Vancouver Canucks Score First, Edged 2-1 by Dallas Stars

The Vancouver Canucks scored first for the third straight game. Unfortunately, the Dallas Stars scored two in the second to hand them a 2-1 defeat.

The Vancouver Canucks are starting to make a habit of scoring the first goal.

Unfortunately, the wins haven’t always followed. Vancouver has opened the scoring in three straight games. Their record in those games is only .500.

After beating the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, the Canucks could not make it two wins in a row against the Dallas Stars.

The Stars pulled ahead in the second period, then held on in the third to earn a 2-1 victory.

Final Score:

Recap:

Perhaps the Canucks should have known there were tough times ahead, based on what happened during pre-game:

There’s probably a metaphor for the Vancouver Canucks’ season in there somewhere. But we’ll have to ponder that some other time.

The Canucks got on the board in the first period. Jayson Megna scored his first goal in a Vancouver uniform.

Bo Horvat got him the puck in the neutral zone, giving him an assist which puts him in the team scoring lead. After taking the pass, Megna walked around former Canuck Dan Hamhuis, and then around goaltender Antti Niemi:

Bad play for Niemi. He went down early, dropped his paddle instead of going for the pokecheck, and let Megna walk around him while he was stapled to the ice.

Niemi looked shaky on several plays in the first, but Vancouver could not extend their lead.

In the second period the Stars took over, outshooting the Canucks 11-5.

They put two goals past Ryan Miller, both coming off the stick of rookie defenseman Esa Lindell.

The first was deflected in the slot by Radek Faksa:

The second goal belong to Lindell himself. He took a pretty pass from Jamie Benn, then fired it past a screened Miller:

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After Troy Stecher scored his first career goal the first time these two teams met, Lindell returned the favor this game.

The Canucks pressed in the third period, firing 14 shots on Antti Niemi. As much as Niemi struggled to start the game, he found himself late and stood tall on multiple chances in close.

With just under two minutes to go, Patrick Sharp took a penalty and the Canucks went to the powerplay. Niemi stopped two shots and the Stars blocked four more. When the dust settled, Dallas had held on for 2-1 victory.

The Canucks fall to 8-11-2 on the year and 1-1 on this three-game road trip. Dallas improves to 9-8-5.

Next: Open Letter to Thatcher Demko

The Vancouver Canucks will now hop right back on the plane to get to Denver. There they will face the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night on Hockey Night in Canada.