Markstrom, Canucks shut out Stars to end losing streak

DALLAS -- Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves and the Vancouver Canucks scored three times in the first period to end a four-game losing streak with a 6-0 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Sunday.
Reid Boucher, Jake Virtanen, and Thomas Vanek scored in the first period for Vancouver (22-28-6), which won for the first time in its past eight games in Dallas (0-5-2).

WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Stars highlights]
It was the second career NHL shutout in 136 starts for Markstrom, who shut out the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 5.
"A great 60-minute performance from every position," Markstrom said. "We really played a good game and sacrificed ourselves to the puck. It could have been better, but it was good and the penalty kill was flawless. The guys really battled for 60 minutes. It was great."

The Stars (33-20-4) had won their past five games and were 13-0-1 in their past 14 against the Canucks dating to April 12, 2013. Dallas holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, five points behind the first-place Nashville Predators in the Central Division.
"I think the hardest-working team won," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "They jumped on us early. Three goals in the first is tough to come back from. We just didn't have our game tonight."
Boucher gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead 2:11 when he stole the puck from defenseman Dan Hamhuis behind the Stars net and banked in a shot off Ben Bishop's left pad. The call on the ice was no goal, but it was overturned after a video review.
"It was definitely nice to get a lead," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "And the type of goal. We talked about going to the net tonight and finding a greasy goal. It's not easy to score in the League if you're not willing to go to the net, and that was a good example."
Virtanen make it 2-0 at 11:38 when he beat Bishop on a breakaway.
"The concern for me is the odd-man rushes," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We're giving up more, which is a recipe for disaster. We tried to put the brakes on it and weren't able to, so now we've paid the price and this should get everybody's attention."
Vanek scored his 16th of the season at 13:27 on a slap shot to make it 3-0.
Bo Horvat gave Vancouver a 4-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:41 of the second period. Bishop was pulled after allowing four goals on 20 shots.

Boucher scored his second of the game at 14:35 of the second period when he tipped Derrick Pouliot's point shot to make it 5-0.
"We were unhappy the last couple games, the way we played, and we wanted to go out and we did a good job of that," Boucher said.
Erik Gudbranson made it 6-0 at 7:48 of the third period.
Kari Lehtonen made 19 saves in relief.

Goal of the game

Boucher's goal at 2:11 of the first period.

Save of the game

Markstrom's save on Jason Spezza at 8:10 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Virtanen's goal at 11:38 of the first period.

They said it

"A game like that is what you're looking for out of your team. And the way we responded this game -- we talked about owning your game and taking accountability. What was nice about this game was the last couple days, that really came from within our group and our leadership group taking a big part of responsibility as far as making sure they were ready to play today. That's a big step."-- Canucks coach Travis Green
"I think it was kind of a tale of two teams, a team that's won five in a row and a team that's lost four or five in a row and they came out hard, and once we got behind the eight ball there, kind of tough to get things rolling. Gotta give credit to them, they came out and they played really well in that first period and they took it to us, and you can't take anybody lightly in this league." -- Stars goalie Ben Bishop

Need to know

Canucks right wing Brock Boeser had an assist in his return after missing one game with a hand injury.

What's next

Canucks: Host the Florida Panthers on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; SN, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Stars:Host the St. Louis Blues on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-MW, FS-SW, NHL.TV)