Bo Horvat scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
“He was a true leader tonight,” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “They were taking it to us a little bit until (Horvat) scored that short-handed goal to start the third period. On the bench, he was vocal. He was a true captain.”
Tanner Pearson contributed a goal and an assist for the Canucks (30-24-7). Brad Hunt, Nils Hoglander, and Juho Lammikko also scored, while J.T. Miller had three assists, extending his point streak to 13 games.
Jack Hughes scored a goal and an assist for the Devils (22-33-5). Ryan Graves and Nathan Bastian also found the net, with Yegor Sharangovich adding two assists.
Thatcher Demko made 32 saves to help end Vancouver’s two-game losing streak.
Horvat, a 26-year-old center, has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in his last 12 games.
“I don’t feel like I’ve changed my game a whole lot from the beginning of the year; it’s just a matter of it going in and things happening,” Horvat said.
Nico Daws stopped 17 of 21 shots for the Devils before being replaced midway through the second period by Jon Gillies, who made eight saves in relief.
New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said the goalie change wasn’t just about Daws’ performance but an attempt to shift momentum.
“Puck went through him on a couple of goals. He’s played well for us. But a couple things there and I thought we fought back well,” Ruff said. “We got a big save from (Gillies) right away and then we had our opportunities to probably change the complexion of the game. But you’ve got to give Demko credit. He made some big saves for them at critical times.”
The win was sweet revenge for Vancouver, which Was routed 7-2 by the Devils in New Jersey on Feb. 28.
Vancouver secured the 6-3 lead midway through the third period when defenseman Luke Schenn sent a long drive toward the New Jersey net, and Lammikko tipped it past Gillies.
The Devils began the third period with over two minutes on the man advantage after Canucks forward Tyler Motte received a double minor for high-sticking Andreas Johnsson late in the second.
Demko made a brilliant glove save at the 1:06 mark to preserve Vancouver’s lead and prevent Hughes from scoring his second goal of the night.
Quinn Hughes — Jack’s older brother — then set up Horvat for a short-handed breakaway, and the Canucks captain scored his 22nd goal of the season, putting Vancouver up 5-3.
Ruff said having the power play split over two periods wasn’t an excuse for losing momentum.
“We got fresh ice, we got fresh bodies, we’ve been able to go over what we want to do, and we made a critical mistake, and that hurt us,” he said.
Quinn Hughes emphasized the importance of the win for playoff positioning rather than personal bragging rights over his brother.
“It was nice to beat him finally, but at this point of the season, we needed a win so badly, it wasn’t really about that,” Quinn Hughes said.
After falling behind by two midway through the second, New Jersey took advantage of an odd play to cut into Vancouver’s lead.
A shot from Sharangovich hit Demko in the mask, and as the goalie scrambled for the rebound, Bastian swatted the loose puck into the net from his knees at 11:55 into the second for his 11th goal of the season.
Pearson gave the Canucks a 4-2 cushion earlier in the period, directing a slap pass from defenseman Tyler Myers past an out-of-position Daws.
The goal prompted the Devils to swap Daws for Gillies.
Just 17 seconds before Pearson scored, Horvat found the back of the New Jersey net.
He forced a turnover at the Vancouver blue line, creating a breakaway, then launched a long shot that trickled through Daws to put the Canucks up 3-2.
“That was just pure I don’t know what I’m doing, to be honest with you,” Horvat said. “I think that was my first slapshot goal. I’m not even lying. I was kind of gas at the end of a shift, and I knew I didn’t have enough strength to throw a good snapshot at him, so I wound up, and luckily, it went in.”
The Devils tied it 4:25 into the second when Jesper Bratt flipped a high pass into the neutral zone. The play unleashed Hughes on a breakaway, and the star center sent a shot under Demko’s arm from the bottom of the slot for his 19th goal.
Graves cut New Jersey’s deficit to one ahead of the first intermission, whipping a shot from inside the faceoff circle that beat Demko at 17:17.
Vancouver went up 2-0 midway through the first when Hoglander jammed in the rebound of Horvat’s shot. It was the Swedish winger’s 10th goal of the season but just his second in the last 26 games.
After a string of slow starts in recent games, the Canucks opened the scoring 3:34 in.
Miller waited patiently in New Jersey territory before slicing a pass to Hunt. The defenseman fired a slapshot from inside the faceoff circle to beat Daws.
The assist extended Miller’s point streak to 13 games, with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) going back to Feb. 12. He is the first Canucks player with a 13-game point streak since Ryan Kessler accomplished the feat in 2010.
Game notes
The Devils were 0 for 3 with the man advantage. The Canucks went scoreless on their lone power play. … New Jersey center Pavel Zacha went hard into the boards early in the first period and stayed on the ice for several moments before skating off with a trainer. He went directly to the dressing room and did not return to the game.
UP NEXT
- Devils: Play at Calgary on Wednesday.
- Canucks: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.
