National Hockey League
Vancouver 4, Pittsburgh 1
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 21, 2019
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Referees: Tom Chmielewski, Steve Kozari
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Brandon Gawryletz
Attendance: 18285

Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller each had a goal and an assist as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 Saturday night.

Jake Virtanen and Brock Boeser also scored for the Canucks, who won their second in a row, and goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves.

Jake Guentzel scored for the Penguins, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Goalie Matt Murray, starting for the first time in six games, stopped 10 of Vancouver's season-low 14 shots.

Vancouver scored power-play goals 1:50 apart late in the first period to take a 2-0 lead.

The Canucks got a two-man advantage after Pittsburgh's Brandon Tanev was called for holding Quinn Hughes at 13:05 of the period and Jack Johnson tripped Brock Boeser at 13:51.

Virtanen opened the scoring at 15:10 on the 5-on-3, taking a pass from Tyler Myers and blasting a slap shot from just above the left faceoff dot into the far top corner of the net.

Miller scored at the 17-minute mark, redirecting a pass from Oscar Fantenberg past Murray.

The Penguins were held without a shot on goal in the first period.

Pittsburgh closed within 2-1 as Guentzel buried a rebound off a point shot by Jared McCann on the power play at 15:28 of the second. It was Guentzel's 18th goal of the season.

Pettersson restored the two-goal margin just 44 seconds later, skating back toward center ice to corral the rebound of a Myers shot and snapping a one-timer into the upper right corner of the net from the right faceoff circle. It was Pettersson's fifth goal in the past six games.

Boeser capped the scoring at 14:31 of the third off a feed from Pettersson.

The Canucks played without forward Josh Leivo, who suffered a fractured kneecap Thursday against Vegas and will be out for the next two to three months. Loui Eriksson, who had been scratched from the previous seven games, replaced Leivo.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Pittsburgh   Vancouver
Jake Guentzel 1 Points J.T. Miller 2
Jake Guentzel 1 Goals J.T. Miller 1
Evgeni Malkin 1 Assists Tyler Myers 2
Jake Guentzel 1 Power Play Goals J.T. Miller 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Matt Murray .714 Save Percentage Jacob Markstrom .966
Matt Murray 10 Saves Jacob Markstrom 28
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Pittsburgh 29 1 1-5 3-5 10 21
Vancouver 14 4 2-5 4-5 10 39
Upcoming Games
  • Vancouver will play their next game at home against Edmonton. The Canucks have a W/L % of .471 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Nashville. The Penguins have a W/L % of .619 after a win and .533 after a loss.