Staal and Tokarski lead Hurricanes to 2-0 win over Canucks

RALEIGH, N.C. — Jordan Staal had a goal and an assist, Dustin Tokarski got his first shutout since 2022 and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 on Friday night.

Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won three straight at home. Tokarski stopped 15 shots for his third career shutout and improved to 4-1-0 since signing with Carolina last month.

Staal, the Hurricanes' captain, has been on a scoring spree with five goals in the past three games. He had a hat trick in Thursday's win over Toronto. The 36-year-old center scored three goals in the first 40 games of the season.

Thatcher Demko made 18 saves for the Canucks, who have lost four straight (0-2-2) and been shut out twice in that span.

Takeaways

Canucks: Vancouver got three chances on the power play, including two in the third period, but couldn't do anything with them. The Canucks have converted on only two of their last 15 power-play opportunities. It did not help that they equaled their season low with 15 shots on goal.

Hurricanes: Tokarski has spent parts of 15 seasons in the minors. A 35-year-old free agent, he was signed Dec. 2 as a long shot with the hope he could provide some temporary help in net. But he's been a huge plus for Carolina with Freddie Andersen sidelined by a knee injury since Nov. 21.

Key moment

The Hurricanes have been looking for more scoring from Svechnikov. He did most of the work on his 14th goal 1:37 into the second period, going around two defenders from the end line and beating Demko from an odd angle to make it 2-0.

Key stat

The Hurricanes (19-0-2) haven't lost this season when leading after two periods and the Canucks (0-11-3) haven't won when trailing after two.

Up next

The Canucks visit Toronto on Saturday, and the Hurricanes host Anaheim on Sunday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl