Canucks score 6, defeat Maple Leafs to push point streak to 8

VANCOUVER -- Conor Garland had two goals and an assist, Nils Hoglander scored twice, and the Vancouver Canucks extended their point streak to eight games with a 6-4 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson scored consecutive power-play goals 3:31 apart in the third period to put Vancouver ahead by two after Mitchell Marner tied it 4-4 with a short-handed goal early in the period. Vancouver led 3-0 after the first.

Quinn Hughes had three assists and Thatcher Demko made 42 saves for the Canucks (31-11-4), who are 7-0-1 in their past eight.

“We found a way, our power play found a way,” Hughes said. "Contributions from every line, Hoglander going, the Garland line was arguably our best line again, and [Pettersson] and [Miller] on the power play. Big win for us."

William Nylander scored twice, and Marner had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (22-14-8), who have lost five of six (1-4-1). Martin Jones made 15 saves.

“We did a lot of good things, ended up outshooting them pretty significantly in the game,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “But as much as we fight back, which I love, and I liked a lot of things we did to start that second period to get us back in the game, you can't spot that team three goals.”

Hoglander gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 3:06 of the first period by winning a battle with Mark Giordano in front of the net to knock in a rebound. He made it 2-0 after scoring again at 6:00 with a wrist shot short side from inside the far edge of the left circle.

Garland extended it to 3-0 at 12:58 on a wrist shot from inside the left dot after Teddy Blueger got his own rebound off a deflection off the rush that drew Jones out of position.

“We would’ve loved to have it end 3-0, but the fans, this is obviously what they came for -- two high offense teams going at it,” Garland said. “It was a fun game to be a part of and a lot more fun when you come out on top.”

Nylander cut it to 3-1 at 4:53 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left point that went past a screened Demko high glove side.

“I made a mistake on their first goal, obviously, and it kind of started an avalanche there,” Demko said.

Jake McCabe made it 3-2 at 7:26, driving the net to tap in a backdoor pass from Marner off the rush.

“We came in here as a group and knew that was pretty pathetic,” Marner said. “We knew the pace of this game was going to be very high and very competitive, and we didn't bring it in the first period, and I like our response in the second.”

Nylander tied it 3-3 at 8:19 on a wrist shot from the outer edge of the right circle that deflected off the stick of defenseman Carson Soucy and past Demko’s glove.

“Second and third period, I think we took it to them, except for their power play,” Nylander said. “Other than that, we were playing a good game.”

Garland put the Canucks back ahead 4-3 at 19:00, chipping a puck over Jones’ glove from the right edge of the crease.

“That was a bit of a theme for the game with their goals, just them outcompeting us around our net, so obviously didn't like that,” Keefe said. “But aside from that, from the second half of the first period for the remainder of the game, at worst the game was even. For the most part I thought we were the better team.”

Marner tied it 4-4 at 3:13 of the third period on a short-handed breakaway with a shot over Demko’s glove after Brock Boeser couldn’t handle a Pettersson pass at the blue line. Marner was more upset about the power-play goals that followed.

Vancouver finished 2-for-3 on the power play. Toronto was 0-for-5.

“We pride ourselves on helping this team win games and just our special teams in general hasn't been good enough for quite a while now,” Marner said.

Miller gave Vancouver a 5-4 lead at 7:11 on the power play when a hard backdoor pass from Hughes deflected in off his skate. Miller then set up Pettersson for a tap-in at 10:42 on another power play with a pass from the top of the left circle for the 6-4 final.

“It feels like it's been a while since we said the power play won us a game,” Miller said. “I was just really proud of us five for sticking together after [the short-handed goal]. The last thing you want is to give that up, and it was a great play by [Marner]. Those things happen, but I thought our response was really good.”

NOTES: Jones has started 10 of the past 11 for Toronto, but Ilya Samsonov is expected to start Sunday when the Maple Leafs complete their four-game road trip at the Seattle Kraken. … Marner has five points (three goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak. … Blueger had two assists in his 300th NHL game. … Pettersson has 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in his past eight games. … Hoglander set a new NHL career high with his 14th goal of the season.