Pettersson hat trick boosts Canucks to OT win against Senators

OTTAWA -- Elias Pettersson completed his first NHL hat trick 1:38 into overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday.

"If you work hard and believe in something, I think everything is possible," said Pettersson, who leads NHL rookies with 42 points (22 goals, 20 assists) and was named to the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game before the game. "This has always been my dream, what I've always been working for, growing up. Now I'm here and living my dream and playing in Vancouver."
Pettersson scored the winner with a high wrist shot from the inside of the left face-off circle off a pass from Brock Boeser on a 2-on-1.
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Senators highlights]
"Good to see my fellow Swede get three goals," Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom said. "He (hit) some crossbars today too, so could've been even more goals. He's a competitor, loves to score goals and loves to win, so we're happy to have him."
Sven Baertschi had a goal and an assist, Alexander Edler matched his NHL career high with three assists, and Markstrom made 30 saves for Vancouver (20-19-4), which has won nine of its past 13 games.

"This was one of those games where [Markstrom] wasn't getting a lot of work early," Canucks coach Travis Green, "and those are hard games for goalies, especially when you look and the shots are what they are and you know that he's going to have to make some big saves. And that's part of the maturity that he's shown. He was good in the second half."
Mark Stone and Matt Duchene each had a goal and an assist, and Marcus Hogberg made 41 saves for the Senators (15-21-5), who have lost six games in a row.
"We can't expect to win giving up [45] shots, or whatever it was," Stone said. "Our goaltender was really the only reason we had a chance tonight. He's given us three great efforts for a guy who's playing his first three games in the National Hockey League."
Stone tied the game 3-3 with 50 seconds left when he one-timed a pass from Ryan Dzingel.

Baertschi put the rebound of an Edler shot into an open net from the top of the crease on the power play to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 8:48 of the second period.
Duchene scored on the rebound of a Bobby Ryan shot on the power play to tie it 1-1 at 12:27.
Pettersson scored his first goal of the night with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle off a pass from Boeser on the rush to make it 2-1 at 15:26.
Pettersson scored with a one-timer from the top of the right circle on the power play five minutes into the third period to make it 3-1.
"He was on tonight," Green said. "What are you going to say? Big day for him. Gets a hat trick, All-Star selection. He was dialed in. These last couple games, like I said, in New Jersey, he had that look that he's just getting better."
Ottawa cut it to 3-2 at 10:51 when Christian Wolanin scored his first goal of the season with a wrist shot from the slot.

They said it

"It was awesome. [Elias Pettersson's] had so many chances to get hat tricks this year, but to see him finally get that third one, it's a special moment for him. It's not surprising. He's going to have a lot more hat tricks down the road." -- Canucks forward Brock Boeser

"[Anders Nilsson] actually called me right before I was getting ready to have my pregame nap. He called me and told me he was in shock. He is a really good friend, so it's tough. I've been there, he's been there before. I've never been there for two goalies just swapping teams at the morning skate. … The Swedes, they're pretty close here. We celebrated Christmas together a couple weeks ago. For sure, it's all family, all great people. He'll be missed, for sure." -- Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom on goalie Anders Nilsson being traded by Vancouver to Ottawa on Wednesday
"The easy way out in the situation with the way things have been going would be to roll over and say, 'Darn, not our year, not our time, not our stretch,' but you've got to take some pride in the effort and the battle we showed here." -- Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki

Need to know

The Senators acquired Nilsson and forward Darren Archibald from the Canucks for goalie Mike McKenna, forward Tom Pyatt and a sixth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. ... With his seventh game-winning goal of the season, Pettersson passed Pavel Bure (six in 1991-92) to establish a new Canucks rookie record. ... Vancouver forward Josh Leivo will be re-evaluated Thursday after he left the game at 9:12 of the first period with an upper-body injury. ... Edler previously had three assists April 9, 2015, against the Arizona Coyotes and Feb. 7, 2009, against the Chicago Blackhawks.

What's next

Canucks: At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, SNP, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN5, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)