Canucks outlast Ducks 6-5 in overtime after falling behind 4-1

The Vancouver Canucks found a way to score six on Tuesday night. The more telling number is five, the goals they gave up to an Anaheim team that led by three in the third period before Filip Hronek won it 6-5 in overtime on the power play.

The win on Oct. 27 snapped a 10-game losing streak and moves the Canucks to 3-10-1. They have seven points and remain last in the Pacific Division, eighth of eight. One comeback does not change that, but it does give a tired room something to hold.

How the Ducks got to four

Anaheim's first goal was not earned by anyone in teal. A.J. Greer sent a centering pass that deflected off Hronek and into his own net late in the first period. Liam Ohgren tied it in the second when his pass went in off Ducks defenceman Tristan Luneau, and Jeff Malott answered about half a minute later with a tip-in.

Those are the kind of goals a team can shrug off as bounces. The next two are harder to shrug. Beckett Sennecke scored on the power play, and Leo Carlsson cashed a rebound before the second period ended, which made it 4-1. A rebound goal means the first shot was stopped and nobody cleared the second chance.

Leevi Merilainen made 18 saves on 23 shots. Anaheim did not need many looks because several of its goals came from deflections, tips and loose pucks around the crease. That is a defensive-zone problem more than a goaltending one.

The third period turns

Brock Boeser pulled one back in the third off a puck that deflected off his body. Greer then scored his second to restore the three-goal lead at 5-2, and the building had every reason to go quiet.

It did not stay that way. Jamie Oleksiak scored 31 seconds later to make it 5-3. Jonathan Lekkerimaki followed with two goals, the second one tying it at 5-5, both with Merilainen out for the extra attacker. Lukas Dostal made 27 saves for Anaheim, and the Ducks could not close it out once the pressure came.

Overtime and the penalty that decided it

Sennecke took a high-sticking penalty early in overtime. Alex Killorn then took an interference-on-the-goaltender penalty, which handed Vancouver a two-man advantage. Hronek scored on it at 4:49, assisted by Boeser and Lekkerimaki. The defenceman who put the puck in his own net in the first period also scored the winner, which is as good an ending as a bad night gets.

Each team scored once on the power play, and Anaheim's two overtime penalties were the difference between a point and two.

What the five goals against say

A team that scores six is usually winning in regulation. The Canucks needed an extra attacker, two late goals and a five-on-three to get there. They trailed because of a deflection, a tip, a power-play goal, a rebound and a second Greer goal, and that spread points to coverage in front of the net rather than to one bad read.

Scoring is not the issue tonight. The Canucks have to prove they can stop letting teams build three-goal leads, because not every opponent will put a goalie-less comeback in their hands.