Nicolas Deslauriers turned an unlikely Vancouver hot spot into a two-goal night Tuesday, snapping a 3-3 tie early in the third period as the Carolina Hurricanes pulled away for a 6-3 win over the Canucks at Rogers Arena.
Deslauriers scored twice for the first time since Feb. 19, 2022, when he also did it against Vancouver in a 7-4 victory. It was his fifth NHL multigoal game across 714 appearances, and three of those games have come in Vancouver.
“We should play them more often. I should play here more often,” Deslauriers said. “I don’t know why. I guess it happens, but don’t get used to it. That’s for sure.”
The Hurricanes improved to 8-2-1 and rebounded from Sunday’s 3-2 loss in Calgary with their eighth win in nine games. Vancouver dropped to 2-8-1 and saw its skid reach eight games at 0-7-1.
Deslauriers breaks the tie, Carolina closes it out
After Arshdeep Bains pulled the Canucks even at 3-3 in the second period, Deslauriers put Carolina back in front 4:07 into the third. Bradly Nadeau found him from behind the net, and Deslauriers redirected a quick touch from the edge of the crease under Leevi Merilainen’s blocker.
Nikolaj Ehlers extended the lead at 10:22, beating Merilainen five-hole on a breakaway. Ehlers then set up Logan Stankoven on a 2-on-1 for an empty-netter with 2:03 remaining.
Deslauriers had not scored since April 13, 2025, before opening his Carolina account in the second period. Acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on March 6, the veteran entered the night with 55 goals and 54 assists, along with 806 penalty minutes, in his NHL career.
His first goal came after Jesperi Kotkaniemi intercepted Merilainen’s attempted pass from behind the Vancouver net. Kotkaniemi fed Deslauriers at the bottom of the right circle, where he snapped a short-side shot over the goaltender’s glove at 2:26 of the second.
“I’ve said it often: I don’t expect to score goals,” Deslauriers said. “It’s fun when it happens, but I know what my job is. I’m not going to change because I scored two. I know I don’t have to score goals, but it’s fun and it keeps the guys loose a little bit.”
Ehlers called the scoring from Carolina’s depth an important part of the club’s identity.
“It’s obviously huge,” Ehlers said. “It was there all of last year, and that took us all the way. In this League, you need every guy contributing. We’ve done a really good job of that this year too. To see a guy like him, who is always in a great mood and works hard, it’s incredible.”
New Carolina line finds instant chemistry
Stankoven, Ehlers and Jackson Blake were together for the first time this season and combined for four goals and five assists. The unit spent long stretches pressing Vancouver in the offensive zone, with Blake producing three assists and both Ehlers and Stankoven adding a goal and an assist.
Stankoven opened the scoring at 4:44 of the first period, taking Blake’s drop pass in the high slot and whipping a wrist shot over Merilainen’s glove. Ehlers made it 2-1 at 12:09, arriving alone at the back post to convert Blake’s cross-ice feed into an open net.
“We played a little together last year, and I thought we had some chemistry,” Ehlers said. “Those two are easy to play with. Their work ethic is incredible, they get on opponents, their sticks are good, and they made some great plays. Our speed and quickness can create a lot. We have to be better defensively and not allow some of the big chances we did, but it was a good first game.”
Stankoven now has six goals this season, five of them against the Canucks. He recorded his first NHL hat trick against Vancouver on Oct. 8.
Canucks cannot carry a tie into the third
Vancouver matched Carolina twice in the first period. Linus Karlsson tied it 1-1 at 10:10 after Elias Pettersson was knocked down while attempting to cut toward the middle, leaving the puck loose in the right circle. Karlsson stepped onto it and sent a wrist shot beneath Pyotr Kochetkov’s blocker.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki made it 2-2 with two seconds left in the opening period, scoring on the power play after Jake DeBrusk slid a cross-crease pass his way. Brock Boeser had sent the puck toward the crease from the right boards to begin the sequence.
Bains tied the game for the final time at 13:07 of the second. Zeev Buium put a shot on net from the bottom of the left circle during a 3-on-2 rush, and the puck deflected off Bains as he slid into the net after Nadeau fell into him.
Carolina had a chance to reclaim the lead later in the period when Sebastian Aho was awarded a penalty shot at 16:55. Pettersson had thrown his stick in an effort to knock the puck away, but Merilainen denied Aho.
The Canucks have now been tied or ahead entering the third period in each of their past four games, yet they are 0-3-1 in those contests. They have been outscored 9-0 across third periods and overtime during that stretch.
“It’s a very good lesson for our group,” Vancouver coach Manny Malhotra said. “When you lack details in the third period, or open the door against the teams we have been playing, they make you pay. There are a lot of good things in being in these games and clawing our way into them, but 40 minutes is not enough. Forty-five isn’t enough, 50 isn’t enough in this League. We have to stay with the process.”
Goaltending and notebook
Kochetkov made 14 saves for Carolina and improved to 6-0-0. His biggest stop came late in the second period, when he turned aside Drew O’Connor on a breakaway with the score tied.
“He made one big save that we needed,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That might have been all we needed, but we needed it. That’s goaltending: when we need a big save, he gave it to us.”
Kochetkov’s six-game season-opening winning streak is the second longest in Hurricanes franchise history. Frederik Andersen began 2021-22 with eight straight victories.
Merilainen finished with 38 saves for Vancouver. DeBrusk had two assists, while Karlsson, Lekkerimaki and Bains supplied the goals.
- Carolina has won six straight against Vancouver since Oct. 28, 2024, its longest current winning run against any one opponent.
- Defenseman Juuso Valimaki made his Hurricanes and season debut, recording an assist, one shot and two blocks in 11:29 of ice time.
- Canucks forward Marco Rossi missed his second consecutive game because of illness.
