'Crazy' comeback tees up key stretch for Canucks

Bruce Boudreau described Monday's manic 7-6 overtime victory in one word.

“Crazy,” summed up the Vancouver Canucks' coach.

He was right.

From digging a 4-0 hole in the first period against the Montreal Canadiens, rallying to take a third-period lead, surrendering it and then finding the moxie for the equalizer and Elias Pettersson's winner is the stuff of a Hollywood script. You can't make this stuff up.

“The thing I'm really going to take away from it — and it has happened a couple of times now — is our team is starting to believe that when they get down, they can still make a game of it. It's a belief, and if you have that, you're never out of it,” Boudreau said.

It was the third four-goal comeback in franchise history and the first since the 1970s.

It sets up the Canucks for a week when they have a winnable game in San Jose today, host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday and then face the Flames in Calgary on Dec. 14.

It will allow Spencer Martin a quick chance to regain his goaltending form against the Sharks after being pulled Monday in surrendering four first-period goals on eight shots.

Without back-to-backs and plenty of practice time this week, it shouldn't tax the starter in replacing the injured Thatcher Demko and allow recalled Collin Delia to work with goalie coach Ian Clark.

The Canucks got an encouraging goal from Conor Garland on Monday to start the first comeback. The struggling winger, who hadn't scored in 17 games, calmly outwaited goalie Sam Montembeault to commit before snapping home his fourth of the season late in the second period.

“I was really happy for him,” Boudreau said. “He looked like he got really mad and went out and scored the goal to kick it off. He's pretty streaky and hopefully it's something that he can build on.”

Here's what awaits in the coming week:

CANUCKS AT SHARKS Tonight, 7:30 p.m., SAP Center

TV: SN Pacific; Radio: SN 650 The Sharks have beaten the Maple Leafs, Stars and Golden Knights. They also lost three straight games in a shootout last month, but spend just as much time beating themselves up by being outplayed. They've stayed in games by deploying a league-best penalty kill that was operating at a gaudy 86.3 per cent efficiency. And a 19th-rated power play (21.1 per cent) is capable of more, but that's the problem with the Sharks. They always leave you wanting more. Who to watch: Defenceman Erik Karlsson

He regularly pops up in trade-rumour scenarios, but the added attention isn't getting to Karlsson, 32. He's on pace for a career best 100-point season and early Norris Trophy consideration. By leading all NHL blueliners with 34 points (11-23) after 28 games, he has turned back the competitive clock.

WILD AT CANUCKS Saturday, 7 p.m., Rogers Arena

TV: CBC, SN Pacific; Radio: SN 650 When you blow a four-goal lead in the third period against a division rival and then have the moxie to regroup and win in a shootout, it says something about extending a win streak to four games by doing it the hard way. That's what happened Sunday in Dallas against the Central Division-leading Stars. The Wild had a 5-1 lead early in the final frame and left the coach grasping to put the crazy night into some sort of perspective.

Who to watch: Left winger Kirill Kaprizov

The Russian winger scored in his sixth straight game Sunday to push his points streak to 12 and his goal total to 16. He also was tied for second overall in power play goals with nine and is on pace for 51 goals, surpassing the 47 he put up as a sophomore last season.