Elias Pettersson scored his career high 33rd goal of the season as the visiting Vancouver Canucks beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 on Sunday to take both games of a two-game California swing.
Pettersson ripped a high shot from the right side of the slot early in the second period that sailed off the crossbar and in. It allowed him to eclipse his previous season best of 32 goals from last season.
The Canucks (31-33-5, 67 points) are in the fourth contest of a busy stretch in which they play eight games in 13 days. The defeated the host Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday.
J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist and Quinn Hughes chipped in two assists for Vancouver.
Goaltender Collin Delia stopped 17 shots to record the win. Delia, who grew up just north of Anaheim in Rancho Cucamonga, was looking for his first career NHL shutout.
Ryan Strome scored the lone goal and John Gibson stopped 38 shots for the Ducks (23-37-10, 56 points), who are halfway through an eight-game homestand.
After getting just six shots on goal through two periods in their last game, the Canucks needed a better start against Anaheim.
They got it when Miller opened the scoring halfway through the first with a slapshot that ringed off the far post and in.
Pettersson carried the puck into the Anaheim zone, waited for some backup, and then slipped a pass over to Hughes, who dropped it back to Miller for the one-timer.
The Canucks outshot Anaheim 34-12 through the first two periods.
Pettersson then gave Vancouver a 2-0 lead early in the second on the power play.
Strome rounded out the scoring at 13:10 of the third. He swatted home a loose puck from the side of the net that bounced off of a couple of Canucks players in front before landing on his stick.
–Field Level Media
