VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Dakota Joshua scored two goals and the Vancouver Canucks secured a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, one day after locking in a playoff spot.
Brock Boeser scored a power-play goal in the first period for the Canucks, and J.T. Miller had two assists.
The Ducks scored twice in the third period through Olen Zellweger and Mason McTavish.
Vancouver goalie Arturs Silovs made 20 saves in his first NHL game since March 6, 2023.
Lukas Dostal stopped 27 of 30 shots for the Ducks, who were coming off a 6-1 loss to the Oilers in Edmonton and had lost their fifth game in a row.
“I thought overall we put some pressure on them. I thought the whole game was pretty competitive from us,” said Zellweger, who had his parents in the stands. “Not where we wanted at the end, but I’m sure we’ll continue to build on our effort and competitiveness here.”
The Canucks are still leading the Pacific Division standings, six points ahead of the Oilers. Vancouver didn't play on Saturday when it secured its first playoff spot since 2020.
Miller said that earning a spot in the playoffs is only part of the team's plan.
“We need to focus on the next game more importantly right now and not look ahead because, if we play like we did tonight we’re going to lose most games,” he said. “So we need to make sure that we’re focused on the present, not worried about (playoffs.)”
After allowing two goals in the third period, the Canucks controlled the game against the Ducks during the second half of the final period.
Conor Garland assisted in the game-winning goal with 2:13 left on the clock, sending a blind backhanded pass to Joshua from the end boards. Joshua scored his second goal of the game to put Vancouver up 3-2.
Ducks coach Greg Cronin called the result “a shame.”
“We get a power play with five minutes to go in the game and we don’t get a shot on net. You get some good fortune there and we don’t capitalize on that, and then it’s a cardinal sin — you don’t leave the front of the net when the puck is behind your net,” he said.
“You just can’t give those goals up and it just cost us the game.”
Anaheim got a prime opportunity to score the game winner when Noah Juulsen was called for tripping 14:09 into the third period. The Canucks killed off the penalty without the Ducks registering a single shot on goal.
Vancouver was 2 for 4 on the power play Sunday while Anaheim went 0 for 4 with the man advantage.
Zellweger scored 3:37 into the final period, sending a shot over the netminder’s glove from the bottom of the faceoff circle for his first NHL goal.
Just over a minute later, Gustav Lindstrom tried to wrap a shot around the Vancouver net and an unmarked McTavish was there to pick up the puck. The Ducks center slammed a wrist shot in behind Silovs to tie the score at 2.
Sunday concluded a nine-game homestand during which the Canucks went 5-3-1. Vancouver has a 25-9-4 record at Rogers Arena.