Horvat leads Canucks
Horvat scored in the second to give Vancouver a 2-1 lead, firing a wrist shot short side and over the shoulder of Carolina goalie Cam Ward. In the OT period, with a delayed penalty call coming up to the Hurricanes, Horvat used a slap shot to again beat Ward high on the short side.
The second-year centre now has six goals and three assists in his last six games, in which he’s scored a point in each one; he’s got eight goals and 19 points on the season. This after a prolonged slump — 27 games without a goal — that had pundits wondering if he was really ready for prime time. The answer now appears to be an emphatic yes.
On this night in Carolina, the second game of a six game road-trip, the Canucks were outshot 40-22 but Markstrom again came up big. The 25-year-old is 6-2-2 in his last 10 games.
Canucks score first
For the first time in nine games the Canucks scored first, a blistering wrist shot from Linden Vey, his first since being called up to replace the injured Brandon Sutter. But Carolina tied it on a wrist shot through a screen from Kris Versteeg late in the period.
The second was all Hurricanes, who outshot Vancouver 19-5 in the period, but Markstrom made a number of great saves. The only goal was Horvat’s first of the game, on a set-up from Taylor Fedun, his first point as a Canuck after being called up Thursday, and Matt Bartkowski.
With Markstrom playing so well it looked like Carolina would need a break to get another goal by him. That’s exactly what happend when defenceman John-Michael Liles got in close in the attacking zone and threw a puck out front that bounced off Bartkowski’s right skate.
That set the stage for the overtime heorics from Horvat, who was set-up for a one-timer by Radam Verbata; Chris Tanev drew the second assist after digging his own rebound out of the corner and feeding Verbata at the left point; Verbata slid it over to Horvat for his short-side blast.
Vancouver, who lost 4-1 in Washington last night, continues their trip with an afternoon game at 1 p.m. ET in New York against the Islanders on Sunday.
Vancouver has played seven games this month, Five have ended in a 3-2 score.
