Three Stars
1. Jake Virtanen, Vancouver Canucks
The first multi-goal game of Virtanen’s career helped the Canucks double up the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2. A goal in the first and a goal in the second answered Chicago tallies both times. Vancouver is now in first in the Pacific Division.
2. Brendan Gaunce, Vancouver Canucks
With the score knotted at two midway through the third period, the Canucks forward, playing in his first game of the season, fired a shot following a bad defensive zone turnover from Jonathan Toews to grab the lead for good. Gaunce now has six career goals, three of which have come against Chicago.
3. Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
The captain’s power play goal in the second period was the 299th of his career, passing Dennis Hull on the Blackhawks’ all-time list. Ahead of him in fifth place is teammate Patrick Kane, who’s sitting on 323 goals. Bobby Hull holds the franchise record with 604.
Highlights of the Night
• A little pressure couldn’t stop Virtanen from scoring his first of the evening:
• Jacob Markstrom was solid in net for the Canucks making 24 stops:
• Zombie flash mob!
Factoid of the Night
Most Wins On Halloween in NHL History:#Leafs - 14#Blackhawks - 13#NYR - 13#RedWings - 12#Habs - 12#Flyers - 10
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 31, 2018
Scores
Canucks 4, Blackhawks 2
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.