Garland ties it late, Canucks top Devils in shootout in Demko’s return

NEWARK, N.J. -- Conor Garland tied it with 36 seconds left in the third period, and Thatcher Demko made 22 saves in his first start in more than a month for the Vancouver Canucks in a 4-3 shootout win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Monday.

Garland tied it 3-3 with Demko pulled for the extra attacker on a goal-mouth scramble in the slot. Jonathan Lekkerimaki then scored in the fourth round of the shootout to clinch it for Vancouver.

"I think someone tipped it and it hit the post, came out, and then everyone took a whack at it," said Canucks forward Pius Suter, who scored in the first period and had the primary assist on Garland’s goal. "It just went over the line and that's the only thing that matters."

Demko, who missed 15 games, was activated from injured reserve and played for the first time since Feb. 8, when he sustained a lower-body injury midway through the first period of a 2-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"You want to come in and contribute," Demko said. "The guys have been doing so well, competing every night, and you certainly don't want to come in and contribute the wrong way so huge fight from us, coming down to the last minute there and getting the extra point. So I'm just super proud of the team."

Lekkerimaki also scored in regulation for the Canucks (33-26-12), who had lost two in a row and are 2-2-1 in their past five games.

"It was a gut feeling (by goalie coach Marko Torenius) to have Lekkerimaki go in the shootout. That wasn't me," Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. "Marko radioed [assistant coach Yogi Svejkovski], ‘Let's go with Lekkerimaki,’ so, obviously, a great choice."

The Canucks pulled within three points of the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with one game in hand.

Timo Meier scored twice, and Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves for the Devils (37-28-7), who have lost three in a row and are 1-3-1 in their past five.

"It's disappointing, but I love the fight of our team," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "I thought we played a good game, but we just made mistakes. On their first and second goals, we exposed the slot area. Normally we do a good job there, but today we gave up too much space and it cost us two goals. I thought our guys played hard and it was a very important point."

New Jersey is third in the Metropolitan Division, seven points ahead of the New York Islanders and New York Rangers.

Suter gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 10:09 of the first period on a one-timer from the slot off a pass by defenseman Marcus Pettersson from along the left-wing boards.

"[Suter's] played good hockey," Tocchet said. "I've moved him up and down the lineup from first line to second line and fourth line. He's been everywhere and he's a smart guy; he's actually like another assistant coach for us."

Meier tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 10:24 of the second period, jamming in his own rebound at the right post after a backhand pass by Dawson Mercer from the slot.

"I thought we did a lot of good things, but we talked about being consistent and if you want to win a game, you have to be consistent for 60 minutes," Meier said. "If you're just consistent for 59:30, you're going to pay for it. At least we got one point, but it's frustrating to lose like this."

Meier put New Jersey ahead 2-1 at 11:02 of the third period with his second goal of the game, a snap shot at the left post after Brenden Dillon’s attempt from the right circle banked off the end boards to him.

Lekkerimaki scored 45 seconds later on a quick shot from the slot to tie it 2-2.

Erik Haula gave the Devils a 3-2 lead at 13:25 on a backhand in the slot to extend his goal streak to three games (three goals).

"I mean, every game is big, so every win right now is huge," Demko said. "We know that. We're ready for that. We've kind of had that mentality. I could feel it in the room the last couple of weeks and there's no turning down now."

NOTES: Vancouver forwards Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander each returned to Vancouver with an undisclosed injury and will not be with the team for the remainder of the road trip. ... Devils center Nico Hischier had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games (four goals, four assists).