VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks missed an opportunity to pick up two points on Saturday. But they’re trying to be happy with the one point they did get.
John Klingberg scored the winning goal 4:13 into overtime as the Dallas Stars edged Vancouver 4-3, spoiling a late comeback from the Canucks.
“You have to get positives now,” said Radim Vrbata, who tied the game 3-3, 18:58 into the third period. “It’s too late in the season to be negative and so as I said, every time you pull a goalie and you push for it and you find a way to score in the last minute you have to be happy with that.”
The Stars, who swept the Canucks for a second straight season, have not lost to Vancouver, home or away, since Feb. 21, 2013.
Jamie Benn, Patrick Eaves, and Tyler Seguin scored in regulation for Dallas (37-29-10) while Kari Lehtonen made 32 saves.
Despite the loss, Vancouver (43-27-5) remained in second place in the Pacific Division — three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings and four points ahead of the Calgary Flames as the hunt for a playoff spot draws to a close.
Eddie Lack stopped 36 shots for the Canucks, who also got goals from Nick Bonino and Chris Higgins. Christopher Tanev recorded his first two-point game since Jan. 30 with two assists.
Jason Spezza had a wraparound saved by Lack but the Vancouver goaltender wasn’t able to stop the follow up by Eaves, who tapped it over the line at 7:55.
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Dallas entered the game following a 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, which Seguin admitted played on the team’s mind.
“It was pretty frustrating how we went out against Edmonton. I’m happy how we responded tonight,” he said.
The Stars have won every game they played this season after being shut out in the previous game.
After falling behind in the second period, Dallas turned up the pressure in the final frame.
The Stars earned the lead at 14:25 of the third as Trevor Daley’s banked pass from the Dallas end found an onrushing Seguin at the blue-line. Seguin lifted his shot over Lack for his 34th goal of the season.
Vancouver tied the game in the dying minutes of the period on the power play as Vrbata scored his 30th goal of the season, assisted by Bonino and Daniel Sedin, with 1:12 to play.
Vancouver had a goal waved off two minutes into the second period when Jannik Hansen was judged to have knocked Lehtonen.
The power play, which has been productive for Vancouver in its previous four games, went to work halfway through the period.
Tanev backhanded his pass from the point to Dan Hamhuis in the centre. Higgins tipped Hamhuis’ long-range effort beyond a helpless Lehtonen at 10:10.
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Dallas opened the scoring with Jason Demers’ pass finding Seguin just inside the blue-line. His long shot was tipped by Benn, who buried the bouncing puck beyond Lack at 1:54 of the first period.
Vancouver tied the game up at 11:18 with Vrbata and Bonino combining on a two-on-one. Vrbata drove to the net and slipped it across to an open Bonino, who buried his shot beyond a sprawling Lehtonen.
While the Stars’ playoff chances are slim, players remain hopeful.
“We have a good feeling in here. Yesterday we were pretty good offensively but we did some big mistakes with the puck,” said Klingberg. “We had a pretty good run before that. It’s good we got the win here today.
“We need every win. It’s good for us.”
Notes: The Canucks start a four-game road trip with a stop in St. Louis on Monday night. … Dallas heads home to begin a two-game home stand. The Stars face Calgary on Monday.
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