-19 in the second and third periods, but goaltender Spencer Martin held on for the win.
The 24-year-old goalie stopped 34 of 35 shots and improved during his time with the Canucks. Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry made 24 saves.
Martin made some big saves on Friday, Vancouver head coach Bruce Boudreau said.
“And that’s all I saw of him,” he said. “Eight games now and he’s got points in eight straight, so I’ve never seen him do anything negative. And it’s great when you can have your other goalkeeper doing that, that creates a bit of internal competition.
The Canucks took a 2-1 lead in the final quarter and struggled in the opening minutes, struggling mightily to get out of their own zone.
Martin said he wasn’t worried.
“Honestly, I don’t think they got much,” he said. “We obviously did a fantastic job. They have a lot of firepower there. They did a good job behind the net, I think, but we kept them in the perimeter. So it was a good game. »
After the play-off, Vancouver burst with three goals in just over seven minutes.
Kuzmenko tipped a long bomb from defender Luke Schenn and Horvat scored on the power play before Miller added a shot into an empty net 17:50 into the frame.
Third-period meltdowns have become a trend for the team this season, and Boudreau said his group felt like “the weight of the world had been lifted off (their) shoulders” after overcoming adversity.
“Every other third period has been like ‘Oh, what’s going to happen negative? “And I think once we got through the first three minutes, and it was like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ And everyone just played,” he said. “And I thought that was really good.”
Pittsburgh took the lead over Vancouver with a power play count 16:03 into the second after Miller was called for Sidney Crosby to high bat in the offensive zone.
Bryan Rust fired a net shot from the crease and while Martin made the save he couldn’t hold the rebound. Rakell picked up the loose puck and returned it to the net, making it 2-1.
Late in the first, Evgeni Malkin was called for hanging Miller and the penalty proved costly for Pittsburgh early in the next period.
Seconds later, Horvat asked for the puck in the neutral zone and Kuzmenko sent him a pass. The Canucks captain skated an odd run and fired a one-timer that sailed off Jarry’s glove and gave the home team a two-goal lead 32 seconds into the period.
The Canucks went 2 for 4 on the power play Friday and the Penguins were 1 for 4.
Vancouver opened the scoring at 13:52 into the first period, seconds after Pittsburgh killed Pierre-Olivier Joseph’s penalty.
Garland used a fake slap shot to send the puck to Mikheyev at the bottom of the face-off circle and the Russian winger passed it to Pearson. Parked on the side of the crease, he tapped it past Jarry and gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season.
MAKE MOVEMENTS
Earlier Friday, Vancouver picked up defenseman Ethan Bear and forward Lane Pederson from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a fifth-round pick. It’s the second deal Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin has made this week, after sending goaltender Michael DiPietro and defensive prospect Jonathan Myenberg to the Boston Bruins in return for forward Jack Studnicka on Thursday.
NEXT
The Penguins will complete a five-game road trip against the Kraken in Seattle on Saturday. The Canucks host Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on October 28, 2022.
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