Canucks rally past Oilers for third straight win

VANCOUVER -- Quinn Hughes' power-play goal with 6:12 remaining in the third period broke a tie, and the Vancouver Canucks won their third straight game, 4-2 against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena on Monday.

Bo Horvat tied it 2-2 at 4:12 of the third period with a rebound off his skate, and Hughes put the Canucks ahead with a one-timer from the point through traffic and past Mikko Koskinen.
"Actually, Coach (Travis Green) called it," said Hughes, who is third in rookie scoring, and second among rookie defensemen, with 27 points (three goals, 24 assists) in 37 games. "Going into the third, he said, 'You're going to be on one here.' It was just the way the game was going. I was getting a lot of chances and we had a good screen, and J.T. Miller] put it right in my wheelhouse."
***[WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Canucks highlights]*
Tyler Motte also scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for Vancouver (19-15-4), which enters the Christmas break with three straight wins for the first time since a four-game streak from Oct. 9 -17.
Loui Eriksson scored into an empty net with 14 seconds left.
"I think we proved a lot," Horvat said. "We played some pretty good hockey as of late; it was just a matter of us getting rewarded. Different guys stepped up at different times and in crucial times. To get three wins before Christmas, we've got to keep that confidence going."

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Oscar Klefblom scored, and Koskinen made 24 saves for Edmonton (20-16-4), which has lost three of four and enters the Christmas break 2-6-1 in its past nine games.
"Obviously, we just couldn't close it out,'" said Oilers center Connor McDavid, who had one assist. "A bit of a lucky break there on their shot and it goes off the guy's skate, and maybe he kicks it, maybe he doesn't, I don't know.
"But then we have a chance on the power play and we don't score, and they get a chance on their power play and they score, and that's the difference."
Hughes' goal came after the Oilers were penalized for too many men on the ice.
"Connor just jumped too early. Jumped two seconds too early," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "It's the details of winning. If you are not willing to do them enough, you're going to lose some games and that's what happened tonight."
Motte's first goal of the season at 11:15 of the first period gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead.

Nugent-Hopkins tied it 1-1 with a solo rush at 15:40 of the first, getting around Brock Boeser down the right wing and cutting in front of Tyler Myers through the slot before beating Markstrom with a wrist shot.
Klefbom scored a power-play goal at 3:02 of the second period to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.
Edmonton entered 13-0-1 when leading after two periods.
"Usually when we've had to lead this year, we've held on well," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We had our push; they just found a way to tie it up, and then the late penalty kind of killed us."

Horvat tied it when a rebound of Tanner Pearson's shot went in off his skate as he drove to the net. It was ruled a good goal after a video review to determine if Horvat kicked it in. It was Horvat's 10th goal of the season, but first at home.
"I wasn't going to celebrate too hard before I knew the final result, and what a feeling to get that one finally at home," Horvat said. "It couldn't have come at a better time, and to get a big win out of it was even better."

They said it

"It's been a tough stretch of games, honestly. We've been on the road, then at home, we've been traveling a lot, playing lots of games in a short period of time. [We're] obviously not making excuses for ourselves, but guys are tired and this break comes at a good time." -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid
"Winning fixes a lot of things. As a group, we stuck together. We knew we had what it took in here; we just had to polish a few things up. When we play our game, we've seen it the last couple nights, we're good." -- Canucks forward Tyler Motte

Need to know

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl had an assist; he has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler had one assist and was plus-3 in 19:47 of ice time in his first game back after missing 10 with an upper-body injury. … Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko dressed as the backup for the first time since sustaining a concussion in practice on Dec. 11. … Canucks defenseman Jordie Benn was a healthy scratch for the first time since signing a two-year contract as an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

What's next

Oilers: Host the Calgary Flames on Friday (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, NHL.TV)
Canucks: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, SN1, CITY, FS-W, NHL.TV)