National Hockey League
Vancouver 6, Dallas 0
When: 4:00 PM ET, Sunday, February 11, 2018
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees: Brian Pochmara, Eric Furlatt
Linesmen: Trent Knorr, Brian Murphy
Attendance: 17889
Vancouver scored four goals in the first 25 minutes of the game and ended a four-match losing streak with an easier-than-it-sounds 6-0 victory over the leg-weary Dallas Stars on Sunday afternoon at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas.

The Stars, who came into Sunday's match on a season-best-tying five-game winning streak, played their third game in a four-day span and performed on both offense and defense like they needed some time off.

Meanwhile, the Canucks won for just the sixth time in 18 games (6-11-1). Jacob Markstrom turned away 30 Dallas shots to earn his second shutout of the season.

Vancouver's offense was in high gear from the start, racking up three goals in the first 13:30 of the game. One came on a fluke wraparound shot and two others when the Stars were caught flatfooted on defense.

Reid Boucher opened the scoring, and netted his first goal of the season, just 2:11 into the match when he gathered the puck behind the net after the faceoff and snuck a quick shot between the post and the left pad of Dallas goalkeeper Ben Bishop.

Then, at the 11:38 mark, the Canucks' Jake Virtanen used his speed to race ahead of the Dallas defenders on a breakaway and slid a crafty backhand shot through Bishop's legs to extend the lead to 2-0.

Less than two minutes later, Daniel Sedin corralled a flipped, airborne clearance from his twin brother Henrik Sedin and fed a beautiful pass to Thomas Vanek, who was, again, behind the Dallas defense when he fired a slap shot past Bishop, extending the Canucks' lead to 3-0.

The rout was on for certain when Bo Horvat turned assists from Brock Boeser and Alexander Edler into a power-play goal that expanded Vancouver's advantage to 4-0 and chased Bishop from the net in favor of Kari Lehtonen.

Boucher tallied his second goal of the game with 5:25 left in the second period off assists from Derrick Pouliot and Virtanen. By the end of the period, the Canucks had outshot Dallas 33-17, making the third period mop-up time for both teams.

Erik Gudbranson added Vancouver's sixth goal of the game with 12:12 to play.

The Stars will get that needed time off as they don't return to the ice until Friday's home match versus St. Louis. Vancouver hits the ice next for Wednesday's home match against Florida, which is the first game of a back-to-back that ends Thursday in San Jose.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Vancouver   Dallas
Reid Boucher 2 Points N/A
Reid Boucher 2 Goals N/A
Jake Virtanen 1 Assists N/A
Bo Horvat 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jacob Markstrom 1.000 Save Percentage Kari Lehtonen .905
Jacob Markstrom 30 Saves Kari Lehtonen 19
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Vancouver 41 6 1-6 1-1 2 30
Dallas 30 0 0-1 5-6 12 43
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game at home against St. Louis. The Stars have a W/L % of .576 after a win and .583 after a loss.
  • Vancouver will play their next game at home against Florida. The Canucks have a W/L % of .409 after a win and .382 after a loss.