Elias Pettersson had a power-play goal and an assist to extend his scoring streak to eight games, quinn hughes had two assists to give him 60 for the season, and the vancouver canucks Beat the Ducks 2-1 on Sunday night at the Honda Center.
JT Miller had a goal and an assist, and Collin Delia made 17 saves to help the Canucks win for the seventh time in eight games.
“We were pretty relentless from the start,” Delia said. “I think that has to be our modus operandi, you know. Just keep our feet moving, be hard on the pucks, support each other. Give credit, you saw it all night, the guys were working for each other.”
ryan strome scored to spoil Delia’s shutout with 6:50 left in the third and john gibson he had 38 saves for the Ducks, who were eliminated from playoff contention.
“In the third quarter, we got a little desperate and we put some drives into the net and we checked hard and we were competitive,” Strome said. “Unfortunately we didn’t put in a 60-minute effort.”
After Pettersson, Miller and Hughes combined for five points in a 3-2 win against the Kings on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, they continued their torrid production by working together to generate the first two goals.
“We played fast, we played skillful. We can make plays,” Pettersson said.
Miller buried a slap shot from above the left circle on a Hughes pass midway through the first.
Pettersson made it 2–0 at 1:31 of the second with a wrist shot into the right circle on the Canucks’ first power play, giving him five goals and seven assists during his streak.
Hughes had the leading assist to become the first NHL defenseman in nearly 30 years with back-to-back 60-assist seasons. Ray Bourque had five such campaigns from 1989-90 through 1993-94, and Paul Coffey had back-to-back seasons in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
“His starts are unbelievable,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said of Hughes, who has 20 assists in his last 20 games. “The Coffeys of the world, the (Scott) Niedermayers, Bourque, are great up-and-coming guys. … And I don’t want to give it to him yet, but he’s coming up that ladder.”
Hughes and Henrik Sedin are the only players in Canucks history with multiple 60-assist seasons. Sedin did it six times.
Pettersson said Hughes’ contributions go far beyond creating offense from the blue line.
“His numbers show it, but he’s made plays all over the ice. And then, I mean, this year he’s taken on more of a leadership role. Playing much better, playing PK a lot, and it’s good for us all over the ice,” Pettersson said.
Another disappointing season
The Ducks will miss the postseason for the fifth straight year, extending the longest drought in franchise history. Prior to this span, no more than three years had gone by without a hockey playoff, beginning with their first three seasons as an expansion team in 1993-94 through 1995-96 and again from 1999-2000 through 2001-02.
“I think everyone understands where we are as a club, a team that is reshaping itself and trying to shape things for the future. But the guys in the locker room had high expectations for us this year and they didn’t deliver. It’s not a place we want to be, but we have to do things the right way to prepare for the future,” defenseman Cam Fowler said.
Grades: Pettersson scored a point for the 10th straight road game, the longest streak by a Vancouver player since Sedin opened the 2013-14 season with two goals and 10 assists in the first 10 road games. … Referee Chris Rooney was not on the ice for the first period due to a flight delay.
Next up for the ducks: Host Calgary on Tuesday night.
