Granlund scores first goal for Dallas Stars in 4-1 win over Vancouver Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Mikael Granlund scored his first goal for the Stars and Dallas beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Sunday night.
Dallas picked up both the Finnish center and Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks for first- and third-round picks on Feb. 1.
Thomas Harley, Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Stars, who were coming off a 5-4 loss to the Oilers. Ceci and Matt Duchene each contributed a pair of assists.
Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith — who played for the Canucks last season — stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced in his return to Vancouver.
Derek Forbort had the lone goal for the Canucks, scoring for the first time since Feb. 16, 2023, when he was a member of the Boston Bruins.
Vancouver got 15 saves from Kevin Lankinen and missed the services of captain Quinn Hughes (lower-body injury) for a third straight game.
Takeaways
Stars: The team played without star center Roope Hintz, who took a puck to the face in the Stars’ 5-4 loss to the Oilers on Saturday. Head coach Pete DeBoer said before puck drop that Hintz has flown back to back to Dallas and is getting more imaging done on the injury.
Canucks: The result did nothing to improve Vancouver’s playoff picture. The club remains locked in a battle with the Calgary Flames, Utah Hockey Club and St. Louis Blues for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Key moment
Lankinen denied Ceci with his blocker as time ticked down in the second period, but the rebound popped out to Granlund and he ripped a shot over the goalie’s shoulder with just 25.9 seconds left to give the Stars a 2-1 lead. It was his first goal in 13 games.
Key stat
Robertson extended his point streak to eight games with eight goals and seven assists across the stretch.
Up next
The Stars visit Winnipeg on Friday. The Canucks wrap up a four-game homestand against Montreal on Tuesday.
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