Canucks Outlast Ducks 6-5 in an Overtime Barn-Burner
Vancouver was the better team in Anaheim for most of the night. The Canucks still needed overtime to get out of the building with a 6-5 win, because their own goaltending kept handing the Ducks a way back in.
The chances were lopsided. The Canucks outshot Anaheim 34-23. By expected goals, which measure how many goals a team's chances were worth, Vancouver created 4.75 to Anaheim's 2.70. Nobody rang a post or a crossbar, so every one of those looks either went in or got stopped.
The problem was at the other end. Leevi Meriläinen stopped 18 of 23 shots and saw 5 of 9 high-danger shots get past him. Lukas Dostal wasn't sharp either, allowing six goals on 34 shots. Anaheim's finishers made the most of what they got: A.J. Greer scored two goals on two shots, and Jackson LaCombe set up three in 28:31 of ice time.
For Vancouver, Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored twice on a line with Filip Chytil and Drew O'Connor. Brock Boeser had a goal and an assist on six shots, and Elias Pettersson added two assists. Linus Karlsson fired six shots without scoring.
The one gap in the Canucks' game was the power play, which scored just once in seven chances. Even so, Vancouver earned this one by doing the right things, and this time the result came with it.
