Miller has goal, 2 assists to help Canucks defeat Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- J.T. Miller had a goal and two assists, and Danton Heinen scored twice for the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday.

Miller had been uncertain to play because of an undisclosed injury sustained in a 3-0 win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Conor Garland had a goal and an assist, and Quinn Hughes and Kiefer Sherwood each had two assists for the Canucks (3-1-2), who won their third straight and finished their four-game road trip 3-1-0. Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves.

“Usually people say that last game on the road is always the toughest,” Vancouver coach Rich Tocchet said. “I thought the guys for the most part stayed in it. Obviously, when you score six goals, you’ve got a good chance of winning the hockey game.”

Ryan Donato, Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi scored, and Petr Mrazek made 24 saves for the Blackhawks (2-4-1), who have lost three of four.

“Start was unfortunate,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “When you get scored on the first shift you kind of get on your heels. Obviously, they must’ve sensed that. They did a really good job of moving in our O-zone and created a lot of confusion for us.

“I thought we settled in again and battled and got ourselves on the board. Battled again in the second period. But that’s the same old story. We can’t fall behind, especially at home.”

Heinen gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead 21 seconds into the first period. Sherwood picked up the puck in the offensive zone along the right-wing boards and passed across to Teddy Blueger, who fed Heinen in the slot, where he scored with a shot to the blocker side.

“It was a good forecheck by my linemates and a good hold there at the point,” Heinen said. “They made two great plays, and I was lucky enough to have an empty net for it to go in.

“It (scoring early) gets you going a little bit. You want to always be ready from the start, but yeah, you’ve got to be honest, when it goes in, you definitely get a little more jump.”

Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said the early goal had a negative effect on his team.

“Especially our line, we pride ourselves on starting on time, and we didn't get the job done on the first shift,” he said. “It's disappointing on my end and just as a team, because it sets the tone for a lot of the game. I didn't think we had any emotion after that.”

Miller made it 2-0 on the power play at 6:01. He got the rebound of Hughes’ shot off the end boards and scored from the right side of the net.

“I just think it’s that my momentum is carrying me that way, so it’s nice for it to bounce off the wall,” Miller said.

Donato brought the Blackhawks to within 2-1 at 9:25, scoring from the slot after taking a backhand feed from behind the net from Jason Dickinson, who was falling to the ice.

Heinen’s second goal made it 3-1 at 10:46 when Filip Hronek’s wrist shot from the right point deflected in off Heinen’s skate at the back door. The goal was upheld on video review after the Blackhawks challenged for offside.

Heinen’s two goals were his first for Vancouver. He signed a two-year, $4.5 million contract ($2.25 million average annual value) with the Canucks on July 1.

Hall cut it to 3-2 at 13:29 when he put a wrist shot past Lankinen’s glove from the slot after a Vancouver turnover. It was the 700th point of Hall’s NHL career.

Garland then put the Canucks up 4-2 at 15:17 from the bottom of the left circle after Elias Pettersson collected a rebound in front and passed to him.

Brock Boeser pushed it to 5-2 by redirecting a Miller pass on the power play at 10:29 of the third period, and Pius Suter extended the lead to 6-2 at 10:58.

Bertuzzi put in a rebound at the side of the net during a 5-on-3 power play at 14:04 for the 6-3 final.

“I like that fact that we scored six goals, and it’s nice to get some offense through the depth of the team,” Tocchet said. “It’s nice to get power-play goals. So yeah, overall you’re happy. Overall I’m happy with the game.”

NOTES: Lankinen extended his season-opening point streak to four games (3-0-1). The only other goaltenders to start their Canucks tenure with a four-game point streak of any kind are Spencer Martin (six games in 2021-22), Jason LaBarbera (four games in 2008-09), Johan Hedberg (four games in 2003-04) and Bob Essensa (four games in 2000-01). Lankinen signed a one-year, $875,000 contract with Vancouver on Sept. 21. … Forward Philipp Kurashev was a healthy scratch for the Blackhawks because of performance reasons, according to Richardson. Kurashev had one shot on goal and was minus-2 in 15:48 of ice time during a 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. … Hall has 268 goals and 432 assists in 839 games. … Chicago activated defenseman Artyom Levshunov from injured reserve and assigned him to Rockford of the American Hockey League. The No. 2 pick by the Blackhawks in the 2024 NHL Draft, Levshunov said he fractured his right foot blocking a shot during a 3-on-3 tournament in the offseason. Earlier Tuesday, he took part in his first practice with Chicago since the injury.