Andrei Kuzmenko’s first hat trick helps Canucks dump Ducks

Andrei Kuzmenko’s first hat trick helps Canucks dump Ducks

Andrei Kuzmenko recorded his first NHL hat trick and added an assist for the Vancouver Canucks in an 8-5 win against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.

Elias Pettersson tallied a goal and four assists, Bo Horvat notched two goals and an assist, and Spencer Martin made 26 saves for the Canucks, who have won three of four following a seven-game losing streak to start the season.

Troy Terry had a goal and two assists, Ryan Strome and Trevor Zegras each chipped in a goal and an assist, and John Gibson made 39 saves for the Ducks, who remain the only NHL team without a win in regulation this season.

Terry scored a power-play goal at 16:30 of the first period to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.

Horvat tied it 1-1 with 20 seconds left in the opening period. He tipped in a slap shot from Quinn Hughes while on a power play.

The Canucks moved ahead 2-1 at 9:07 of the second period. Pettersson received a centering pass while stationed in front of the Anaheim net and kept the puck away from two defenders before sweeping it past Gibson.

J.T. Miller scored at 13:06 for Vancouver to make it 3-1.

Strome took a feed from Zegras in the right circle and scored with a wrist shot to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 46 seconds left in the second period.

Dakota Joshua got to a loose puck in front of the crease and scored 5:30 into the third period. The Ducks challenged for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld and the Canucks went on a power play for delay of game.

Kuzmenko then scored 14 seconds into the man advantage to make it 5-2.

Anaheim then got within one with consecutive tallies. Max Comtois scored on a breakaway to cut it to 5-3 at 7:51, and Zegras followed with a power-play goal on a long wrist shot to make it 5-4 at 13:35.

Kuzmenko then rattled off two scores in three minutes to put the game out of reach.

He scored his second of the game, on a tip, to make it 6-4 at 14:48. He then completed his hat trick with 3:12 left for a 7-4 lead.

Max Jones cut it to 7-5 with 2:22 left.

Horvat scored short-handed into an empty net with 56 seconds left to make it 8-5; it was his sixth goal in the past three games.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *