Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland (8) scores on Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal (1) during the first period of an NHL game in Vancouver, on Saturday, April 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Canucks looked flat early but rookie defenceman Elias Pettersson provided a spark with his first NHL goal, igniting a five-goal first-period outburst in a 6-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks Saturday afternoon.

Vancouver trailed 1-0 just 82 seconds into the first period. Coming off a 5-0 loss to Seattle on Wednesday the Canucks confidence looked fragile, but Pettersson tied the match at 9:40 off a pretty assist from Linus Karlsson. 

That put the Canucks on a roll, scoring a franchise-record five goals in four minutes, 30 seconds for a win that kept their faint playoff hopes alive.

“I don’t think we were so happy about the start,” said Pettersson, a 21-year-old from Vasteras, Sweden, who is called "Junior" by his teammates. “After the first one, we just kept going and rolled, so it was good.

“It means a lot, a first goal. It was fun that Karlsson made the assist. It was so amazing.”

Brock Boeser scored on the power play and added an assist for the Canucks (35-28-13) who remain six points behind the Minnesota Wild in the chase for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Canucks also have a game in hand on Minnesota.

Conor Garland, on the power play, Filip Hronek, Dakota Joshua and Max Sasson, recently called up from Abbotsford of the AHL, also scored for Vancouver. Defenceman Quinn Hughes had two assists.

Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras scored for Anaheim (33-35-8).

Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko stopped 30 shots.

Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal made 20 saves.

Boeser, who collected his team-leading 25th goal of the season, has been impressed with Pettersson’s work ethic.

“He’s a really good player,” said Boeser. “He’s strong, he moves well, he defends hard. He gets good looks offensively. I was kind of giving him some crap about (not) scoring but he finally did.”

Canuck coach Rick Tocchet said Pettersson has benefited from working with assistant coach Adam Foote, a former NHL all-star defenceman.

“Footy has spent a lot of time with him on surfing that middle part of the ice,” said Tocchet. “I saw him do it about four times. He’s grasping a lot of stuff that Footy is talking about.

“He had some poise and really did a good job tonight.”

After Pettersson tied the game, Hronek deflected in a Teddy Bleuger shot at 10:46 to give Vancouver the lead. Hughes assisted on power-play goals by Boeser and Garland 2:53 apart, then Joshua scored at 14:10 to make it 5-1 Vancouver.

Boeser said the Canucks managed to keep their heads above water even after falling behind early.

“That was huge for the group,” said Boeser, who has seven goals in his last nine games. “Obviously that wasn’t the start we wanted. I think we forgot about their goal quickly and turned the tide. I thought we played a great first period.”

Hughes wasn’t surprised the Canucks refused to fold early.

“I don’t think this is a team that’s rolled over this entire year,” said the Vancouver captain. “With all the ups and downs, we want to try our best. Sometimes that’s just not going to be good enough.”

It was an important win for the Canucks, who have six games remaining, including a match next Saturday against Minnesota at Rogers Arena.

Tocchet liked the fight his team showed.

“(Chance of) Getting to the post-season is slim,” he said. “We talked yesterday about details and professionalism. That’s something we’ve got to work on every day.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit. I really enjoyed the first period. It was a lot of fun watching the guys make some plays.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025