Canucks Takeaways: Lekkerimaki leads third-period comeback to end skid

In the midst of a prolonged losing streak, the Vancouver Canucks were in desperate need of some good vibes. 

With just one win in the month of October, it was getting understandably difficult for the Canucks to maintain some positivity about what they're building towards. And when Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild handed the Canucks their 10th straight loss Sunday, morale was at an all-time low.

But Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks, the Canucks clawed back from an early deficit, earning an impressive 6-5 victory to get finally back into the win column thanks to an overtime snipe from Filip Hronek and some late-game heroics from Jonathan Lekkerimaki.

It was a win that took a fair bit of resilience from a dejected Vancouver squad.

For much of the night in Southern California, the Canucks looked to be headed to a familiar fate. A three-goal second period from the Ducks put the Canucks into a 4-1 hole that seemed, at times, insurmountable.

But goals from Brock Boeser and Jamie Oleksiak in the early goings of the third cut into the Ducks' lead, perfectly setting the stage for Lekkerimaki to score twice with the net empty to force overtime.

It was the sixth time in franchise history that the Canucks rallied from a three-goal, third-period deficit.

"It was a big win for us," Lekkerimaki told reporters post-game, who gave all the credit to Jake DeBrusk for screening Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal on both his goals. "We have to build on it."

It would be an understatement to say that it's been a trying season for the Canucks, where moral (and real) victories have been few and far between through 14 games. The emergence of Lekkerimaki, however, has been a small silver lining amidst a slew of storm clouds.

The 2022 15th overall pick has earned a larger role this season as the Canucks prioritize developing their younger talent, and Lekkerimaki has made the most of the opportunity, with six goals and 12 points in 14 games.

It's a small sample size, but we might finally be witnessing Lekkerimaki come into his own at the NHL level.

"He's elite in terms of his ability to get (the shot) off and pick corners," head coach Manny Malhotra said of the young Swede. "But more so his poise that he had, recovering a couple pucks and just settling it down for us, putting us in a good spot.

"Another step in his growth."

Broadly, the Canucks have been piecing together glimpses of competitiveness, even if the results haven't been there. But three goals down on two separate occasions, it probably would have been easy for Vancouver to chuck this one in the garbage and look ahead to Thursday.

Instead, they dug in and caught the Ducks looking.

"Really pleased with the response from the guys. That's the type of effort that we've been looking for, for a while now," Malhotra said. "In the past few weeks, there were some instances where we went away, and you never want to be a team that goes away. So the fact that we were able to keep our heads about us, stay with the process and get rewarded for it, obviously that's great for our morale, great for the group. Gives us something to build off of."

Tale of two Hroneks

While hardly any veteran Canuck is piecing together a stellar season, it's been a particularly rough go for Hronek. Heading into Tuesday's game, Vancouver was being out-shot 130-71 and out-scored 15-11 with the No. 1 defenceman on the ice. He was minus-seven with eight points.

It wasn't a stellar start for Hronek on Tuesday either.

The Ducks caught the 28-year-old out of position on a rush in the first period, and a centring pass from A.J. Greer careened off Hronek's stick and past Canucks goalie Leevi Meralainen.

He was also on the ice for Jeff Malott's goal, when he failed to corral the puck against Mikael Granlund, then lost a puck battle along the boards as the Ducks were able to score just seconds later.

He came through when it mattered, though, helping to set up Lekkerimaki's tying goal before potting one of his own for the game-winner.

It was the first overtime game-winning goal of Hronek's 10-year career.

"Much needed," Hronek told Sportsnet's Dan Murphy about the win. "Really happy that we could come back and get a win.

"Everyone worked in the third period and we have to bring that to other games."

Brocktober bounce back

It had been an unusually quiet October for Boeser, who has come to be known as one of the the Canucks' most consistent first-month producers.

But the month isn't over yet, and on Tuesday Boeser resurrected his 'Brocktober' moniker with a goal and two assists, including the primary helper on Hronek's OT winner.

The three-point showing brings Boeser to four goals and 12 points in 14 games — 11 of which came in October.

What's Quackin?

When the Ducks put the league on notice by not only making the playoffs last season, but beating the Stanley Cup-hopeful Edmonton Oilers in the first round, the assumption was that the rebuild was complete in Anaheim.

To further prove it, GM Pat Verbeek matched a five-year, $90 million offer sheet to Leo Carlsson, then re-upped with 40-goal man Cutter Gauthier shortly thereafter to keep his two centrepieces in Anaheim for years to come.

But, like any young team, there have been some growing pains of late. The Ducks are off to a sub-.500 start, and at 5-6-1, sit behind Vegas, Edmonton, Seattle and San Jose in the Pacific Division

Was last season just a false positive?

It's probably too early to determine before the season even reaches the quarter-mark, but after blowing two separate three-goal leads to the 32nd-place team to lose their fifth in six games, it's clear Joel Quenneville's squad has some kinks they need to work out if they want to stay competitive.

Quotable

Malhotra, on Paul Cotter returning for OT after receiving a 10-minute misconduct: "A welcome addition, absolutely, in overtime. We kind of forgot about him for a second."