Nilsson, Canucks shut out Senators

OTTAWA -- Anders Nilsson made 32 saves in his first game with the Vancouver Canucks, helping them to a 3-0 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.
Brock Boeser, Alexander Burmistrov and Thomas Vanek scored for the Canucks (2-2-1), who had lost three in a row.
Craig Anderson made 21 saves for the Senators (3-1-2), who had won three straight and lost in regulation for the first time this season.

WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Senators highlights]
Senators captain Erik Karlsson made his season debut. The two-time Norris Trophy winner returned after surgery to repair torn tendons in his foot on June 14. He played 22:25.
Karlsson said he didn't experience any pain.
"No, I feel like I did before the game," he said. "A little bit more tired, which is as expected. Overall, the breathing felt good, the legs felt good and the head was still there. I'm excited to move forward and get things going for real."
Nilsson, 27, signed a two-year, $5 million contract as an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The shutout was the third of his NHL career.
"You're always going out there and try to have a shutout, of course it's a nice bonus, but the most important thing and the thing we need right now is two points," Nilsson said. "That's almost a nicer feeling.
"I felt good all night. Ottawa came out and pushed us back in the first period, so I got to make some saves early and get into the game right away. In the second and third I thought we took over the game and we were the better team."

The Senators outshot the Canucks 17-4 in the first period, but the Canucks took the lead when Boeser scored a power-play goal at 15:29. Senators coach Guy Boucher used his challenge for goaltender interference, but it was ruled Burmistrov did not interfere with Anderson.
It was the first power-play goal allowed by the Senators. They had killed off 15 straight shorthanded situations this season.
Burmistrov put the Canucks ahead 2-0 with 3:31 left in the second period when he deflected Boeser's shot.
The goal came 32 seconds after video review ruled the stick of Canucks forward Brandon Sutter was above the height of the crossbar when he tipped the puck into the net.
Vanek scored with 4:48 left in the third period to make it 3-0. It was his 700th NHL point.
Tuesday marked the beginning of a five-game road trip for Canucks.
"It's huge, especially being on the road here," Vanek said. "This is a team that's rebuilding, trying to learn how to win with a lot of newer faces, younger guys, so this is huge. You've got to win on the road to have success, so against a very good, structured Ottawa team, that's a big win."

Goal of the game

After Karlsson hit the crossbar with 4:55 left in the third period, Vanek got the rebound and scored with a slap shot on a breakaway seven seconds later to make it 3-0.

Save of the game

With the Canucks up 1-0 at 7:09 of the second period, Senators forward Mike Hoffman chased down a long pass behind Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton, but Nilsson dropped to his knees to save Hoffman's shot from the edge of the crease.

Highlight of the game

The Canucks stormed the net during a power play in the first period, and Boeser scored his second goal of the season when he found a loose puck and lifted it over Anderson.

They said it

"It was a nice win, for sure, coming off a homestand where we felt as a group we probably could have squeezed out a few more points. To start a five-game road trip with a win is definitely a nice feeling." -- Canucks coach Travis Green
"Their goalie played outstanding. He's a big man. We knew that he was probably going to stop all of our first shots because of his size. We knew we had to work hard around him to get secondary chances and third chances. We didn't do enough of that, that's for sure." -- Senators coach Guy Boucher

Need to know

Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki left the game because of an upper-body injury after a fight in the second period with Canucks forward Derek Dorsett. … Dorsett played his 500th NHL game.

What's next

Canucks: At the Boston Bruins on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, TVA Sports, NESN, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS, MSG+, NHL.TV)