Jason Robertson stretched his point streak to eight games with his 28th goal of the season in the third period and the Dallas Stars knocked off the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Sunday night at Rogers Arena. Mikael Granlund got the eventual game-winning goal in the second period after Thomas Harley opened the scoring, and Mikko Rantanen scored his second in the green and white into an empty net in the third. The Canucks got their only goal from Derek Forbort.
With the win, the Stars move within six points of the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets, while the Canucks stay tied with the St. Louis Blues, one point back of the Calgary Flames, who sit in the final wild card spot.
Game Recap
After a tight-checking first period that only saw 13 shots (7-6 Stars) and two high-danger chances (one a piece), the Canucks and Stars entered the first intermission scoreless. The Stars got two chances on the power play, but Kevin Lankinen and the Canucks’ red-hot penalty kill kept them at bay. The Canucks got one of their own in the period as well, but they too couldn’t put one by Stars’ goaltender Casey DeSmith.
The floodgates opened in the second period with three goals scored between the two teams. The Stars opened the scoring a little over five minutes in with Harley potting his 12th of the season with a ricochet goal that deflected off Lankinen and dribbled into the net. Then, the Canucks answered with their own defenceman, Forbort, scoring his first in Canuck colours (and first in 83 games) with a wrister over the blocker of DeSmith. The scoring died down a little after that until the Stars got a late goal in the final minute, with Granlund scoring his first in a Stars uniform – 16th of the season – into an empty cage after DeSmith blockered the puck right to him. And that’s how the period ended, with the Stars up 2-1 and leading 14-13 on the shot clock as well.
The Canucks had a few scrambles in front of DeSmith that didn’t go their way in the third period, and Robertson was able to tip a Matt Duchene pass past Lankinen at 8:26 to put the Stars up 3-1 before Rantanen tallied his 29th into an empty net. DeSmith walked away with the 4-1 win over his former team, finishing with 22 saves on 23 shots, while Lankinen countered with 15 saves on 18 shots in defeat.
What’s Next for the Canucks & Stars?
The Canucks will continue their homestand on Tuesday when Cole Caufield and the Montreal Canadiens make their annual visit to Rogers Arena. The Stars, meanwhile, will have a few days off before they face the Central Division leader, Winnipeg Jets, at Canada Life Centre on Friday.
