Vancouver Canucks' Andrei Kuzmenko (96) scores against Dallas Stars goalie Matt Murray (32) as Esa Lindell (23) defends while Ryan Suter (20) and Vancouver's J.T. Miller (9) watch during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – J.T. Miller scored and notched an assist, lifting the Canucks to a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
The result extend Vancouver’s win streak to a season-high five games.
Phillip Di Giuseppe, Andrei Kuzmenko, Anthony Beauvillier and Guillaume Brisebois – with his first NHL goal – also filled the net for the Canucks (29-32-5). Brock Boeser registered three assists and Conor Garland had two.
The Stars (37-18-13) got a goal and an assist from Jamie Benn, while Wyatt Johnston scored his 18th of the season and Miro Heiskanen contributed a pair of helpers.
Thatcher Demko made 25 saves for Vancouver and Dallas’s Matt Murray stopped 15-of-20 shots in his second NHL start.
The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Stars, who took a 5-2 victory over the Kraken in Seattle on Monday.
Miller sealed the score with a highlight-reel shot 16:59 into the third period. The centre deftly moved the puck from his skate to his stick and blasted a one-timer past Murray for his 25th goal of the season on his 30th birthday.
Brisebois scored 4:09 into the third, sending a one-timer soaring past Murray from the hash marks to put Vancouver up 4-2.
Selected by the Canucks in third round of the 2015 draft, the 25-year-old defenceman has long toiled in the minors. Tuesday marked his 22nd NHL game over six seasons of professional hockey.
Dallas closed out the second with a power-play marker after Di Giuseppe was sent to the box for closing his hand over the puck.
Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson got a short-handed breakaway, but Murray made a right-pad stop and Heiskanen streaked back down the ice with the rebound.
He chipped a pass to Benn and the veteran winger sent a blast past Demko from the top of the slot to make it 3-2 with five seconds left in the period. The goal was Benn’s 29th of the campaign.
Dallas was 1 for 3 with the man advantage Tuesday while Vancouver went 1 for 3.
Beauvillier put the Canucks up 3-1 midway through the second, stretching his stick out and redirecting Christian Wolanin’s long bomb into the Dallas net for his 16th goal of the year 11:53 into the period.
A slick pass from Benn helped put the visitors on the board less than a minute into in the middle frame.
The Stars captain fed Johnston and the rookie fired a shot past Demko 48 seconds into the period, cutting Vancouver’s lead to 2-1.
The Canucks got off to a speedy start Tuesday with two goals on their first three shots of the night.
Kuzmenko tallied his 33rd of the season six minutes into the game with a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle after Jani Hakanpaa was called for interference.
Boeser got an assist on the play, marking his 300th regular-season NHL point.
The right-winger set up Vancouver’s first strike earlier in the frame, sending a pass to Miller, who spotted Di Giuseppe beside the net and put the puck on his tape. Di Giuseppe tapped it in backdoor to open the scoring with his third goal of the season at the 1:35 mark.
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE
The game wrapped a six-game homestand that saw the Canucks go 5-1-0 and improve to 16-17-1 at Rogers Arena.
GONE STREAKING
Heiskanen hit the score sheet for a career-high eighth straight game. The Finnish defenceman has three goals and 11 assists across the stretch. Kuzmenko (five goals, one assist) and Pettersson (two goals, five assists) extended their point streaks to five games.
INS AND OUTS
Stars coach Pete DeBoer said earlier Tuesday that winger Mason Marchment was sent back to Dallas to be assessed by doctors after leaving Monday’s game with a lower-body injury. Luke Glendening slotted back into Dallas’ lineup after missing 11 games.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Kick off a three-game road trip against the Coyotes in Dallas on Thursday.
Stars: Visit the Oilers in Edmonton on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2023.
