Late power-play goals lead Canucks past Leafs 6-4

Third-period power-play goals by J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson helped the Vancouver Canucks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 on Saturday.

Conor Garland and Nils Hoglander had two goals each for the Canucks (31-11-4), who allowed a 3-0 first-period lead to get away before regrouping.

William Nylander scored twice for the Maple Leafs, including his 200th career goal, while Jake McCabe and Mitch Marner had one each for Toronto (22-14-8).

Thatcher Demko stopped 44 of 48. Martin Jones made 15 saves.

Miller broke a 4-4 tie in the third, tipping a Quinn Hughes shot from the point past Jones. Hughes finished the game with three assists.

Pettersson added an insurance goal 3 1/2 minutes later, sliding in a pass from Miller to make it 6-4.

The winner came shortly after Marner capitalized on a sloppy pass from Pettersson to Brock Boeser to spring free and score the short-handed, tying goal on Demko to make it 4-4 at 3:13 of the third.

Facing a 3-0 deficit after the first, the Leafs stormed back in the second period, scoring three goals – two from Nylander – in less than four minutes.

Nylander opened the scoring for Toronto off an innocuous looking shot, beating Demko top corner.

McCabe added a second after tipping in a long shot from the point from Marner before Nylander then added his second of the game again beating Demko glove side.

But Garland added his second of the game with a minute left to play in the period, burying home his own rebound off a Leafs defenceman.

Hoglander opened the scoring after converting a rebound off of Lafferty past a stranded Jones at 3:06.

He notched his second just under three minutes later, opting to shoot top corner on Jones’ stick side instead of passing back to the point.

The third came off a similar breakdown in front of the Leafs net, with Teddy Blueger opting to drop a pass back to Garland who found a way past Jones.

The Leafs best chance came as Tyler Bertuzzi found himself alone in front of Demko, but the Canucks netminder saved the initial shot with the rebound getting cleared by Hughes.

Next up:

Maple Leafs: Travel to Seattle to play the Kraken on Sunday.

Canucks: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2024.