Sherwood scores with 1:16 left after Suter’s 2nd goal ties it for Vancouver
Canucks at Stars | Recap
DALLAS — Kiefer Sherwood completed the comeback with 1:16 left in overtime for the Vancouver Canucks, who scored three times in the final minute of a five-goal third period to rally for a 6-5 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
The Canucks, who would have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention with a regulation loss, became the first team in NHL history to overcome a three-goal deficit in the final minute of regulation.
“It’s crazy the resilience,” Sherwood said. “I’ve never been part of a team that has so many crazy comebacks, and so much roller coaster come-from-behinds. It says a lot about the group and the quality of players. When adversity hits, we just dig in and guys are able to execute and make stuff happen. Fresh slate come two days in Colorado. We’ll feel good about this but then we’ve got to move on and start to prepare for the next one. We know each and every game is crucial right now.”
Aatu Raty cut it to 5-3 at 19:00 of the third on a shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle before Pius Suter scored twice in the final 30 seconds with Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko pulled for the extra skater. Suter made it 5-4 at 19:30 with a shot from the back door and tied it 5-5 with seven seconds left on a sharp-angled shot from the red line.
Sherwood then won it with a one-timer from the edge of the right circle after Conor Garland won a puck battle with Mathew Dumba and fed him from behind the net.
“That was probably the most fun win I’ve been a part of for a while now,” Vancouver defenseman Victor Mancini said. “I think it really speaks to the testament of our team and the no quit attitude. It shows the type of people we have in the locker room, as well as the players. For me, I felt like my play dipped in the second period and guys are helping me out on the ice and the bench. It makes me feel better and just trying to bring up my energy for the team. It’s really fun to be a part of.”
VAN@DAL: Canucks make late-3rd period comeback with 3 in the final minute
Raty also had an assist, Jake DeBrusk scored, and Conor Garland had three assists for the Canucks (36-29-13), who pulled to within six points of the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference with four games remaining for each team. Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes each had two assists, and Demko made 23 saves.
“It was a good win,” Hughes said. “No quit, it’s been like that all year. I was happy we could find a way to win that.”
Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists, and Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist for the Stars (50-22-6), who are four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division with four games remaining for each team. Jamie Benn had two assists, and Casey DeSmith made 26 saves.
“I’ve won and lost a lot of games in this league, and I don’t think I’ve ever lost one in that fashion before,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “Thankfully it’s not a playoff game. Hopefully we learn from it. It’s unfortunate because it’s going to cloud some of the really good things we did tonight for big portions of that game.
“But you’ve got to play for 60 minutes, and we didn’t. For whatever reason, we didn’t execute down the stretch. It’s disappointing because we did put in some work tonight in a positive direction I thought.”
Mikko Rantanen gave the Stars a 1-0 lead on the power play at 13:48 of the first period when he one-timed the puck from the bottom of the left circle.
Mason Marchment’s power-play goal made it 2-0 at 18:01 on a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle when Benn spotted him from behind the net.
VAN@DAL: Marchment scores PPG against Thatcher Demko
Duchene extended it to 3-0 at 7:28 of the second period after he tapped in a cross-crease pass from Benn at the backdoor on the power play.
“I thought tonight was overall a pretty good game until the last minute of the game,” Rantanen said. “You have a three-goal lead with one minute left and you lose 6-5, it’s crazy. We’ve all got to look in the mirror and try to be better. These things can happen when you’re in the playoffs, you’ve got to play until the end and make strong plays in front of our net, not give easy ones.
“It’s not easy to flip the switch (in the playoffs), that’s for sure, so we’ve got to take some of the things we did at 5-on-5 today, but the ending is very frustrating for sure.”
DeBrusk cut it to 3-1 on the power play just 17 seconds into the third period, banking the puck off the back of DeSmith’s skate.
“Overall, I didn’t think we were that bad,” Vancouver coach Richard Tocchet said.” Obviously, they got the three power-play goals, our [penalty kill] has been unreal all year here so, a couple of unfortunate situations starting behind the eight ball. But I love the fight, honestly. The third period to do that is a character win for the team.”
VAN@DAL: DeBrusk buries PPG past DeSmith
Mancini made it 3-2 on the power play at 4:39 with a shot from the point that deflected off the glove of Dallas forward Mavrik Bourque.
“You’ve got to play 60 minutes,” Benn said. “Just unacceptable by our group to lose that game. Left our goalie out to dry there. [Vancouver] played good. They were working hard. It’s just unacceptable from this group, especially this time of year.”
Bourque gave Dallas a 4-2 lead at 17:15 on a shot from the high slot off a pass from behind the net by Jason Robertson.
Granlund scored into the empty net at 17:39 to make it 5-2.
“I think we’ve been playing well 6-on-5 before that one tonight,” Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell said. “Just learn and make sure that doesn’t happen again; try to look at it in a good way. There’s still room to improve in our game. We just need to get there.”
NOTES: The Canucks scored five goals in the third period for the 10th time in franchise history and first since Nov. 3, 2022. Their most in a single period is six, which they achieved twice (first period Jan. 21, 2006, and first period Jan. 16, 1987). … Marchment played in his 300th career game. … Duchene reached the 30-goal plateau for the fourth time in his career. He is the only active player to hit the 30-goal mark with three different teams (30 with Colorado in 2015-16 and 43 with Nashville in 2021-22.) … Dallas joins Tampa Bay as the only two teams with four 30-goal scorers this season so far.
