VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Despite firing 39 shots on net and generating multiple scoring chances late in the game, the Vancouver Canucks couldn’t quite break through against a Dallas team that’s dominated them lately.
Alexander Radulov scored 2:28 into overtime and the Stars defeated the Canucks 2-1 on Monday night.
Ben Bishop made 38 saves and Tyler Seguin had a second-period goal for Dallas, which improved to 13-0-1 against Vancouver in their last 14 meetings.
The Stars are 3-1 on a five-game road trip that concludes Thursday in Winnipeg. Radulov has three goals and six points in his last three games.
“He’s a wild-card player,” Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He’s going to do things on the ice that are creative and you are going to have to live with it, but he competes on the puck and that’s a big part of it. He’s a very competitive player and I think he elevates the rest of our competitiveness.”
Sam Gagner scored a power-play goal in the third for the Canucks, who had won four straight.
“I thought we played really well,” Gagner said after netting his first goal for Vancouver. “If we scored on that 2-on-1 in overtime or some of our chances in the third, it’s obviously a different story.
“If we play like that, most nights in this league you win. We have to keep playing that way. We’re going in the right direction and playing good hockey.”
Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for the Canucks and was especially impressive in the first and third. He spent the previous two games on the bench while Anders Nilsson started in goal.
“It was a really good game, but you want to win hockey games,” Markstrom said. “I hate losing.”
Radulov won it when he carried the puck the length of the ice and fired a shot over Markstrom’s blocker-side shoulder.
Markstrom helped keep the first period scoreless when he made several impressive saves during a Stars power play midway through the period, including off a point-blank shot by Jamie Benn. Markstrom also stopped a short-handed breakaway by Gemel Smith in the waning seconds.
Seguin opened the scoring in the second with Canucks forward Thomas Vanek in the penalty box for the second time in the first three minutes of the period. Seguin one-timed his seventh goal of the season with an Alex Ovechkin-like shot while down on one knee at 3:11. The goal broke Vancouver’s streak of 14 consecutive penalties killed.
“It was a great shot. He put it right in the corner. Only a couple guys can do that and he’s one of them,” Bishop said.
Vancouver’s unlikely leading goal scorer, Derek Dorsett, had a chance all alone in the slot against Bishop in the final minutes of the second, but couldn’t convert.
At the other end, Markstrom ended the period with another big save, this time off a 2-on-1 with Smith and Radulov. The Canucks outshot Dallas 27-19 through two.
Vancouver tied the game six minutes into the third while on the power play. After Markstrom chased down a puck to diffuse a short-handed breakaway, Vanek took a quick pass from Daniel Sedin in the slot at the other end and fired a hard shot that rebounded to Gagner. The center netted his first goal with the Canucks at 13:51, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
That ended a run of seven straight games without giving up a power-play goal for the Stars.
“We were in a battle,” Canucks coach Travis Green said. “That was a great hockey game. I thought they played a hell of a game on the road; I thought we played a hell of a game at home. I liked the way our team stuck with it.”
NOTES: The Canucks were without rookie wing Brock Boeser, who injured his foot blocking a shot in a 6-2 win over Washington. Vancouver called up forwards Jayson Megna and Anton Rodin from Utica of the AHL. … Dallas was without Martin Hanzal (lower body) and Stephen Johns (concussion).
UP NEXT
Stars: At the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.
Canucks: Host the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
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