Canucks score four in third to defeat Lightning

TAMPA-- The Vancouver Canucks scored four times in the third period to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Jake Virtanen and Markus Granlund scored in the final 8:53.
"We talked about this team coming hard just because of the first period they had against Florida, and they did," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "We kind of weathered the storm and we battled back."
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Lightning highlights]
Brayden Point scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves on 26 shots. Tampa Bay led the NHL in goals last season but has two its first two games, including a 2-1 shootout win against the Florida Panthers on Saturday.
"We're not finishing," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Some pucks hit the net, but we're not going in there with a desire to score, and that's what you've got to do in this league, especially with the goaltending and the way it is."
Anders Nilsson made 33 saves for the Canucks (2-2-0) in his first start of the season.

"I felt confident going in the game," Nilsson said. "I've been feeling good the last couple weeks, so I've been eager to get into a game eventually. I was excited to get the start and get to play."
Boeser put the Canucks ahead 2-1 at 12:17 after with a one-timer that beat Vasilevskiy on the short side. It was his first of the season.

"Tonight he had a lot more looks, more shots, and for him, when he's playing well, he's getting shots," Green said.
Pettersson scored his fourth goal of the season to tie it 1-1 at 11:07 after a slap shot by Derrick Pouliot deflected off Pettersson's body past Vasilevskiy.

"I thought it was going to hit my stomach and I was going [to] shoot a rebound," Pettersson said. "After it hit me, I lost the puck, and next thing you know it's a goal. Very lucky, but I'll take it. Every goal is worth one goal, so it doesn't matter how ugly or nice it is."
Point gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 16:36 of the first period, scoring on a rebound of a shot by Braydon Coburn.
Tampa Bay had two power plays early in the first period and finished 0-for-5. The Lightning outshot the Canucks 17-5 in the first period.

"Great start, we had a lot of energy and we came out skating," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "But it's not how your start, it's how you finish. The power play was probably the worst I've seen in a long time. It cost us the game. We got a lot of chances tonight and it's just not good enough in this league to not score."
Jake Virtanen scored an empty-net goal to make it 3-1 at 18:48, and Markus Granlund made it 4-1 with his empty-net goal at 19:52.
"I thought the second period we played pretty good. [Nilsson] had a strong game," Green said. "Give [Nilsson] credit and give our guys credit too. The game probably could have got away from us if they got a few on the power play. Our killers did a great job tonight, and killing goes a long way when your goalie is on top of it."

They said it

"We played well in (a 5-3 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday), and you like to see your team be rewarded. I really felt like after the second period we took a step and the game slowed down. To see them get rewarded with a win tonight hopefully gives them some confidence." -- Canucks coach Travis Green
"It's hockey, you look at the last game we played and we weren't really happy with that one but we came away with two points somehow. Tonight we played a pretty decent game and you have a lead then in two minutes you end up on the losing side." -- Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman

Need to know

The Lightning are 0-for-8 on the power play this season. ... Nilsson's goalie mask came apart after he was hit by a one-timer from Nikita Kucherov. "That's probably one of the better spots you can get hit," Nilsson said. "The buckles came loose, and other than that it wasn't any problem." ... Canucks center Bo Horvat won 11 of 14 face-offs (78.5 percent).

What's next

Canucks: At the Florida Panthers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-O, NHL.TV)