Stars Lose To Canucks

By Monte Stewart, The Sports Xchange

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Vancouver Canucks improved their coach’s job security Sunday afternoon. 
Markus Granlund’s goal at 1:27 of overtime gave the Canucks a stunning 5-4 comeback victory over the Dallas Stars. 
Vancouver (6-9-1) posted only its second victory in the past 12 games, providing coach Willie Desjardins with a reprieve from speculation about his future for a little. The Canucks were coming off a 1-5 road trip. 
“It was a tough (trip) for us,” said Granlund, who has four goals on the season. “It’s good to be back home, and it was a good win for us. Everybody in this room is sticking together and playing for each other. And that’s a good thing.” 
Granlund fired in a wrist shot on a pass from Brandon Sutter off a faceoff, enabling the Canucks to overcome a two-goal deficit after the second period and another one-goal deficit in the third. With the assist, Sutter made amends for being foiled on a breakaway early in overtime. 
“We stuck with it and kept pushing,” said Sutter, who also scored a rare power-play goal for Vancouver. 
Bo Horvat, former Star Loui Eriksson, and Troy Stecher also tallied for the Canucks in regulation. Stecher registered his first career NHL goal. 
“Overall, our last three or four games we’ve been playing pretty well,” Sutter said. “To come home and get that win is always big. First game after a trip usually has a way of being a tough one, but we found a way to get a win. This was a big boost for us, and we have to keep playing well.” 
Patrick Eaves led the Stars with two goals. Usually a grinder, Eaves now has three goals in his past two games and eight points in his last four games. With 12 points in 15 games, he is well-positioned to surpass the 17 he mustered in 54 contests last season. 
Lauri Korpikoski and Antoine Roussel also scored for the Stars (6-6-4), who took their first loss in three games while missing several injured forwards. 
“I thought we missed some real good opportunities in the first 40 (minutes), from breakaways to a backdoor empty-netter on the power play,” Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. “I could just sense, even late in the second, that the energy of our team was dropping. We’ve had a tough grind here in the last six days. I just thought their skating was a little better than ours going down the stretch.” 
Dallas saw its winning streak against Vancouver end at 10 games. It was the second-longest active head-to-head victory run in the NHL. 
“I don’t know if it was a must-win, but it certainly was a big win for us, and we needed to score some goals,” said Desjardins, whose team has struggled to finish scoring opportunities. “It was good we battled in the third. It was kind of up and down, and I thought we showed great resiliency to stay with it.” 
Stecher, a 22-year-old Richmond, British Columbia, native who began the season in the minors and is on his second call-up, forced overtime as he blasted home a slap shot from just inside the blue line at 18:20 of the third period. 
“It was a good feeling,” Stecher said. “But getting that win on home ice is a lot better feeling. I’m sure you guys can see it throughout the room. The vibes are up, and we feel pretty good.” 
Ruff lamented the rookie’s goal, which came while Vancouver goaltender Ryan Miller was pulled for an extra attacker. 
Roussel broke open a 3-3 deadlock at 11:49 of third period as he slapped the puck in after it got caught underneath Miller’s skates. In the process, Roussel extended his scoring streak to three games. 
Vancouver appeared to tie the game at 12:52 of the third when Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen’s right leg pad and the puck were stuffed into the net. However, Stars coach Ruff successfully challenged the goal on grounds of inadvertent interference with the goaltender, and it was disallowed. 
“The good thing is, we kept going,” Desjardins said. 
Miller recorded 17 saves, while Lehtonen posted 25 saves. 
After Dallas built period leads of 2-1 and 3-1, Eriksson and Sutter, on a power play, scored 2:40 apart early in the third period to create a tie. Eriksson reduced Vancouver’s deficit to 3-2 at 3:26 as his wrist shot squeezed through Lehtonen. Then Sutter fired home a shot from the high slot after taking a pass from Daniel Sedin. 
The power-play marker was Vancouver’s first in 11 games. 
The Canucks played a video tribute to former defenseman Dan Hamhuis, who played his first game in Vancouver after signing as a free agent with the Stars in the offseason. Hamhuis drew an assist as Eaves put Dallas ahead 5:43 into the game after tucking in a loose puck during a scramble. 
Horvat created a 1-1 tie just 22 seconds later as he turned Hamhuis inside out and lifted a high shot over Lehtonen. Korpikoski put the Stars back up 2-1 just 20 seconds later, converting a pass from Radek Faksa on a rush. 
Eaves gave the Stars a two-goal advantage at 15:04 of the second period as he one-timed a cross-ice pass from Seguin. 
“I thought were going to be in tough today,” Ruff said. “We were in tough, (but) we were right there.”