Vancouver Canucks' Daniel Sedin (22) celebrates his goal with teammates Luca Sbisa (5) and Troy Stetcher (51) during first period NHL hockey action against the Toronto Maple Leafs, in Vancouver on Saturday, December 3, 2016.BEN NELMS/The Canadian Press
Markus Granlund and Bo Horvat scored in the shootout as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday.
Daniel Sedin and Sven Baertschi scored in regulation for Vancouver (11-12-2), which got 38 saves from Ryan Miller.
James van Riemsdyk and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto (10-9-5). Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots.
Mitch Marner scored in the shootout for Toronto, but Miller stopped Matthews and then Tyler Bozak to clinch it. Brandon Sutter was stopped by Andersen on his attempt.
Down 2-1 after 40 minutes, the Leafs came out flying in the third and tied the game on Matthews' 11th of the season after the Canucks were punished for successive icings. Zach Hyman collected a deflected point shot behind the Vancouver net and fed the No. 1 overall pick at the 2016 draft in front, who fired a quick wrist shot past Miller for his fifth goal in the last five games at 1:56.
Matthews had a great chance to give Toronto its first lead on a power play midway through the period, but the puck hopped over his stick on one chance before Miller made a nice pad save.
The action continued as Horvat fired wide on a short-handed 2-on-1, and Andersen stopped Baertschi on another odd-man rush.
Miller then snagged Bozak's shot from in tight with 2:22 left in regulation. Canucks defenceman Troy Stecher cleared a loose puck out the crease with just over a minute to go to force overtime after Miller got a piece of Connor Brown's shot.
Kadri had two good chances in overtime for Toronto, while Andersen reached back to deny Stecher with the glove on Vancouver's best opportunity.
A lot of the talk ahead of Saturday's 4 p.m. local time start had to do with what, if anything, the Canucks would do following a fight-filled 6-3 blowout loss to the Leafs at Air Canada Centre on Nov. 5.
Toronto's Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly and Matt Martin were among the villains from a Vancouver perspective after that one – Kadri for the blindside hit to the shoulder/head area of Daniel Sedin, Rielly for an open-ice check on Jannik Hansen and Martin for pummelling Stecher in an exchange that led to a line brawl in a wild third period where the teams combined for a 157 penalty minutes.
Vancouver defenceman Erik Gudbranson shouted "Matt Martin is dead" to media assembled outside the locker-rooms in the immediate aftermath of that game, but said this week the comments were simply threats made in the heat of the moment and not meant to be taken seriously.
But after Baertschi doubled Vancouver's lead 2:37 into the second period on a botched deke that still found its way through Andersen's five-hole for his fourth, Gudbranson and Martin dropped the gloves in a spirited fight that saw both players deliver a steady diet of right hands, much to the delight of the energetic crowd at Rogers Arena.
Andersen, who missed Friday's practice due to illness after backing up Jhonas Enroth in Thursday's 3-0 loss to Calgary, made a nice save later in the period on a Loui Eriksson deflection to keep his team within two before the Leafs struck just 13 seconds into a power play.
Miller stopped Bozak's one-timer from the faceoff circle, but van Riemsdyk banged home the rebound for his 11th with 8:30 left in the period.
The Canucks opened the scoring with 6:57 left in the first when Daniel Sedin's one-timer from the point deflected off Toronto's Roman Polak in the slot and past Andersen for his seventh of the season.
Miller – who made his third straight start despite allowing seven goals in his last two games, including three in Thursday's 3-1 loss to Anaheim – made a great pad stop on Marner earlier in the period before the Leafs rookie sent another attempt just wide on the same sequence.
Notes: Hansen suffered broken ribs on the Rielly hit a month ago and hasn't played since. ... Vancouver's top defence pair of Christopher Tanev (lower-body injury) and Alexander Edler (broken finger) remain on the shelf. ... The Canucks kick off a five-game road trip in New Jersey on Tuesday. ... The Leafs play six of their next seven at home starting Wednesday against Minnesota.