Canucks score four in third, rally past Maple Leafs again

VANCOUVER -- Tanner Pearson scored two goals in the third period, and Braden Holtby made 37 saves to help the Vancouver Canucks sweep a two-game set against the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 6-3 win at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Brandon Sutter scored two goals, and Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists for Vancouver (18-18-3), which won its first two games back from an 18-day pause due to a COVID-19 outbreak when 22 players and four staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Canucks won 3-2 in overtime Sunday in their first game since March 24. They came from behind in each game.
"We could have folded coming off what we just came off of, and I'm just really proud of the guys right now," Hughes said. "It's just a testament to who we have in the locker room."
Holtby, who had started only once in 11 games dating to March 2 before contracting COVID-19, made the save on 74 of 79 shots in the two games against the Maple Leafs.
"Obviously, 'Holts' was a guy that battled it," Pearson said. "To come in and play the way he has the past two has been outstanding."
John Tavares scored two goals, and David Rittich made 23 saves for Toronto (28-13-5), which has lost five in a row (0-3-2) after going 9-0-1 in the previous 10.
"I'm taking full responsibility for this game," said Rittich, who allowed two goals on long shots in the third period. "I think the players did a great job. They got three goals for me, and I just didn't respond. I've just got to get better."
Adam Brooks
put Toronto ahead 3-2 with a shorthanded goal 3:10 into the third period, but Nils Hoglander scored on a shot through the legs of Rittich from the top of the left face-off circle to tie it 3-3 at 6:43.

Pearson scored on the rebound of a J.T. Miller shot on a power play at 9:48 to put the Canucks ahead 4-3, and then made it 5-3 on a long shot under Rittich's left pad at 13:36.
"I don't know what happened in the third," said Rittich, who is 0-1-1 since being acquired in a trade from the Calgary Flames on April 11. "I have to figure it out."
Sutter scored his second goal shorthanded into an empty net with 36 seconds left for the 6-3 final.
"A lot of people were thinking that we couldn't win either one of these games, and our team is here to win," Canucks coach Travis Green said.
Toronto is in first place in the seven-team Scotia North Division, four points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets. Vancouver is sixth, eight points behind the fourth-place Montreal Canadiens with four games in hand. The top four teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"In order for us to have a chance we just have to approach every game as a must-win," Holtby said. ""This shows that we're not out of it. I think we're kidding ourselves if we think two games is going to be enough. These two games we needed to win them in order to stay in it and now it's get back to work, keep pushing if we want an honest chance of competing down the stretch."
Tavares put Toronto ahead 1-0 at 16:55 of the first period on a play created by William Nylander, who was questionable to play after being late for a team meeting and being held out of his usual role in practice Monday. Nylander, who had two assists, said he missed a text message about the meeting.
Sutter tied it 1-1 at 5:33 of the second period when he scored on a rebound, and Hughes put the Canucks ahead 2-1 at 10:08 with a shot from the top of the left circle that deflected off Mitchell Marner's stick over Rittich's glove.

Tavares tied it 2-2 on the power play at 17:14 with a high shot from the left face-off dot that Holtby couldn't see around a screen by Nylander.
Tavares has four goals and five assists during a six-game point streak.
"We did a lot of good things again," Tavares said. "We created opportunities, we grabbed the lead, and we have to do a better job of holding that. It happened to us last game, it happened here tonight. We have to find a way to finish here."
NOTES: Toronto defenseman Zach Bogosian left the game at 9:08 of the second period with an upper-body injury after falling awkwardly into the end boards. "It looks like he's definitely going to miss some time," coach Sheldon Keefe said. … Vancouver forward Antoine Roussel did not play after the first period because of a lower-body injury. Green did not have an update. … Forward Matthew Highmore was plus-2 with one shot on goal and one blocked shot in 15:54 in his Canucks debut after being acquired in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks on April 13 and serving a seven-day quarantine.