Troy Stecher gets 1st NHL goal as Canucks open homestand by beating Dallas (nikita tryamkin)

nikita tryamkin

Troy Stecher gets 1st NHL goal as Canucks open homestand by beating Dallas

By Carol Schram

Nov 14, 2016 • 2:28 pm

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Sunday November 13 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Dallas Stars 4 (OT)

Markus Granlund scored his fourth goal of the year in overtime to complete the Vancouver Canucks' 5-4 comeback win over the Dallas Stars in a Sunday afternoon matinee at Rogers Arena.

Here are your highlights:

It's a start.

For a change, the schedule actually favoured the Canucks in Sunday's matchup. Though they had a long flight home from Detroit after their last game on Thursday, they had two days off between games for just the third time this season. Meanwhile, the Stars were wrapping up three games in four days on the road and finishing their own stretch of six games in nine nights in six different cities. Dallas was the tired team coming into the game.

So it makes sense that the Canucks started to take over as the game went on. They were outshot 7-6 and down 2-1 at the end of the first period thanks to a crazy 42-second stretch that saw goals from Patrick Eaves, Bo Horvat and Lauri Korpikoski.

Vancouver outshot Dallas 10-7 in the second but the Stars extended their lead to 3-1 on Eaves' second of the game. Then the Canucks went to work in the third. Shots, once again, were 10-7 but this time they outscored their opposition 3-1 on Loui Eriksson's first goal and Rogers Arena (nice goal song - the Kingsmen's classic "Louie, Louie," a Brandon Sutter power-play marker, and the big one—the first of Troy Stecher's NHL career to tie the game with 1:40 left on the clock (also a cool goal song—"The Man" by Aloe Blacc).

Stecher's goal is just the third by a Vancouver defenseman this year. He's earning a chance to stay on the team—and maybe even to stay on the top pairing with Alex Edler—after Chris Tanev returns to the lineup from his injury.

Stecher's goal came with Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Alex Burrows on the ice up front—a combination that seems to be clicking. Bo finished the night with a goal and an assist, Baertschi had an assist and Burrows had two assists—and a third period goal that was disallowed.

Willie Desjardins told Jason Botchford of The Province that Burrows' veteran leadership is making a difference for Horvat and Baertschi.

I think Burrows is good for a young line because he talks, and it kind of gets guys in the right place. He gets thoughts in their head.

If they have a bad shift, he can talk them through it.

Alex Burrows has been really good.

That spark on the Horvat line is going to make it tough for Jake Virtanen to get himself back into the lineup. He's skating as the 13th forward at practice today.

Also solid once again—Nikita Tryamkin. He didn't look good on Antoine Roussel's goal that put the Stars up 4-3 in the third period, but how 'bout this hit on one of hockey's toughest power forwards, Jamie Benn?

Finally—props to the coaching staff for unlocking the secrets of 3-on-3 overtime. Once again, the Canucks basically played keepaway until they scored, this time with Markus Granlund doing the damage for his fourth of the year.

Shots in the extra frame were 4-0 for Vancouver. They're now 3-0 in games that end in overtime and 1-1 in the shootout. That's a huge improvement over last year, when you may remember that they didn't win their first overtime game until December 26 against Edmonton. Up to that point, they'd been 0-7 in OT and 2-2 in the shootout, leaving a lot of points on the table.

After possibly his most endearing week as a member of the Canucks, Ryan Miller's record improves to 2-7-0 on the year, even as his save percentage drops to .899 and his goals against rises to 2.92. Funny how that works.

In addition to picking up two valuable points and taking the heat off their coaching and management groups for the moment, the Canucks also earned some points with fans on Sunday. The game started slowly, but the third period and overtime were perhaps the most entertaining stretch of hockey that has been played at Rogers Arena this year. That should help get some bodies back in the seats!

The Canucks are practicing today ahead of Tuesday's rematch against the New York Rangers. A couple of injured players are getting back on the ice, but not yet ready to rejoin the team for a full practice.

And one player is unexpectedly absent:

Here's how the lines look.

Loui Eriksson started Sunday's game with the twins but swapped with Brandon Sutter in the third period—when the goals started coming. I guess that explains why Willie's going to stick with that look for now.

Finally—don't forget, today is the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which includes former Canucks superboss Pat Quinn being inducted in the Builder category.

I'm so pleased to see Pat's daughter Kalli continuing to represent for her father.

The ceremony airs tonight at 5 p.m. PT on TSN2.

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