Canucks storm back to earn a point against Hurricanes
The Vancouver Canucks came up just short in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night.
Trailing 3-1 heading into the third period, the Canucks can thank Kevin Lankinen for keeping them in the game. Vancouver scored twice in the third, on goals from Quinn Hughes and Pius Suter, to force overtime.
“He was our best player tonight for sure,” Hughes said post-game.
“He’s been solid every time he plays,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet added about his goaltender. “Gave us a chance to get a point tonight. I’m sure he got the first star.”
The only reason the game was so close was due to the incredible play of Lankinen. The goalie stood on his head and made a ton of huge stops. The Finnish netminder ended the night with 28 total saves, many of the highlight variety.
KEVIN LANKINEN WITH THE GAME SAVING STOP ON SETH JARVIS#Canucks #RaiseUp
š„: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/U7vhzHNoqh— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) October 29, 2024
The Canucks were down 3-1 in the third period but eventually got the tying goal late in the game. That crucial goal came after a broken play saw Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov come flying out of his net, leaving a wide open cage for Suter.
Vancouver goal!
Scored by Quinn Hughes with 12:04 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller.
Vancouver: 2
Carolina: 3#CARvsVAN #Canucks #RaiseUp pic.twitter.com/4gCKrPo0AL— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 29, 2024
Pius Suter ties it up with three minutes to go in the third! šØ pic.twitter.com/jXbpmzhP22
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 29, 2024
All of that effort wasn’t enough to secure the win as the Hurricanes held on in overtime. Sebastian Aho got the winner in the extra frame for Carolina.
SEABASS SEALS IT!Ā š
Sebastian Aho nets the @SUBWAYCanada OT winner for the Canes. pic.twitter.com/xjVzq4lCbm
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 29, 2024
The Canucks line of Elias Pettersson, Nils Hƶglander, and Conor Garland struggled to see the ice. Tocchet barely played the trio at five-on-five and eventually replaced Hƶglander with Arshdeep Bains.
“Obviously if you change it you donāt like it. right? So I didnāt like a couple things,ā said the head coach about the trio. āI didnāt like Hoggy at all, Peteyā¦ā
This loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Canucks. The Hurricanes are a better team than they faced during that successful run and it showed on the ice.
The scoring tonight started when Hurricanes forward William Carrier blasted a shot home on an odd-man rush. The Canucks tied the game shortly after when J.T. Miller went around the net and found Brock Boeser waiting in the slot.
Brockstar š pic.twitter.com/EOsXgBRsxP
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 29, 2024
A pivotal moment came later in the first period when it appeared that Arshdeep Bains scored to make it 2-1 for Vancouver. The goal would have been his second in two games had it stood. The play was deemed off after a coach’s challenge, keeping the game tied.
It was the Hurricanes who then took the lead instead after rumoured Canucks trade target from last summer Martin Necas scored to go up 2-1.
The visitors would add to their lead to make it 3-1 before the Canucks’ huge third-period effort tied the game. While they did lose the contest, the Canucks have now picked up points in seven of their eight games this year.