Demko makes 51 saves as Canucks beat Maple Leafs

VANCOUVER — J.T. Miller scored one goal and set up another in the first period, then the Vancouver Canucks relied on goaltender Thatcher Demko to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 Saturday night.

The Leafs outshot the Canucks 52- 24 but lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time since October.

Nursing a one-goal lead in the third, Demko stopped William Nylander on a breakaway, then blocked an Ilya Mikheyev shot.

Brock Boeser on the power play and Juho Lammikko, with a big goal late in the second, also scored for the Canucks (22-21-6).

Miller has 19 points (8-11) in his last 17 games.

Auston Matthews and Ondrej Kase scored power-play goals for the Leafs (30-12-3) who lost 5-2 in Calgary Thursday night.

Goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 21 shots for Toronto.

The game pitted the Toronto power play, ranked first in the league, against a Canucks penalty kill rated the worst.

A load contingent of Toronto fans chatted “go Leafs go” during the game at Rogers Arena, which was only half full due to COVID-19 restrictions. Canuck fans responded with chants of “Leafs suck.”

Down 2-0 after the first period, the Leafs battled back to tie the game with power-play goals 2:55 apart in the second, only to have Vancouver go ahead 3-2 late in the period.

After looking average in the first period, the Leafs pressured the Canucks in the second, outshooting Vancouver 23-7.

It took Toronto just 25 seconds to capitalize after Bo Horvat was sent off for high-sticking. After Demko stopped a Nylander shot John Tavares passed the rebound to Matthews who scored his 15th goal in 18 games at 12:46.

The Leafs struck again less than three minutes later. With Canucks defenceman Luke Schenn off for tripping, Kase deflected a Jason Spezza shot past