Boeser hat trick lifts Canucks past Lightning for 3rd straight win
Hughes has 3 assists, Demko makes 28 saves for Vancouver
By
Kevin Woodley
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
Boeser scored twice in the second period and completed his fifth career hat trick with his 21st goal of the season into an empty net with 1:18 left in the third. The goal moved him into a tie for the NHL lead with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews.
“It’s obviously really awesome, especially after last season,” said Boeser, who scored 18 in 74 games in 2022-23. “That being said, if I focus on that too much, I feel I get away from my game. I have to continue to focus on what’s giving me success. My main focus every day is working hard and helping my team win.”
Boeser extended his point streak to eight games (13 points; eight goals, five assists), but Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet is more impressed with his defensive evolution.
“He's just a smart guy, he knows the spots to go, and he's sharpened up his defensive game,” Tocchet said. “He knows he still wants to get better at his defensive game but it's night and day from last year, his positional hockey.”
Andrei Kuzmenko scored, Quinn Hughes had three assists and Thatcher Demko made 28 saves for the Canucks (19-9-1), who have won three in a row.
Brayden Point scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves for the Lightning (13-12-5), who were without defenseman Victor Hedman for the first time this season because of an upper-body injury sustained in a 4-3 overtime win at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
“We had some looks and we had we had enough scoring chances to get more than one goal, but we didn't,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “It's tough in this league at times. They kind of shut it down, the goalie was dialed in and we kept pushing.”
Point opened the scoring 1:25 into the first period, tapping the puck into an open net at the back post off a pass by Mikhail Sergachev for a 1-0 lead.
“He made some great saves,” Point said. “I thought we did have some good looks. You get one there and you get a little life, but they beat us on the special teams tonight and it's a big part of the game.”
Kuzmenko tied it 1-1 on the power play at 6:08, one-timing Hughes’ pass under the blocker of Vasilevskiy from the top of the left face-off circle.
“We’ve got some looks recently but haven’t scored [on the power play],” Boeser said. “We talked it out, worked on it this morning in practice and I’m really happy he got that goal.”
Boeser put Vancouver ahead 2-1 at 9:29 of the second period, chipping in a rebound on the backhand from the left side of the crease.
“I was just kind of skating the ice and saw most guys watching Quinn, he’s a hard guy not to. We do the same with [Nikita Kucherov] when he gets the puck,” Boeser said. “You kind of naturally just start looking at him and don’t scan the ice for guys. I thought the high ice was open for a one-timer and it worked out well.”
Boeser made it 3-1 at 16:52 with a one-timer past the blocker from the high slot.
“When we lose the special team war in games, that's tough for us because at times this year, we've fought it a little bit at scoring 5-on-5,” Cooper said.
NOTES: It was Boeser's second natural hat trick of his NHL career (also Oct. 11). The only other player in Canucks history with as many is Petri Skriko (Nov. 18 and 21, 1986). … Hughes tied Dennis Kearns for the most multiassist games by a defenseman in Canucks history (53). … The 2023-24 season marks the second in League history when each of the first two 20-goal scorers (Boeser and Matthews) were U.S.-born players, following 1998-99 (Tony Amonte and John LeClair). … Tampa Bay forward Mitchell Chaffee was minus-1 in 6:56, making his season and Lightning debut after being called up from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. … Steven Stamkos had five shots in 18:00 after missing the game in Seattle with an illness. … Canucks forward Nils Hoglander had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, two assists).
