VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A five-game trip that started with a bang ended with a fizzle for the up-and-down Ducks.
Nikita Tolopilo made 32 saves in his seventh NHL start, Drew O’Connor opened the scoring with 9:42 left and the last-place Vancouver Canucks beat the Ducks, 2-0, on Thursday night.
Tolopilo, who moved up the depth chart this week after Thatcher Demko underwent season-ending hip surgery, was denied his first NHL shutout after missing the first 2:11 of the second period because of concussion protocol after he was run over by Ryan Poehling late in the first period.
Kevin Lankinen made one save before Tolopilo returned.
O’Connor scored on a one-timer off Jake DeBrusk’s pass. DeBrusk was playing his 600th NHL game.
Teddy Blueger put it away with a short-handed empty-netter with 28 seconds left for the Canucks, who had dropped 14 of their previous 15 games (1-12-2).
Lukas Dostal made 24 saves for the Ducks (28-23-3), who extended a seven-game winning streak with victories in Colorado, Seattle and Calgary to begin their trip before losses in Edmonton and Vancouver (18-31-5).
Both teams were 0 for 3 on the power play.
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The Ducks host Vegas on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
More to come on this story.
