Canucks rally past Stars in overtime

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks had plenty of opportunities to pack it in against the Dallas Stars on Sunday after coming off a disappointing six-game road trip.
Instead they rallied twice in the third period for their second win in the past 12 games.
Rookie defenseman Troy Stecher scored his first NHL goal with 1:40 left in the third period to tie it, Markus Granlund scored 1:27 into overtime and the Canucks ended a 10-game losing streak against the Stars with a 5-4 win at Rogers Arena.

WATCH: All Stars vs. Canucks highlights
"I don't know if it was a must win but it certainly was a big win for us," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said.
Granlund scored the winning goal after Brandon Sutter won an offensive zone faceoff. Granlund pounced on the loose puck and beat Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen over the glove with a wrist shot.
"It was a tough [road trip] for us, it's good to be back home and it was a good win for us," Granlund said. "Everybody in this room is sticking together and playing for each other."

Loui Eriksson and Sutter scored for the Canucks 2:40 apart early in the third period to tie it 3-3, but Antoine Roussel gave the Stars a 4-3 lead after a lucky bounce with 8:11 left in the third.
Burrows appeared to tie it again 1:03 later but Dallas challenged for goalie interference and the call was overturned because Burrows pushed Lehtonen's pad into the net with the puck.
"The good thing is we kept going," Desjardins said. "That could have been enough because we've had lots of setbacks."
Stecher tied it with goalie Ryan Miller pulled for an extra attacker. He skated around Jamie Benn at the point and beat Lehtonen with a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle.

"It was a good feeling but getting that win on home ice is a lot better feeling," Stecher said.
Bo Horvat also scored and Miller made 17 saves for the Canucks (6-9-1).
Patrick Eaves scored twice, Tyler Seguin had three assists and Lehtonen made 25 saves for the injury-riddled Stars (6-6-4), who failed in their attempt to win three straight games for the first time this season.
"We were right there," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We made a little mistake on the empty-net goal on coverage going out to the point. If we played that better, that puck definitely doesn't go in."

Goal of the game

Daniel Sedin took a pass from Henrik Sedin on a power play rush and quickly passed it over to Sutter cutting into the slot for a quick wrist shot early in the third period. It was the first goal in 11 games for the top power-play unit.
"We haven't really had the success we want on the power play but we talked about finding ways to score and one of the ways was off the rush and Danny and Hank made a great play," Sutter said.

Save of the game

Miller robbed Roussel twice early the third period, gloving a high shot alone in tight and kicking out another from the slot. Eriksson started the comeback one minute after the pad save.

Unsung moment of the game

Dallas defenseman Jordie Benn, who had just missed a wide open net at the end of a power play, saved a goal by swiping away a wraparound attempt by Burrows.

Highlight of the game

Knocked to the ice in front of the net, Seguin still managed to sweep the loose puck to Dan Hamhuis at the point and his shot bounced to Eaves for the opening goal. Seguin had two more assists and has two goals and six assists during a five-game point streak.

They said it

"I could just sense, even late in the second, that the energy of our team was dropping. We've had a tough grind here in the last six days. I just thought their skating was a little better than ours going down the stretch." -- Dallas coach Lindy Ruff on the Stars playing their third game in four days to wrap up a five-game road trip
"We came in here after the first period and some things were said from some of the leadership guys and that's huge for myself and for the rest of the guys in the room, with the young guys that we got, that it's unacceptable to keep losing." -- Canucks rookie Troy Stecher

Need to know

Stars forward Patrick Sharp missed his 12th game but resumed skating this week and could return when Dallas opens a four-game homestand Tuesday. … The Canucks recalled forward Jake Virtanen from Utica of the American Hockey League on Sunday but he didn't play.

What's next

Canucks: Home against the New York Rangers on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, MSG, NHL.TV)
Stars: Home against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, MSG+, NHL.TV)