Adam Gaudette scored in a shootout to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 win over hosts Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
Bo Horvat had one goal and one assist, while Brock Boeser also scored in regulation for Vancouver (15-16-3).
Ryan Dzingel and Josh Norris scored a goal for the Senators (10-20-3) who lost goalkeeper Joey Daccord to injury in the third half.
The Canucks win was their third straight, sixth in their last seven games, and fifth against Ottawa this season. The Senators have only won twice in the last nine games.
The Canucks played their second of four road trips and opened the scoring for the second time in a row when Horvat drove down the wing after a sloppy Ottawa pass attempt and found Boeser open in front of the net. Boeser buried his 15th goal of the season – the fifth best in the league – at 2:29 a.m. in the first half.
Vancouver extended its lead at 8:26 am when Thomas Chabot was knocked down on the boards by Nils Hoglander. The subsequent 2-on-1 ended with a slight tip from Horvat for his 13th of the year while a frustrated Chabot stared at the officer.
The Senators’ puck movement improved in the second and it paid off when Dzingel scored his sixth goal of the season to split the difference in half at 3:00 a.m.
Similar to Monday’s overtime against Vancouver, the Senators were two points behind, but left at the top. Norris connected it with his seventh goal of the season and third against Vancouver at 5:34 a.m.
Canuck’s goalkeeper Thatcher Demko improved to 7-1 in March.
READ MORE: Demko is an outstanding goalscorer. Miller scores the OT winner as Canucks Edge Sens 3-2
Losing another goalkeeper was bad news for Ottawa. Daccord, who had just won his first NHL victory against Toronto on Sunday, left the game at 5:07 a.m. in the third half. Daccord seemed to twist a knee as he went into the net and grimaced as the ice helped him.
Filip Gustavsson replaced Daccord for his NHL debut.
The Senators acquired goalkeeper Anton Forsberg earlier in the day from Winnipeg on waivers to bolster his goalkeeping depth, with both top netminder Matt Murray (upper body injury) and Marcus Hogberg (lower body injury) out.
The Canucks took out winger Jimmy Vesey from the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the day, and the 27-year-old drove to Ottawa and took part in the warmup before being found unavailable for the game due to a work visa issue. As a US citizen, the Vesey visa is only valid for one NHL team. Vesey has five goals and two assists in 30 games with the Leafs.
Vancouver wing Tanner Pearson left the game in the third period.
The Canucks travel to Montreal on Friday to face the Canadiens, while the Senators receive Calgary on Monday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
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