Tolopilo makes 37 saves in season debut, Canucks edge Ducks

ANAHEIM -- Nikita Tolopilo made 37 saves in his season debut, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Tolopilo was making his second career start because Vancouver’s top two goalies were unavailable. It was his first since winning his NHL debut on April 14, 2-1 against the San Jose Sharks in overtime.

"I think I can play better, but the most important thing is we got a win, so I'm happy with that," he said.

Max Sasson broke a tie at 15:58 of the third period and had an assist, and Evander Kane also scored for the Canucks (10-12-2), who had lost three in a row and six of seven (1-4-2). Filip Hronek and Tom Willander each had two assists.

"We got the job done," Sasson said. "Big credit to 'Tolo,' big credit to our group and big win to start the road trip."

Jackson LaCombe had a goal and two assists, and Cutter Gauthier had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (14-8-1), who had won three of four. Petr Mrazek made 23 saves.

"Every game is going to be hard," Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said. "We talked about that, and that was a good example of what it's like every night. You've got to play right until the end and it's a battle. You've got to know that you can't give them anything. You've got to make them earn it."

Hronek took a shot from the right point that deflected off Sasson and then in off Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson to give Vancouver a 4-3 lead.

"I didn't like the way the last one went in with our coverage in front," Quenneville said.

Drew O'Connor then scored into an empty net with 1:52 left to make it 5-3.

Gauthier scored with seven seconds remaining for the 5-4 final.

"A good battle," said Willander, who had the first multipoint game of his NHL career. "I think all the guys bought in and played hard. Even though we had periods where it stopped for us, I think we found a way to get through that."

The Ducks hit the crossbar twice in the first five minutes before Linus Karlsson gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 9:49 of the first period.

After Sasson took a one-timer from just inside the blue that went wide, the puck caromed off the end boards and came out the other side, where Karlsson was there to swipe it into the net.

Kane extended it to 2-0 at 11:47 on the power play with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.

"It's 2-0 before you touch the puck," Quenneville said. "We had some good stretches there, but I thought we were inconsistent with our possession game tonight, lost a lot of pucks, didn't influence enough pucks."

LaCombe cut it to 2-1 nine seconds into the second period on a power play that carried over from the end of the first, scoring on a wrist shot from above the right hash marks.

Anaheim was outshooting Vancouver 20-8 when Conor Garland made it 3-1 at 9:04 after he drove to the net and scored with a backhand.

“I thought we came out hot and we had a lot of chances," LaCombe said. "Just a few bounces didn't go our way. That’s just how it is sometimes. I don't think we did anything wrong at the start. Just happens.”

Leo Carlsson cut it to 3-2 at 16:19, scoring on a rebound with a backhand six seconds following a power play.

Mason McTavish tied it 3-3 at 18:34 when he finished off a feed from Beckett Sennecke on a 2-on-1 rush.

Vancouver forward Kiefer Sherwood hit the post on a two-man short-handed breakaway at 4:46 of the third, keeping the score tied.

"I thought we did a great job, but I think we should just be better," LaCombe said. "We just can be stronger, and as for us D, we just box out better, and get in front of more pucks."

NOTES: Tolopilo became the third rookie goaltender in Canucks history to earn a win in each of his first two NHL starts, following Frank Caprice (three wins) and Thatcher Demko (two). … Vancouver has at least one power-play goal in eight straight games. ... Quinn Hughes had an assist to give him 15 points (one goal, 14 assists) in his past nine games. ... Sennecke became the second teenager in Ducks history to record a five-game point streak (one goal, four assists), following Oleg Tverdovsky (five games in 1995-96).