Ducks lose to Canucks on J.T. Miller’s quick overtime goal
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Ducks forced overtime to earn a point on the second night of a back-to-back set on Wednesday night, but they were victimized almost immediately in the extra session.
J.T. Miller scored his second goal of the game just 20 seconds into overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory over the Ducks.
Miller beat Lukas Dostal with a high wrist shot.
“Their guy just kind of gave me a lane and at that point they were flat-footed,” Miller said. “But you don’t get many chances just to attack in overtime with a free lane to shoot.”
Troy Terry and Brock McGinn scored and Dostal made 31 saves for the Ducks, who were coming off a 5-2 loss to Seattle on Tuesday night.
“I thought we played a hell of a game here,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “This league, it’s always hard to win that second game on a back-to-back. But I thought we played a really good four-line game. Our goaltending was good and we put ourselves in a spot to at least get a point.”
Miller also scored short-handed in the first period, Andrei Kuzmenko added a goal and Elias Pettersson had two assists to help Vancouver win its third straight.
“I thought we had a lot of possession time, I like most of the game,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “I think the guys worked hard.”
Thatcher Demko stopped 20 shots to improve to 3-1 since returning from an injury on Feb. 27.
The Canucks came out aggressively in the final period, getting the first six shots on goal but failing to convert.
Despite outshooting the Ducks 12-7 in the third, the Canucks ended up in extra time for the second straight game. But Miller’s quick game-winner helped Vancouver improve to 3-1 on its six-game homestand.
“I think we played the right way for the majority of the game,” Miller said. “I think if we can hang our hat on doing that on most nights, we’re going to come out with success no matter who we’re playing.”
UP NEXT
The Ducks play at Calgary on Friday in the finale of a three-game trip.