Elias Pettersson scored a pair of third-period goals, and the visiting Vancouver Canucks completed a comeback by posting a 4-2 victory over the struggling Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
Brock Boeser collected one goal and one assist and Phillip Di Giuseppe also scored for the Canucks (34-34-5, 73 points), who have won three straight games and 10 of their last 12. Andrei Kuzmenko and Ethan Bear each supplied two assists and goaltender Collin Delia made 29 saves, 16 in the third period.
Connor Murphy and Lukas Reichel had a goal apiece for the Blackhawks (24-43-6, 54 points), who have suffered five straight losses and have managed only three wins in their last 15 outings (3-11-1). Goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 27 shots.
With his team trailing 1-0, Di Giuseppe netted a fortunate tally with 16.9 seconds remaining in the second period to begin the comeback. He attempted to pass across the crease only to see the puck bank into the net off the skate of Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones.
Then it became the Pettersson show. Dakota Joshua created a turnover with an open-ice check that led to an off-man rush that ended with Pettersson converting a sharp-angled shot at 12:06 of the third period.
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Pettersson notched his second marker of the night, and 35th of the season, when he slipped home a loose puck for a power-play tally 63 seconds later.
With his outburst, Pettersson has collected seven goals and 10 assists during a 12-game point streak. He has 93 points on the season.
Reichel gave the Blackhawks a glimmer of hope with a deflection tally for his fifth goal of the season with 102 seconds remaining in regulation.
But Boeser's empty-net goal shortly after sealed the win and left the Blackhawks lamenting another blown lead.
Murphy's short-handed goal with 3:59 remaining in the first period opened the scoring. It was his sixth goal of the season.
Vancouver has surrendered a league-high 13 short-handed goals.
--Field Level Media
The Trust Project
