VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Bo Horvat scored twice, Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist and the Vancouver Canucks won their second straight after a season-opening skid, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1.
Tanner Pearson and J.T. Miller also scored, Ilya Mikheyev had two assists and Spencer Martin made 34 saves. In Seattle, the Canucks beat the Kraken 5-4 to end their season-opening losing streak at a franchise-record seven games.
“Obviously there´s a lot more energy, obviously the smiles on our faces,” Horvat said according to AP. “But I mean, we´ve got to dig ourselves out of the hole here. Obviously, we put ourselves in this situation. Just because we won two games, you can´t be satisfied. We´ve got to keep going here.”
Rickard Rakell scored for Pittsburgh and Tristan Jarry made 24 saves. The Penguins have lost three straight in regulation to fall to 4-3-1.
“I just don´t think we´re putting a 60-minute effort together, and it´s hard to win in this league when you don´t,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
Weariness appeared to creep into the home side´s game, with the Penguins outshooting the Canucks 30-19 across the second and third periods, but Martin held fast for the victory. The 24-year-old goalie is 4-0-4 with Vancouver.
