Boeser, Miller boost Canucks past Maple Leafs

VANCOUVER -- Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller each had a goal and two assists, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Saturday to sweep a two-game set at Rogers Arena.

Thatcher Demko made 37 saves for the Canucks (11-15-2), who won consecutive games for the first time since winning four straight from Jan. 25-30. They did it despite playing each game without center Elias Pettersson, who is day to day with an upper-body injury.
"It's just kind of the next-man-up mentality," Boeser said. "'Petey' is such a big part of our team, but we know we need to find ways to create offense and be difference makers, and I think we did a good job of that."

John Tavares and Jimmy Vesey scored, and Frederik Andersen made 27 saves for the Maple Leafs (18-6-2), who lost two straight in regulation for the first time.
"We have to take responsibility for what happened in terms of two losses," Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly said. "We have to look in the mirror. It's not pointing the finger at the other team, saying, 'Wow, what a great job.' It's up to us to be in control of the game, how we play, how we compete."
Vancouver trailed 2-1 entering the third period but scored three straight goals for its first win when trailing after the second period (1-13-1).
"It's been a tough go, and for our team to keep battling and stick to the process tonight, I think it's huge for our group and give us a lot of confidence," Boeser said.
Bo Horvat deflected a Boeser point shot on a power play to tie the game 2-2 at 8:49.
Miller put the Canucks ahead 3-2 at 9:31 when he scored on the rush. Boeser's wrist shot broke defenseman TJ Brodie's stick and the puck bounced off the skate of Rielly to Miller in the slot for a quick shot over Andersen.
"We take a lot of pride in beating a team like that at home twice when we really need wins," Miller said. "We've shown we could beat anybody in the League. We still believe that, even though the record wouldn't necessarily show it."
Nils Hoglander made it 4-2 at 16:53 with a shot on the rush just under the cross bar.
The Scotia North Division-leading Maple Leafs are 13-2-1 when leading entering the third period.
"It just goes to show that anyone in our division can beat you on any given night, and we've got to be good all the time and stay with the process that works for us," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Go off script, and you get the results you get here."

Boeser put the Canucks ahead 1-0 on a power play 4:39 into the first period, tapping in a cross-ice pass from Miller off the rush for his Vancouver-leading 13th goal but first in eight games.
Tavares tied it 1-1 at 15:56 with a slap shot off the rush from the left hash marks after a one-touch pass at center ice from Alex Kerfoot created a partial break down the wing.
Vesey put Toronto ahead 2-1 at 3:04 of the second period when he lifted a cross-crease pass from Brodie over Demko on a 2-on-1 down low.
The Maple Leafs had the first nine shots of the third period.
"You know when you play a team like that, your goaltender is going to have to make some big saves," Canucks coach Travis Green said.
Toronto was outshooting Vancouver 9-2 in the third when William Nylander took a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass at 7:15, leading to Horvat's tying goal.
The Canucks were 2-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
The Maple Leafs swept a three-game series at the Edmonton Oilers to begin its five-game trip.
"There's still a lot of good things in our game, but we had an opportunity to make this a real great road trip, and it ended up only being a good one," Tavares said.
NOTES: Toronto forward Auston Matthews has gone five straight games without a goal but leads the NHL with 18. … The Canucks are 12-2-0 in their past 14 home games against the Maple Leafs dating to the start of the 2005-06 season. … Defenseman Alexander Edler played his 900th game with the Canucks to become the fourth player in Vancouver history to play at least that many. He had an assist on Miller's goal, three shots on goal, three blocked shots and one hit in 19:27.