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Canucks try to rebound vs. hosting Senators

Dec 7, 2014 - 3:47 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Coming down the stretch of a lengthy road trip, the Vancouver Canucks aim to rebound from just their second loss in seven games on Sunday evening as they visit the Ottawa Senators.

After posting consecutive road wins over Pittsburgh and Washington, Vancouver fell to 3-2 on its seven-game swing with last night's setback in Toronto. The Maple Leafs scored the first four goals of the contest and held on for a 5-2 decision over the Canucks.

The Canucks outshot the Maple Leafs 46-28, but went 0-for-6 on the power play and saw Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier come up with 44 saves.

Vancouver goaltender Ryan Miller, meanwhile, was pulled after giving up four goals on 14 shots in almost 26 minutes of work. Eddie Lack finished up by halting all 13 Toronto chances for the remainder of the contest.

"I just didn't make the saves the guys needed," Miller said. "(Bernier) played well. He was steady and saw the puck. A couple posts on the power play and maybe it's a little different game towards the end of the third. But he played well."

Daniel Sedin and Christopher Tanev provided goals for the Canucks, who end their road trip on Tuesday versus Montreal. It is unknown if they will have forward Shawn Matthias tonight after he left last night's game in the second period following a hit.

It also is unknown if Miller will get a chance to rebound tonight or if Lack will get the start. The former is 17-19-4 with a 2.61 goals against average and .920 save percentage lifetime versus Ottawa, while Lack lost his only career start against the club. He gave up three goals on 27 shots.

The Senators will play for a second day in a row as well and were bested 3-2 by the Penguins on Saturday. Craig Anderson made 30 saves, but had little chance on Christian Ehrhoff's winning goal with 1:50 remaining.

Milan Michalek and Mika Zibanejad scored second-period goals for Ottawa, which has lost five in a row and seven of its last eight. Four of the losses on the Senators' current slide have come by one goal.

Anderson, meanwhile, finished out the game despite being crashed into by Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin on a first-period goal by the Pens' forward.

"We had a great second period today," said Anderson. "We were able to win that period and gave ourselves an opportunity at the end of the game. It's one of those things where if we keep working on the process and keep doing this the way we want to keep doing it, the results will turn around for us."

Anderson lost his sixth straight start, but may see action again tonight with fellow netminder Robin Lehner on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Andrew Hammond is currently serving as the backup and has never started an NHL game.

Anderson is 4-11-2 lifetime versus the Canucks with a 3.47 GAA and .885 save percentage.

The Sens netminder made 33 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss at Vancouver on Nov. 11. Sedin had the winner for the Canucks with 55 seconds left on the clock.

Miller made 21 saves as the Canucks beat the Senators for the seventh time in the past eight meetings. They also have won 13 of the past 16 encounters overall and six of their past seven in Ottawa.