Lankinen, Sasson lead Canucks to another come-from-behind win

CHICAGO — The consolation prize for the Vancouver Canucks missing a pile of scoring chances during two late power plays and a dominant overtime is that they got to go to a shootout. With Kevin Lankinen in their net.

There are no sure things in hockey, but Lankinen all but guarantees his team a chance to win with one shot.

That came in the fourth round of Friday’s tie-breaker in Chicago when Brock Boeser whipped a shot past Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight to give the Canucks a 3-2 shootout win and an impressive sweep of two road games in a little more than 24 hours.

Lankinen, of course, did his job by staring down all four Blackhawk shooters without flinching.

The goalie has been beaten only six times in 41 shootout attempts in his National Hockey League career.

That’s even crazier than scheduling the Canucks to play on consecutive nights in Dallas and Chicago, which are a 2 1/2 -hour flight apart.

“We just wanted to get a win,” Lankinen said. “I kind of like shootouts, where it’s a battle of mindset: one against one. I’ve been doing a lot of that in practice, and thankfully we were able to put one in tonight.

“You are able to step up for your teammates, so I enjoy those moments. It’s a pretty unique situation in hockey because usually you have 10 guys on the ice. But it’s big, though. These points matter. It’s huge. And if we are able to collect a few of these along the way, that could make a big difference at the end.”

It felt like it made a big difference eight days into Vancouver’s regular season.

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Including Thursday’s 5-3 victory against the formidable Dallas Stars, the Canucks have climbed back over .500 at 3-2-0 after a pair of disconcerting losses last weekend.

In Chicago, as they did the night before, the Canucks were outplayed in the first period and fell behind 2-0. As they did in Dallas, they rallied back in the second.

“Tough situation, back to back,” winger Conor Garland said. “Maybe it takes a period, but we hung in there. I mean, that’s a good thing. We’re not going out there and throwing absolute duds. It’s 2-0 and obviously you don’t want to start every game like that; it’s not a recipe for success. But we’re hanging in there. And again, back to back, tonight we hung in there, got our legs going and took over. As this road trip goes on, and we get more comfortable on the road, we’d love to be starting games (better) and leaving the first period up or tied.”

The Canucks were hopeful of a proper night’s sleep in Chicago before travelling Saturday to Washington for a Sunday matinee against the Capitals.

They arrived at their Chicago hotel from Dallas shortly before 2 a.m. on Friday.

“We got better as the game went on,” Lankinen said. “A little slow start, but I’ve got to admit it was tough travel back to back, with some long travel. So I was proud of how the guys came in and battled until the end and then grabbed the win.”

After Ryan Donato and Tyler Bertuzzi scored first-period goals for the Blackhawks, Jake DeBrusk scored on his 29th birthday to cut the deficit in half on a Vancouver power play in the second period before minor-league callup Max Sasson tied it 2-2 at 13:42 with his second goal in two nights from the fourth line.

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Recalled from the American Hockey League after 18-year-old centre Braeden Cootes was returned to his junior team on Tuesday, Sasson’s speed and offensive drive have been noticeable.

He scored Friday by knocking Blackhawk Jason Dickinson into the side boards to help free up a puck, then outskated his check to the front of the Chicago net to convert Filip Hronek’s deft goalmouth saucer pass.

“You know, all throughout my career, it’s kind of been taking second, third, fourth chances,” Sasson, an undrafted 25 year old, said. “I just always waited for the chance to play. I believe in myself, I think is the No. 1 thing. This year, I’m coming up with the mindset of wanting to stay and prove that I’m a regular NHLer. I’ve just got to keep it going.

“Going down (to the minors), you know, it’s never easy, especially when you see all the guys you kind of came up with make it. But I knew it was going to be only a matter of time before I got my chance. And my goal was just to be ready for that chance. I think I’ve done well so far.”

Canucks coach Adam Foote agreed. It has probably helped Sasson that he is playing with Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson — familiar linemates with whom he helped drive the Abbotsford Canucks to the AHL championship last June.

“It gives us a lot of energy,” Foote said. “He’s got speed, and he just does his job. And he’s learning on the fly, too. When you’re young, like that, their whole line, the energy they bring. We can deal with some of the things that they have to learn on the fly. I liked that line. With all the power plays, they probably didn’t play the minutes they probably deserved, but they’ll play some more minutes.”

Sasson finished with 8:17 of ice time, just ahead of Bains (7:56) and Karlsson (7:55).

And, yes, the power plays.

The Canucks had two of them in final five minutes of overtime, one from a failed coach’s challenge after Jeff Blashill unsuccessfully challenged a disallowed goal by Bertuzzi at 14:48 of the third period, and another on an offensive-zone hold by Connor Bedard at 17:56.

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The Vancouver power play maintained intense pressure on both advantages, but couldn’t finish. Quinn Hughes hit the post on a semi-open net. The Canucks also dominated at three-on-three, but Knight made a couple of massive saves for the Blackhawks, Boeser hit another post and Elias Pettersson couldn’t convert DeBrusk’s pass at the far post.

The power play finished 1-for-6.

“Very frustrating,” Hughes said. “It’s not coming as easy as it’s come in the past, and you’ve just got to stay with it. We’re getting looks. You can’t have a better look than I had and it hit the post. That’s just the way it is sometimes. It’s a good win, though. Two big wins.”

ICE CHIPS – Canucks centre Teddy Blueger returned to the lineup after missing the first four games with a knee injury. Aaty Raty was scratched to make way for him. . . Hughes finished with 30:08 of ice time. . . DeBrusk had 10 shots on net. . . Chasing the game early and tied in the third period, the Canucks did not challenge Dickinson for his hit-from-behind that injured Filip Chytil last March.

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