Canucks Beat Stars in Overtime with 3 Goals in a Minute
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By Doug Hirdle
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Summary:
- The Canucks stunned the Stars 6–5 on Tuesday night after trailing by two with under a minute left.
- Pius Suter scored twice in the final minute to tie the game.
- Kiefer Sherwood brought the victory when he scored with 1:16 left in overtime.
In what proved to be one of the craziest NHL game finishes in recent years, the Vancouver Canucks pulled a historic comeback against the Dallas Stars, scoring thrice in the last 60 seconds of regulation.
Then, Kiefer Sherwood buried the game-winner in overtime and claimed a 6-5 victory for Rick Tocchet’s side.
They Flipped the Script
Down 5-2 with a minute left on the clock, things looked all but over for Vancouver on Tuesday night, until they flipped the script completely.
Aatu Raty sparked the rally with a goal at the one-minute mark, followed by two more from Pius Suter with the goalie pulled. Suter’s second goal came with just 5.2 seconds remaining and tied the game at 5-5.
According to the Canucks, it’s the first time in NHL history that a team has scored three goals in the final minute of regulation.
The overtime winner was just as dramatic. Conor Garland spotted Kiefer Sherwood wide open in the slot and fed him a perfect pass from behind the net.
Sherwood didn’t hesitate, firing a one-timer past Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith to complete the stunning comeback.
The Canucks also got power-play goals earlier in the third from Jake DeBrusk and Victor Mancini, helping to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. Thatcher Demko stopped 23 shots in net.
For the Stars, Mikko Rantanen, Mason Marchment, and Matt Duchene all scored on the power play in the opening two periods.
Duchene became the fourth Dallas player to reach 30 goals this season, putting them alongside Tampa Bay as the only teams with that many 30-goal scorers.
In the final minutes, Mavrik Bourque and Mikael Granlund added goals, Granlund’s being an empty-netter. The latter also tallied two assists.
Rare Comeback Stat for the Canucks
Vancouver improved to 2-20-5 when trailing after two periods, which is a particularly rare comeback statistic for a team that has had a hard time clawing back this year.
Despite the victory, Quinn Hughes’ team is currently sitting at 6-11 as a result of its struggles in overtime this season.
The late collapse placed Dallas just four points behind Winnipeg in the Central Division. Up next, Pete DeBoer’s team has a key matchup against the Jets on Thursday.
The Canucks will head to Colorado for their final road game of the season.
