Dirty Dozen

[Vancity]

The Vancouver Canucks extended their winning streak to 12 games with a 5-3 comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. After falling behind 2–0 late in the first period due to power-play goals from Jordan Kyrou and William Eklund, Vancouver responded quickly. Andrei Kuzmenko got the Canucks on the board with his fifth of the season at 19:06 of the opening frame.

Kuzmenko stayed hot, tying the game just 1:16 into the second before Sidney Crosby buried his 14th just 30 seconds later to give Vancouver the lead. Brendan Smith added insurance at 5:28, capitalizing on sustained pressure in the Penguins’ zone. Despite a charging penalty to Mattias Ekholm and a roughing call on Damon Severson, the Canucks held firm, killing all three Penguins’ power plays in the middle frame.

In the third, Alex Tuch scored a brilliant unassisted shorthanded goal at 8:08 to extend Vancouver’s lead to 5–2. Though Philip Broberg responded three minutes later with his first NHL goal to narrow the gap, the Canucks' defense held strong in the final stretch.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 26 of 29 shots to earn his 13th win of the season, while David Rittich took the loss for Pittsburgh. Vancouver failed to score on three power plays, but their penalty kill and timely scoring carried the night. Kuzmenko was named the game’s first star with a three-point effort.

With this victory, the Canucks have now won 12 straight games, continuing their best run of the season but still sit
5 points back of the league leading Oilers.