Vancouver Canucks' Elias Pettersson (40), of Sweden, scores against Carolina Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta (32), of Finland, as Ian Cole (28) defends during second period NHL hockey action, in Vancouver on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Elias Pettersson scored and the Vancouver Canucks extended their win streak Sunday with a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Brock Boeser also had a goal for the Canucks (12-15-2), who are undefeated in four straight, all under newly minted head coach Bruce Boudreau.
The Hurricanes (19-7-1) outshot the home side 29-26 but only Martin Necas was able to find the back of the net.
Thatcher Demko made 28 saves for Vancouver and Carolina’s Antti Raanta stopped 24-of-26 shots.
The ‘Canes were playing without star centre Sebastian Aho, who missed the game with an undisclosed illness.
The result snapped a four-game win streak for Carolina, who beat the Oilers 3-1 in Edmonton on Saturday.
The ‘Canes called a 30-second timeout with two minutes left on the game clock and pulled Raanta in favour of an extra attacker.
Demko was forced to make a big kick save on a shot by Andrei Svechnikov with just seconds left on the clock but the Canucks managed to weather the barrage.
Necas’ goal put Carolina on the board early in the third
Vancouver’s Vasily Podkolzin sprawled out on the ice in an attempt to prevent Seth Jarvis’ pass but the centreman still managed to find Necas in front of the Canucks net. Necas flipped a quick backhanded shot at the 2:32 mark.
Vancouver came into the third up 2-0 after Pettersson scored off the rush 7:44 into the second. He took a nice pass from Conor Garland and uncorked a rocket from the hash marks to pad the Canucks’ lead.
The goal was Pettersson’s fifth of the year and his first at even strength.
The visitors had prime chances to even the score in the middle frame.
Jaccob Slavin saw his shot from in tight snatched out of the air by Demko early in the period. Later, Jarvis rang a blast off the post.
The Canucks went into the first intermission up 1-0 thanks to Boeser.
Stationed at the goal-line, J.T. Miller sliced a pass to the right-winger in the high slot. Boeser blasted a wrist shot past Raanta stick side at the 18:29 mark for his seventh goal of the season.
Miller got an assist on the play, extending his point streak to four games. He has a goal and four assists across the stretch.
Svechnikov batted a puck into the Vancouver net earlier in the frame but the goal was quickly waved off for a high stick.
The Canucks will continue their homestand Tuesday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Hurricanes will visit the Wild in Minnesota the same night.
NOTES: Both sides were 0 for 1 on the power play. … Former Canuck Jalen Chatfield played his first game in Vancouver since signing with Carolina as a free agent in July. … Sunday marked the first meeting between the Canucks and ‘Canes since Feb. 2, 2020.