In a woeful start to the season, the Vancouver Canucks put forth one of their best efforts earlier this week, but even that was not enough.
Winless on their six-game road trip through the Eastern Conference, the Canucks will attempt to end the journey on a high note Saturday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Vancouver played a fundamentally sound 51 minutes of shutout hockey Thursday against Florida, but new Panthers winger Brady Tkachuk scored twice in the final nine minutes, including the game-tying tally with 13 seconds left and his goaltender pulled, to erase Vancouver’s two-goal lead.
For good measure, the younger Tkachuk brother used a curl-and-drag to zip in the game-winning marker in overtime, capping his second straight hat trick and rewarding the recent two-time Stanley Cup champs with a breathtaking 3-2 win.
“I thought overall we played pretty well. We’ve just got to take the positives out of this,” said Canucks netminder Leevi Merilainen, who was outstanding in making 36 saves. “I know it sucks really bad right now, and we really needed that win.”
Defenseman Elias Pettersson and Liam Ohgren scored for the Canucks, and Filip Chytil had an assist in his season debut after injuring his shoulder in preseason.
“We continue to grow and get better, that’s the positives,” Vancouver coach Manny Malhotra said. “It was much more of complete game aside from the last 10 minutes. I thought we did a much better job of weathering the storm than we expected.
“It was a great return back in the lineup for (Chytil), just in terms of his contributions and getting back into it. His ability to transport the puck changes the dynamic of our group, for sure.”
Like their in-state rivals to the south, the Lightning needed extra time to battle back in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime win against Seattle.
Victor Hedman picked the right time to net his first tally of the year, splitting the Kraken’s defense, sliding the puck ahead and outracing goaltender Philipp Grubauer in a 1-on-1 battle in the low slot.
Hedman swiped at the puck to win the game after the visitors tied it with less than five minutes remaining on Matty Beniers’ tally.
It was Hedman’s ninth career overtime winner, the second-most by a Swedish defenseman in NHL history behind Erik Karlsson.
The OT winner was a shot in the arm for Hedman, who missed a good portion of last season due to a variety of issues, including mental health and exhaustion.
“I put (last year) behind me and learned a lot. I feel great,” said the 35-year-old, who played in only 33 games and scored one goal last season. “My legs feel great, and I tried to take advantage of my strengths. I had to beat one guy and felt like their other two guys were too wide. (The puck) got away a little bit for me … but I did it in practice the other day.”
Brandon Hagel’s two markers brought him to six goals and 10 points, both team highs.
Fourth-line center Dominic James (hand) skated in his season debut and had an assist.
“There’s nothing like game conditioning and feeling that contact and getting up and down the ice,” said James, who netted seven goals in 43 games last season. “It’s a completely different thing.”