March 09, 2025 - 8:39 PM
VANCOUVER - Mikael Granlund scored his first goal for the Stars and Dallas dumped the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Sunday.
Dallas picked up both the Finnish centre and Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks for first- and third-round picks back on Feb. 1.
Thomas Harley, Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Stars (42-20-2), who were coming off a 5-4 loss to the Oilers in Edmonton on Saturday. Ceci and Matt Duchene each contributed a pair of assists.
Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith — who played for the Canucks last season — stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced in his return to Vancouver.
Derek Forbort buried the lone goal for the Canucks (29-23-11), scoring for the first time since Feb. 16, 2023 when he was a member of the Boston Bruins.
Vancouver got 15 saves from Kevin Lankinen and missed the services of captain Quinn Hughes (lower-body injury) for a third straight game.
TAKEAWAYS
Canucks: The result did nothing to improve Vancouver's playoff picture. The club remains locked in a battle with the Calgary Flames, Utah Hockey Club and St. Louis Blues for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Stars: The team played without star centre Roope Hintz, who took a puck to the face in the Stars' 5-4 loss to the Oilers on Saturday. Head coach Pete DeBoer said before puck drop that Hintz has flown back to back to Dallas and is getting more imaging done on the injury.
KEY MOMENT
Lankinen denied Ceci with his blocker as time ticked down in the second period, but the rebound popped out to Granlund and he ripped a shot over the goalie's shoulder with just 25.9 seconds left in the frame to give the Stars a 2-1 lead. It was his first goal in 13 games.
KEY STAT
Robertson extended his point streak to eight games with eight goals and seven assists across the stretch.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Wrap up a four-game homestand Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Stars: Visit the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2025.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2025