VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Adam Henrique and Nicolas Deslauriers each scored two goals and the Anaheim Ducks snapped a four-game winless streak with a 7-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Troy Terry added a goal and an assist, and Richard Rakell and Sam Steel also scored for the Ducks, who were 0-3-1 in their previous four games.
"Every game is a must-win, this one especially," Deslauriers said. "Now we have to do it again next game.”
Trevor Zegras had three assists, and John Gibson stopped 16 shots and picked up an assist on the Ducks’ opening goal.
“All four of our lines did a very, very good job," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. "I thought our D were good, Gibby was good when he needed to be. It was certainly a very good team effort.”
Elias Pettersson had a goal and two assists for the Canucks, whose modest two-game winning streak ended. Tanner Pearson, Quinn Hughes and Conor Garland all had a goal and an assist.
Vancouver's Thatcher Demko allowed five goals on 14 shots before being replaced by Jaroslav Halak early in the second period. Halak finished with nine saves on 11 shots.
“It’s pretty obvious Anaheim was way more of a desperate team, and they knew what was at stake,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “They came out to avenge their four-game losing streak and we were just thinking it was going to be an ordinary game. That’s where it started and then it just unraveled after that.”
The Ducks scored two goals on their first three shots of the game.
Terry collected his team-leading 25th of the season when he deflected a shot from Hampus Lindholm over Demko’s shoulder just 57 seconds in.
Deslauriers made it 2-0 at 3:23 when he tipped a pass from Derek Grant from the corner under Demko’s arm.
The Ducks’ power play went to work after J.T. Miller was called for slashing. Rakell deflected a shot through traffic for his 12th of the season at 14:08.
It was a busy period for Deslauriers. Just 44 seconds into the game, he laid a big hit on Kyle Burroughs that sent the Canucks defenseman crashing into the boards. Burroughs hit the ice favoring his shoulder and didn’t return.
The Ducks led 6-2 after two periods.
With Canucks captain Bo Horvat off for slashing, Henrique scored Anaheim’s second power-play goal of the game at 1:35 of the second, deflecting a shot through traffic.
Steel made it 5-0 at 4:20. With the Canucks’ defense out of position after killing another man-advantage, Steel was left alone in the slot to take a pass from Zegras from behind the net. That goal ended Demko’s night.
The Canucks tried to claw back into the game with Pearson scoring at 4:52. Pettersson ripped a shot past Gibson on a power play at 15:47.
Henrique restored the four-goal lead just over a minute later. Zegras fired a shot from the point that hit the post, then hit Halak on the back and dribbled toward the net. Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn made a diving attempt to stop the puck, but Henrique poked it home.
Deslauriers’ second goal of the night game off a scramble early in the third period. Sam Carrick collected his second assist of the game.
Garland scored his 13th of the season at 10:41, lifting a backhand over Gibson’s shoulder. Hughes blasted a shot through traffic to cap the scoring.
“It just wasn’t good enough by us tonight, against a team in our division,” Horvat said. “We can’t have those, especially going forward if we are going to want to make a push.”
NOTES: The Canucks were outshot 8-2 in the first period. ... Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf missed his second consecutive game with a lower-back injury. ... Vancouver has just one winning streak of three or more games this season.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Host San Jose on Tuesday night to open a stretch of six straight at home.
Canucks: Host Seattle on Monday night in the second of a three-game homestand.
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