Elias Pettersson netted a pair of goals, including the go-ahead one early in the third period, in the Vancouver Canucks’ 4-1 victory over the host Dallas Stars on Saturday night.
After tying the match in the second period, Pettersson reached 200 points for his career with the tiebreaking goal at 1:15 of the third period.
Bo Horvat scored into an empty net at 18:54 of the frame, and J.T. Miller tallied with 39 seconds left to round out the scoring for Vancouver, which is 6-3-3 in March and has won both games against Dallas this season.
Miller, who also had a helper on Pettersson’s first marker, pushed his points total to 34 (12 goals, 22 assists) in his past 19 games.
After winning at home against Dallas on Nov. 7, Thatcher Demko was brilliant in the third period and won in his second start against Dallas. He made 35 saves.
Jacob Peterson potted Dallas’ goal, and Jake Oettinger stopped 27 of 30 shots in his first career start against the Canucks.
In a matchup of former Beantown collegiate goalies — Demko played at Boston College, Oettinger at Boston University — the ex-Eagle netminder made the first period’s best stop when he stuffed a try in close by Dallas’ Jamie Benn with 3:33 remaining in the scoreless frame.
The home side dictated much of the play in the clubs’ second meeting, holding a 14-9 shot advantage in the penalty-free first 20 minutes.
The Stars got on the board 5:42 into the second following a turnover by Vancouver that sent the puck back into the Dallas offensive zone. Peterson took a pass from Benn and backhanded home his 11th goal for the lead.
On the game’s first power play, Pettersson collected a pass from point man Quinn Hughes and blistered a one-timer from the right circle that zipped between Oettinger’s leg pads for his eighth man-advantage goal at 15:25 to level the game at 1-all.
The fourth-year forward put Vancouver up for the first time when he ripped his 20th marker from the right circle, beating Oettinger on the far post just 75 seconds into the third. It marked his third season reaching the 20-goal threshold.
With eight minutes left, Demko stopped a flurry of three shots — all while losing his goalie stick in the process — and kept the Stars off the board to preserve the win.
–Field Level Media