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Demitra nets two as Canucks top Panthers

Dec 15, 2008 - 7:19 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- It took the Vancouver Canucks a little while to get adjusted, but they definitely enjoyed being back at home.

Pavol Demitra scored a pair of goals as the Canucks overcame an early two-goal deficit to post a 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

"You can tell even before the game everybody was ready," Demitra said. "We got a little speech before the game: 'Make sure you're ready for this game.' Obviously, they score two goals but after that we just took over."

Ryan Kesler added a shorthanded goal and an assist and Darcy Hordichuk and Kyle Wellwood also scored for Vancouver, which was playing its first home game since November 27. The Canucks went 2-4-1 over their seven-game road trip.

Rookie Michael Frolik and defensemen Nick Boynton and Jay Bouwmeester each netted a goal for the Panthers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

"We got off to a great start, up 2-1, and the second period just got away from us," Florida defenseman Bryan McCabe said. "We got away from the system, turned a lot of pucks over that ended up in our net.

"Let's be honest, they got some lucky bounces tonight and we really didn't. That's the way it goes."

Facing a 2-0 deficit, Vancouver started the comeback with Hordichuk's third goal of the season with 7:18 left in the first period. Kesler picked off a clearing attempt and fed Hordichuk, who fired a wrist shot past netminder Craig Anderson from the right faceoff circle.

"Hordy's goal was huge for us," Demitra said. "He scored a goal and after that everything started going our way. It's nice to see guys like that score goals. That was the nicest goal tonight."

The Canucks then scored four unanswered goals in the middle session, starting with a pair of goals by Demitra, who has 10 on the season.

"First one, I just saw the puck and I used my speed and just tried to walk it in and it somehow goes in," Demitra said. "And the second one, I try to hit (Canucks left wing Taylor Pyatt) and I just hit somebody's skate and goes in. It's a lucky one, but I'll take those goals any night."

"It's just one of those nights, just one of those periods where things weren't going our way and it's a snowball effect," Anderson said. "We needed a big save by myself and we didn't get it when we needed it to maybe change momentum and there goes the night."

Demitra tied the contest at 2-2 at the 5:25 mark when Panthers defenseman Karlis Skrastins mishandled the puck behind his net off a faceoff. Demitra then managed to jam a loose puck at the side of the net past an unsuspecting Anderson, who finished with 25 saves.

Following Demitra's power-play goal with 8:13 left in the period, Vancouver tacked on other two goals in just over two minutes. Wellwood added another man-advantage goal with 7:13 remaining and Kesler scored on a breakaway while a man down 38 ticks later.

It was all the offense needed by rookie Cory Schneider, who settled down after surrendering two goals in the first 6:50 of the contest. He turned aside 18 shots.

"I wouldn't say this was a picture perfect game by any means, still some things I could have prevented," Schneider said. "I'm learning it's when you make the saves. If you make them at certain key times or keep (your team) in the lead, sometimes it's more important than how many you make. Obviously, I want to stop every puck, but a win's a win. We'll take it."

Panthers center Stephen Weiss suffered an upper-body injury in the first period. He was taken to a local hospital for precautionary X-rays.