Horvat, Miller lift Canucks past NHL-leading Maple Leafs

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller scored in a 42-second span in the third period and the Vancouver Canucks beat the NHL-leading Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Saturday night to sweep the two-game series.

Horvat tied it on a power play at 8:49, and Miller gave the Canucks the lead at 9:31. Nils Hoglander completed the scoring with 3:07 left.

“It means a lot to us. We take a lot of pride in beating a team like that at home twice when we really need wins,” Miller said. “We’ve talked a lot over the last three weeks or so that we’re playing well but not getting the results, and I think this is a perfect way, a couple bounces here and there, the power play was good, the penalty kill was good and you win the game against a good team.”

Brock Boeser had a goal and two assists, and Thatcher Demko made 37 saves to help Vancouver improve to 11-15-2.

John Tavares and Jimmy Vesey scored for Toronto. The Maple Leafs dropped to 18-6-2 after losing two straight in regulation for the first time this season.

After thrashing the Oilers three games in a row in Edmonton, Toronto struggled in Vancouver,

“There’s still a lot of good things in our game, but in saying that, we had an opportunity to make this a real great road trip and it ended up only being a good one,” Tavares said.

Vancouver caught a break when William Nylander was called for delay of game for sending the puck over the glass as he charged toward the Canucks zone.

Boeser sent a blast from near the blue line through traffic in front of the net, and Horvat tipped it in past Andersen to tie it.

Boeser got another on the go-ahead goal, picking up the puck off a Toronto stick deep in the Leafs’ zone and firing a shot at Andersen. The goalie made the stop, but Miller got to the rebound and scored.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: Host Winnipeg on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Canucks: Host Montreal on Monday night to open a two-game series.