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Canucks Make It Nine Defeats In 10

The Vancouver Canucks were edged out 3-2 by the Boston Bruins on Sunday night as their poor run of form continued.

Brad Marchand scored the tying goal on a power play in the third period and set-up David Pastrnak’s go-ahead score in Boston. Anton Blidh was also on target, with Linus Ullmark making 36 saves as the Bruins secured their fifth win in seven games.

Tanner Pearson and Conor Garland scored for Vancouver as they led going into the final third. Former Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak made 39 saves.

“He can help you win in a lot of ways,” said Boston coach Bruce Cassidy of Marchand. “We saw it offensively and we’ve seen it on the penalty kill here for years. The physical part was good.” Marchand slipped in a power-play score with 3:24 to play and said afterwards: “I knew [Pastrnak] was going to be around there. We’ve scored a few goals over the years with that play. He’s so good at finding that hole.”

This was Vancouver’s fourth straight loss.

“It’s definitely tough,” Pearson said. “This one bites, going into the third period with the lead. That’s one we need to have. … We liked the effort, but you’ve got to win in this league to move on. We’ve got to dig a little deeper.”Garland put his team ahead with 7:29 left to play in the second and was equally as rueful as his team-mate.”

It’s really frustrating,” Garland said. “That’s what they do. That’s why they go deep into the playoffs. They wait for their chances. You hold them to nothing and all of a sudden the top line ends up with two.”

/Stewart
Sports news editor