Despite letting Friday night’s home matchup against the Calgary Flames slip away, the new-look Vancouver Canucks are one the league’s best reclamation projects as the season’s end nears.The Canucks won’t have anything at stake in terms of the playoff race when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night in the second contest of their five-game homestand.However, early returns under new leadership suggest the effort will be there against their Pacific Division rival.Vancouver (34-34-7, 75 points) led a good portion against Calgary, but the Flames’ Jonathan Huberdeau — entrenched in a terrible first season in Alberta — scored a power-play goal with 3:13 left to tie the game.Tyler Toffoli then tallied his career-high 33rd goal on a two-on-one break to sink the Canucks, 5-4, in overtime for the second straight game.Elias Pettersson blistered his 36th goal on a power play to stretch his NHL career-best point streak to 14 games. The dynamic Swede has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) over that span.But the night ended poorly for the fifth-year veteran: sitting in the penalty box for high sticking when Huberdeau scored the late equalizer.”Very frustrating,” said Pettersson, who is tied with Arizona’s Clayton Keller for the longest active point streak. “They were maybe a better team overall. They had more shots, more looks, but we defended with everything we could.”Still, an improved Vancouver is 16-9-4 since Rick Tocchet assumed coaching duties on Jan. 24.Playing in just his second NHL game, Vancouver forward Aidan McDonough notched his first goal after finding a rebound in front of the Calgary crease.”You dream about scoring that on the driveway or in the backyard your whole life,” McDonough said. “It was pretty special.”The Canucks are not mathematically eliminated from the Western Conference playoff picture, but they enter Sunday 12 points out of the second wild-card spot held by the Winnipeg Jets.
Improving Canucks try to extend recent dominance of Kings
