Hurricanes score twice in 37 seconds, keeping Canucks winless

VANCOUVER– Sebastian Ah and Jesper fast scored 37 seconds apart early in the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes kept the Vancouver Canucks winless in a 3-2 win at Rogers Arena on Monday.

Andrei Shchnikov also scored, and Frederick Anderson made 14 saves for the Hurricanes (4-1-1), who were recovering from back-to-back losses to finish a 3-1-1 on an 11-day, five-game road trip.

“It was a struggle,” Aho said. “I have a lot of respect for the players. It was a grind. It wasn’t easy but we’re glad we got two points here.”

J T Miller hit twice, and Thatcher Demko made 36 saves for the Canucks (0-5-2), who remain the only NHL team without a win and failed for an eighth consecutive season to give Coach Bruce Boudreau his 600th NHL win before last season’s finals.

“Losing night in and night out takes a toll mentally and physically,” said the Vancouver captain Bo Horvat said. “Obviously it’s frustrating at the moment and you have to stay optimistic. You can’t just keep beating yourself up or feeling sorry for yourself because doing that will only make it worse.”

Video: CAR@VAN: Necas sets up Svechnikov’s PPG in the 1st period

Svechnikov gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 6:06 of the first period by executing a cross ice feed of once Martin Neca past Demko 11 seconds into a power play.

It was Svechnikov’s seventh goal of the season as a team leader that tied him with the Tampa Bay Lightning forward for the NHL lead Steven Stamkoand Geoff Sanderson (1993-94) for most in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history in first six games.

“You have to get your top guys there every night or it’s going to be tough,” said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour. “To be honest, I’m really proud of the group. I know it’s early days but we come out of every game really hard. Tonight it was a hard sledding; I felt like we were in control but it was a close game and the lads just keep working.”

The Hurricanes appeared to double their lead at 11:48, but Derek StepanHis goal was flagged because Paul Stastny interrupted Demko in the crease. Carolina unsuccessfully challenged, and Miller equalized at 12:30 on the resulting power play with a backdoor tap-in of Horvat’s pass through the crease to make it 1-1.

Video: CAR@VAN: Aho gives the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead in the 3rd

Aho scored the opening goal 50 seconds after the third goal Seth Jarvis‘s shot at a partial escape trickled between Demko’s pads.

“I thought I might have scored and then I saw it [Aho] tapped and it was a great way to get the period going,” Jarvis said.

Aho has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a five-game scoring streak.

“He’s an elite player,” Jarvis said. “You don’t expect anything less from them (Aho and Svechnikov) and it’s nice to see him perform and score a lot of goals and that just helps our team to win. Any time he has a good night, it usually leads to wins.”

Video: CAR@VAN: Miller shortens the deficit with a second goal

Almost made it 3-1 at 1:27 when Jordan Staal‘s cross-ice pass bounced off his leg.

Miller cut the lead to 3-2 at 10:40 with a one-timer over Andersen’s glove from the top of the left faceoff circle after a dump-in hit Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the face and crashed into Miller.

Vancouver was outplayed 15-3 in the last 20 minutes and was outplayed 15-2 in the third third of this season.

“It’s like we’re scared to push,” Boudreau said. “It’s like they’re standing around and looking, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen now?’ And it’s unfortunate because I think they all care.”

REMARKS: Carolina defenseman Dylan Coughlan, who hails from nearby Vancouver Island, played his second game of the season in place of Calvin of Haan, which was scratched. … The Canucks’ penalty shootouts were last in the NHL (55.6 percent), yielding on three Hurricanes power plays. … Vancouver defender QuinnHughes (Lower body) missed his second straight game and was placed on injured reserve on Monday. … Canucks forward Brock Bad not played for the first time this season due to an undisclosed injury. He is day by day.