By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter
December 22th, 2024
Brock Boeser had 2 goals, Quinn Hughes a goal and 2 assists and starting goalie Kevin Lankinen stopped 17 of 22 shots for the Vancouver Canucks (16-10-7, P% .591, 4rth Pacific Division) but it wasn’t enough to defeat Atlantic Division rivals Ottawa Senators (18-13-2, .576 P%, 5th Atlantic Division) at Rogers Arena in a 5-4 OT loss Saturday night.
Shane Pinto had two goals and an assist, Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist and Leevi Merilainen made 21 saves in his first start of the season for the Senators.
For the Senators, they improved their record to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, with their 6th straight win.
The Canucks loss put their home record at 4-5-1, and are 0-1-2 in their last 3-games.
Phillip Di Giuseppe had 2 assists; Conor Garland, J.T. Miller, Pius Suter, Jake DeBrusk, and Tyler Myers an assist each.
Game Summary
The Canucks started out well in the first period but suffered a few breakdowns with the the Senators scoring the first two goals of the game early and late in the period but Quinn Hughes and Vancouver would find an extra gear and respond in the last 3:30 and score two goals to go into the intermission with a 2-2 tie.
The second period saw the Senators pull back into the lead after Quinn Hughes was brought down in the Ottawa end without a call and went into the Canucks end on a fine play to take a 3-2 advantage.
The Quinn Hughes show continued, and a Hughes shot in front of the Ottawa net went off Jake DeBrusk to even the game at 3-3. A Canucks power play would result in a quick goal but not for Vancouver but the other way as Ottawa would quickly score shorthanded to to lead 4-3 after two periods.
The final period had a spirited Canucks team taking the play to Ottawa but very little puck possession time trying to set up scoring opportunities in front of the Senators net as Vancouver could not move the puck around the offensive zone effectively and generate a sustained offensive pressure.
Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen would make a great save leading to a Canucks 4-4 game tying goal by Brock Boeser with 4:50 left in the 3rd period.
Canucks Noah Juulsen would be assessed a 4 minute high sticking penalty late in the period that carried into overtime.
With nothing settled in regulation, off to a 5-minute overtime that lasted 14 seconds as Ottawa scored to take the game 5-4 as Jake Sanderson scored the winning goal.
Next up for the Canucks are the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena on Monday night.
Game Stats
Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet speaks
