Markstrom's 43 saves lift Canucks past Hurricanes in OT

VANCOUVER --Jacob Markstrom made 43 saves, and Elias Pettersson scored 40 seconds into overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 1-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Rogers Arena on Thursday.

Brock Boeser's centering pass hit a discarded stick on the ice in the slot, but Pettersson retrieved the puck and lifted a backhand over the left shoulder of Petr Mrazek from the bottom of the left face-off circle.
"It's not a pretty win, but it's a huge two points for us," Pettersson said. "Maybe they had the most chances, but Markstrom] stood on his head all game long. It's just great we can win a game like this. It was a huge one for us."
***[WATCH: [All Hurricanes vs. Canucks highlights]*
Vancouver (16-12-4) has won three of its past four games after losing three of its previous four.
Markstrom's shutout was his first of the season and fourth in the NHL. It came in his second start since leaving the team for five days last week to attend his father's funeral back in Sweden.
"I feel like I corrected the stuff I didn't like in the Toronto game (22 saves in 4-1 loss on Tuesday)," Markstrom said. "Before that, I hadn't played a game in a week or so. I think I was a little too excited and a little tense in that Toronto game. I just wanted to be a little bit more loose and relaxed."

Mrazek made 25 saves for Carolina (19-11-2), which had won three straight.
"We hit a hot goalie. He was the difference in the game," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You can sugarcoat it any way, that was the difference in the hockey game. He was phenomenal. So you tip your hat and you move on."
Mrazek stopped Bo Horvat on a breakaway 4:00 into the first period, and Markstrom stopped Julien Gauthier's breakaway attempt at 9:09.
The Hurricanes outshot the Canucks 22-7 in the second period, but Markstrom made a glove save on a one-timer by Dougie Hamilton at 3:56 before stopping him again in the slot on a power play at 8:39.
"It was just a matter of time before we were going to score. That's what it kind of felt like from my end," Brind'Amour said. "But that was a pretty good goalie performance, one of the better ones we've seen."
Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho appeared to score on a delayed penalty at 7:53 of the second period, but the whistle was blown because a Canucks player touched the puck before it got to Aho.
"We got one that should have counted," Brind'Amour said. "… I think they jumped the gun there blowing the whistle and it's unfortunate, cost us a point."

Markstrom stopped Brett Pesce on a breakaway with his blocker at 8:39 of the third period, and Mrazek stopped Jake Virtanen's five-hole attempt on a breakaway at 9:27.
"Mrazek does a great job of when we need a big save, he's got a little gamer attitude," Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. "Probably too many breakaways, a couple big chances for them could have changed the game, and he held us in there, too. It was a great game by him."

They said it

"It's always positive when you got points, especially on the road, but we wanted two points and we didn't get that, so we are disappointed." -- Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek
"That's a good hockey team over there and I thought our team hung in there. Their power play got a lot of momentum in the second period, they got us on our heels a little bit, but I like how we responded in the third." -- Canucks coach Travis Green

Need to know

Pettersson's goal was his 100th NHL point in his 103rd game. Among players to debut with the Canucks, only Pavel Bure (96) reached the milestone in fewer games. … Canucks goalie Michael DiPietro was called up from Utica of the American Hockey League Thursday to back up Markstrom after Thatcher Demko sustained a concussion in practice Wednesday. … Carolina was 0-for-4 on the power play. Vancouver was 0-for-5.

What's next

Hurricanes: At the Calgary Flames on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Canucks:At the San Jose Sharks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, SN1, CITY, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)