Demko makes 27 saves, Canucks shut out Stars

VANCOUVER -- Thatcher Demko made 27 saves for the Vancouver Canucks in a 2-0 win against the Dallas Stars at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

It was the second shutout of the season for Demko and his fifth in the NHL.

“It feels great to see that commitment level, and you can tell guys are playing for one another and it's a special feeling when that takes over the room,” Demko said. “We know we’ve been playing some good hockey. Obviously, we still have to continue to grow, that's been the message for the leadership group. So, it's one game at a time and enjoy tonight, but get back to work.”

Elias Pettersson scored to extend his point streak to five games, and Pius Suter also had a goal for the Canucks (8-2-1), who extended their point streak to seven games (6-0-1).

“They’re a good and tough team over there,” Pettersson said. “We executed very good and Demko was good in net, again.”

Jake Oettinger made 26 saves for the Stars (7-2-1), who had won two straight.

“There wasn't a lot of room out there,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “We had a couple opportunities to get the first goal, which would have been critical. It was one of those nights where whoever gets that first goal, it's a big advantage because it looked from the start like neither goalie was going to give up a lot.”

Suter put Vancouver ahead 1-0 at 4:21 of the second period, skating into the slot and taking a backdoor pass that deflected off the stick of Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen. It was Suter’s second straight game with a goal after not scoring in the first nine.

Pettersson made it 2-0 at 15:54 of the second period, scoring into an open net off a cross-ice pass from defenseman Filip Hronek.

Pettersson has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during his point streak and is tied with New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes for the NHL scoring lead with 20 points (six goals, 14 assists).

“There's no goal if he does not make that fake shot and pass,” Pettersson said of Hronek, who has eight assists during a six-game point streak. “I saw he looked over, so I was hoping for him to find me there, which he did. A very good pass.”

The Stars outshot the Canucks 9-6 in the third period.

“We had our looks here and there,” Dallas forward Craig Smith said. “At times, it seemed like we had a little bit of momentum and maybe we didn't have everyone around the puck quite as much as we'd hoped.”

Dallas forward Matt Duchene left the game after taking a hit from Canucks defenseman Ian Cole at 18:12 of the second period. DeBoer did not have an update after the game. 

NOTES: Pettersson (11 games) is the third player in Canucks history to score at least 20 points in the first 11 games of a season or fewer, joining Tony Tanti (10) and Patrik Sundstrom (11). … Vancouver is 7-0-0 when scoring first this season. … It was the first time in six road games that Dallas failed to get a point (4-1-1). … Vancouver has won six in a row against Dallas.