NEW YORK (AP) - The Vancouver Canucks broke through with their biggest scoring outburst of the season, got a strong defensive effort and some big saves from their goalie.
Indeed, it took a complete team effort to end their long losing streak.
Alexandre Burrows scored twice in the third period, and Henrik Sedin and Sven Baertschi each had a goal and an assist to help the Canucks snap a nine-game skid with a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
Loui Eriksson also scored for the Canucks, who were 0-8-1 with eight straight regulation losses since opening the season with four wins. Bo Horvat had two assists and Jacob Markstrom finished with 23 saves as Vancouver won for the first time since beating Buffalo on Oct. 20.
“I thought we played the right way,” Burrows said. “We did a lot of good things defensively at the lines. We pressured a really good team, a fast team, and on the D side, we made some good plays, good reads. … (Markstrom) played great again and it’s a big team win.”
The Canucks, outscored 28-9 with four shutouts in the previous eight games, had their most goals since a 4-3 overtime win against Carolina on Oct. 16 in the second game of the season.
Burrows took advantage of a loose puck to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead at 9:21 of the third. Henrik Lundqvist made a sprawling save on a shot in close by Horvat, but the puck stayed out at the right side as several players jabbed at it before Burrows knocked it in for his first of the season.
“It was nice, especially at that time in the game,” Burrows said. “We’re in a situation now where we (hadn’t) won in a while, so any time you can score it makes it feel even better.”
Rick Nash, Pavel Buchnevich and Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers, who had won five straight while scoring at least five goals in each game. Buchnevich also had two assists.
Antti Raanta stopped 20 shots, though he left for 6:19 in the third period after being run into by the Canucks’ Markus Granlund. Lundqvist made four saves on six shots while filling in.
“They were a desperate team and they played like it tonight,” Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said. “They won more puck battles than us and they had the puck a little bit more than us. And when they had opportunities to score, they beared down and capitalized.”
Baertschi put Vancouver ahead by two as he tipped in a centering pass by Jack Skille for his first of the season with 6:52 left. Burrows added an empty-netter with 3:06 remaining to make it 5-2, and Zibanejad scored for the Rangers with 59 seconds to go to cap the scoring.
“That’s how you score goals in this league,” Eriksson said. “You need to be hungry in front of the net. I thought we stepped up really well today. It was nice to get the win.”
Sedin put the Canucks ahead 2-1 at 2:29 of the third when he fired a slap shot past Raanta for his fifth goal. It came just 8 seconds after Sedin came out of the penalty box following a high-sticking infraction.
Nash tied it at 5:27 with his 400th career goal. With the Rangers on a power play, Buchnevich sent a pass from the right faceoff circle to Nash at the left side of the net and the veteran left wing tipped it into the open net.
Buchnevich got the Rangers on the board at 7:20 with his third of the season, scoring for the third straight game. Markstrom got a piece of the puck but it got past the goalie and trickled over the goal line. Brady Skjei got an assist on the play, giving him one for the sixth straight game.
The Canucks tied it with 4:42 left in the second on Eriksson’s first with the Canucks. He took a centering pass from Daniel Sedin from the left side of the net, slid to the right side and backhanded the puck over the legs of a sprawled Ranta.
NOTES: Daniel Sedin’s assist on Eriksson’s goal gave him a point in three straight games (two goals, one assist). Daniel Sedin has six goals and seven assists in 16 games against the Rangers. … Henrik Sedin has four goals and eight assists in 15 games against the Rangers. … Coming off a 4-2 loss at the New York Islanders on Monday night, Vancouver completed the fifth of 15 back-to-backs this season. The Canucks are 2-3-0 on the second nights. … The Rangers and Canucks conclude their season series on Nov. 15 at Vancouver. … The Rangers were called for two penalties after having been whistled for an NHL-low 78 penalty minutes in their first 13 games.
UP NEXT
Canucks: At Detroit on Thursday night in the finale of a six-game trip.
Rangers: At Calgary on Saturday in the opener of a four-game trip.
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