by Dakota Joshua and Sheldon Dries scored goals 34 seconds apart in the third period as the Vancouver Canucks battled back from a two-goal deficit to beat Chicago 5-2 and give Rick Tocchet his first game as Vancouver head coach.
There was a mix of boos and cheers when Tocchet was introduced to the crowd during the first period. The game was only 3:30 old when fans threw Canucks jerseys onto the ice.
The Canucks outshot Chicago 48-14 and failed to score on five power-play chances.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice for the Canucks (19-25-3) who snapped a three-game losing streak. Elias Pettersson had two goals, six goals and 22 goals in the last 16 games. Also, Bo Horvat scored shorthanded into an empty net at 18:34, matching a career high of 31 goals in a season.
SEE | Dries leads Vancouver over Chicago:
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Sheldon Dries puts his stick between his legs and fires in a rebound as he falls in Vancouver’s 5-2 win over Chicago. Rick Tocchet has a win in his first position as coach for the Canucks.
Patrick Kane and Sam Lafferty scored for Chicago (14-28-4) which lost its second game in a row.
Vancouver goalie Collin Delia stopped 12 shots.
Petr Mrazek made 43 saves for Chicago.
The Canucks goal came just seconds after Kane had a good scoring chance in the Canuck end.
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Defenseman Quinn Hughes put the puck up the ice. Brock Boeser attempted a shot from a sharp angle. Mrazek stopped the puck but Joshua’s shot over the goalie sprawled for a 3-2 lead at 11:34.
On the following faceoff, Mrazek stopped Conor Garland’s shot. Dries directed the rebound into the net with a shot between his legs.
Kuzmenko scored his 20th and 21st goals in the second period to tie the game 2-2 after 40 minutes.
His first goal came off an Ilya Mikheyev shot to tie the game 1-1 at 7:02.
Lafferty gave Chicago a 2-1 lead when his innocent shot went through Delia’s five-hole at 12:06.
Kuzmenko tied the game again at 15:47 with a nice deflection of Pettersson’s pass.
Vancouver trailed 1-0 after the first period despite outshooting Chicago 21-6. Kane scored with 2:11 left with a layup that sailed over Delia’s shoulder.
Mrazek made some great saves during the period. He stopped Vancouver’s Curtis Lazar on two shots from close range, found a substitute on Bo Horvat’s blast during a power play and stopped defender Luke Schenn on a breakaway after stepping out of the penalty box.
We are honored to have Mayor Ken Sim, Vancouver’s first Chinese-Canadian mayor, participate in # Lunar New Year a ceremonial puck drop. pic.twitter.com/DLWF5gjpvD
Tocchet had one practice and one game day skate to prepare for Chicago. The Canucks wore special warm-up jerseys to celebrate the Lunar New Year Vancouver failed to score on a four-minute power play early in the first period when Chicago’s Seth Jones was called for a high tackle. Kim Sim, Vancouver’s first Asian mayor, dropped the puck in the opening ceremony.
Chicago center Max Domi, in his inaugural minor, was assessed a major misconduct and 10 minutes for a fight with Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua at 8:13 of the second period. Chicago saw its three-game winning streak snapped in a loss to LA on Sunday. Chicago forward Tyler Johnson, who had 14 points in 22 games, was placed on injured reserve after aggravating a left ankle injury.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Canucks who play Wednesday night in Seattle. Vancouver returns home to face Columbus on Friday, then begins a four-game road trip on Feb. 2 in New Jersey.
Chicago continues their road trip with games in Calgary on Thursday and Edmonton on Saturday before returning home to face Anaheim on February 7.
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