Tanev scores in OT, Canucks beat Golden Knights 5-4

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks were fired up to snap a three-game losing streak against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Chris Tanev scored at 1:30 of overtime and the Canucks beat the Golden Knights 5-4 on Thursday night.

“I just passed it to Bo (Horvat) and went to the net,” said Tanev. “He made a really great pass. I didn't think it was going to get to me.

“It ended up right on my stick and just went around (Marc-Andre) Fleury and ended up going in.”

Elias Pettersson scored twice, and Antoine Roussel and Tanner Pearson added goals for the Canucks.

Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, Nick Holden and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights.

Jacob Markstrom made 38 saves for Vancouver. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots for Vegas.

The win was Vancouver's second in 10 games against the Golden Knights since Vegas joined the league in 2017-18. The Canucks are 2-7-1 against Vegas in that span.

The Golden Knights got their first power play with 2:30 left in regulation, when Jordie Benn was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Markstrom was solid in net, sending the game into overtime.

The Canucks opened the scoring when Roussel tapped a rebound past Fleury at 2:49 of the first period.

Pearson finished off a give-and-go between Jake Virtanen and Josh Leivo to put Vancouver up 2-0 less than five minutes later as a tripping penalty to Nicolas Hague expired. The goal was Pearson's ninth of the season.

Marchessault got the Golden Knights on the board with 6:02 left in the first, sending a rebound past Markstrom.

The Canucks restored their two-goal lead with 32 second left in the opening period on Pettersson's first of the game.

The Golden Knights outshot the Canucks 13-11 in the first period.

Vegas scored twice in the second. Smith narrowed the lead to 3-2 at 11:01, beating Markstrom after Horvat blocked a shot from William Karlsson.

Leivo was injured barely a minute later when he was pushed into the boards by Holden. No penalty was called on the play, and Holden tied the game with 8:50 left in the second.

Travis Green calmed his team down by calling time out immediately following the goal.

“I think we were a little frustrated for sure,” said Tanev. “They scored two goals in, I don’t know, two minutes, and they were coming at us pretty good. A lot of zone time, shots from everywhere, seemed like they were getting chances almost every shift.

“It was a really good time out by coach to sort of settle us down. I think after that we played pretty well the rest of the game.”

The Canucks regained the lead at 9:19 of the third when Pettersson scored on a wrist shot from the left circle high to the stick side of Fleury for his second goal of the game. Stone tied the game with 4:20 to go.

“It's a good point for us,” said Stone. “We didn't play our best to start the game but overall we dictated a lot of the game, had some chances and we got out power played 4 to 1 so for us to still outshoot our opponent by 10, or whatever it is, shows we played some really good five-on-five hockey.”

NOTES: The Golden Knights were accompanied to Vancouver by their fathers, who watched the game from a luxury box high up in Rogers Arena. The fathers' trip will conclude on Sunday in San Jose. .... Max Pacioretty was named the NHL's first star for the week ending Dec. 15. He and Mark Stone extended their point streaks to six games against Vancouver. ... Thursday's game marked the 1,500th for the Canucks' director of medical services and head athletic therapist, Jon Sanderson. He is currently in his 21st season with the team.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: At San Jose on Sunday.

Canucks: Home against Pittsburgh on Saturday.

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