VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A five-game trip that started with a bang ended with a fizzle for the up-and-down Ducks.
Nikita Tolopilo made 32 saves in his seventh NHL start, Drew O’Connor opened the scoring with 9:42 left and the last-place Vancouver Canucks beat the Ducks, 2-0, on Thursday night.
Tolopilo, who moved up the depth chart this week after Thatcher Demko underwent season-ending hip surgery, was denied his first NHL shutout after missing the first 2:11 of the second period after a collision with Ryan Poehling late in the first period.
Lukas Dostal made 24 saves for the Ducks (28-23-3), who extended a seven-game winning streak with victories in Colorado, Seattle and Calgary to begin their trip before losses to Edmonton and Vancouver (18-31-5), which had dropped 14 of its previous 15 games (1-12-2).
“It was a tough one,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville told NHL.com. “The game was on the line almost the whole game. Whoever scored first had a pretty good opportunity to get two (points).”
O’Connor broke the scoreless tie at 10:18 of the third period on a one-timer from the right hash marks that went in off the shoulder of Dostal sliding across his crease. Jake DeBrusk, playing his 600th NHL game, set up the winning goal by knocking down a clearing attempt by Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba along the left boards and skating it to the face-off dot before passing across to O’Connor.
“We were playing a pretty good period and playing the score, sure outs is something we talk about and next it’s in our net,” Quenneville told NHL.com of the failed clear. “But it can happen in the game like that. That’s why we want to make sure.”
Dostal said he felt he was in a good spot, but the pass was on end and the puck fluttered up.
“He whiffed on it. It’s one of those that if he would get a full shot, I thought my timing was perfect for the full shot, but because he whiffed on it, it came a little bit slower and it got my shoulder and my helmet,” Dostal told NHL.com. “As a goalie guy, you know once he goes right between the ear and shoulder, it’s very hard to pick up, and especially when the puck is almost like a butterfly. Just probably got to keep my shoulders a little bit higher.”
Cutter Gauthier had appeared to score for the Ducks on a rebound on the play where Poehling collided with Tolopilo, but the goal was immediately waved off and Poehling was penalized for goaltender interference.
Tolopilo stayed in the game, but was replaced by Kevin Lankinen to begin the second period before coming back in. Lankinen made one save before Tolopilo returned.
Tolopilo’s best saves included stops on a Beckett Sennecke chance from the left side during a first-period power play, a Gauthier shot from the left dot off the rush at 5:30 of the third and a Chris Kreider wrist shot from the left circle with 5:45 left.
Teddy Blueger iced the win for Vancouver with an empty-net goal with 28 seconds left during a 6-on-4 advantage for the Ducks, who had pulled Dostal for the extra skater prior to a slashing penalty against Conor Garland at 19:11.
“End of a long road trip, tie game going to third, one of those things where just a little mistake is the reason we end up losing the game,” Ducks forward Alex Killorn told NHL.com. “We just can’t get shut out. We’ve got to do a better job producing offense.”
Dostal had to make just one save through the first 13½ minutes of the game, but the Canucks had two power plays in the final five minutes of the period and Dostal came up with eight saves in that span to keep the game scoreless entering the second.
Vancouver also had no shots on goal through the first eight minutes of the second period.
Both teams went 0 for 3 on the power play.
The Ducks continued to play without their top two centers, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish, and right wing Troy Terry.
Carlsson missed his ninth consecutive game because of a left thigh injury that will keep him out through the Olympic break.
McTavish missed his fifth straight with an upper-body injury and Terry missed his 11th in a row with an upper-body injury despite flying to Vancouver to rejoin the team at practice on Wednesday and hoping to play. Quenneville told NHL.com that Terry “came out of it a little sore” but should return for Sunday’s home game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
UP NEXT
The Ducks host Vegas on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.