The Ducks’ Mason McTavish, left, and the Vancouver Canucks’ Teddy Blueger (53) vie for the puck during the second period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Ducks’ Pavel Mintyukov, right, falls while checking the Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser during the first period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser, right, and Filip Hronek celebrate Boeser’s goal during the first period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser, front right, and Filip Hronek celebrate Boeser’s goal during the first period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Ducks’ Alex Killorn, far right, checks the Vancouver Canucks’ Dakota Joshua (81) during the first period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Conor Garland, left, is checked by the Ducks’ Pavel Mintyukov during the first period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ J.T. Miller skates with the puck while being watched by the Ducks’ Jackson LaCombe during the first period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Ducks’ Ryan Strome, right, checks the Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser during the first period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Ilya Mikheyev (65) is stopped by Ducks goaltender John Gibson as Jackson LaCombe (60) and Adam Henrique (14) watch during the first period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Ducks’ Ryan Strome celebrates after scoring goal during the second period of their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Ducks’ Ryan Strome celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period of their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko, back left, stops a shot by the Ducks’ Alex Killorn, center, during the second period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Noah Juulsen, right, checks the Ducks’ Frank Vatrano during the second period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Ducks’ Bo Groulx, left, falls while vying for the puck against the Vancouver Canucks’ Noah Juulsen, back left, as the Ducks’ Max Jones (49) and Vancouver’s Nils Aman, far right, watch during the second period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Ducks’ Brock McGinn, right, checks the Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes into the boards during the second period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson, center, watches as the puck goes wide of the net behind Ducks goalie John Gibson, left, as Urho Vaakanainen, right, defends during the second period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. Gibson had 24 saves in the Ducks’ 3-1 loss. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Ilya Mikheyev kneels on the ice after being struck by a shot during the third period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson skates during a stoppage in play in the second period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson, right, reaches for the puck after being checked by the Ducks’ Sam Carrick during the third period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ducks goalie John Gibson, back right, stops the Vancouver Canucks’ Conor Garland (8) during the third period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson, left, and Ilya Mikheyev celebrate Pettersson’s go-ahead goal as the Ducks’ Mason McTavish, front right, looks on during the third period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson, back left, and Ilya Mikheyev (65) celebrate Pettersson’s go-ahead goal as Quinn Hughes, right, skates to join them while the Ducks’ Mason McTavish (23) watches during the third period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ducks goalie John Gibson, left, stops a shot by the Vancouver Canucks’ Teddy Blueger, center, as he is checked by the Ducks’ Mason McTavish during the third period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes skates with the puck during the third period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes takes a shot on goal during the third period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, center, skates with the puck while being watched by the Ducks’ Adam Henrique, left, and Alex Killorn during the third period on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser waits for a faceoff during the third period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. Boeser scored two goals in the Canucks’ 3-1 win. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks players celebrate after their 3-1 victory over the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser tosses a stick into the crowd after being named the second star of the game after their 3-1 victory over the Ducks on Tuesday night in Vancouver. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Ducks kept this one competitive, but they could not avoid a seventh consecutive loss.
Brock Boeser scored twice to help the Vancouver Canucks beat the Ducks, 3-1, on Tuesday night. Elias Pettersson snapped a third-period tie as Vancouver improved to 3-4 in its last seven games. Thatcher Demko stopped 30 shots.
Mason McTavish had a chance to tie the score with 2:17 left in the third period but was denied by the goalpost.
“You could see it from the bench, the net was wide open and I saw it going in and I expected the light to go on and it’s kind of a shock, but we got to score more than one goal or two goals a game,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.
The Canucks jumped in front when Filip Hronek’s blocked shot was knocked home by Boeser 6:34 into the first period. It was Boeser’s NHL-high 16th goal this season.
The Canucks went on a power play 47 seconds into the second period and Gibson made a save on J.T. Miller’s breakaway 55 seconds later to help the Ducks kill the penalty.
The Ducks then went on a power play and Strome received a pass in the right circle with room. He took a couple of strides toward the net before scoring with a wrist shot to tie the score at 5:10 of the second.
“I think we liked our work ethic. The third period it seemed they turned it on a little bit but I think the first 40 we played a great game,” Strome said. “Even the third, I thought we defended hard, it was just they got the one wraparound goal and that seemed to just deflate us a bit.”
Pettersson put Vancouver ahead to stay when he swept home a wraparound 32 seconds into the third.
Pettersson scored on a wraparound after Gibson lost sight of the puck while engaged with a Vancouver forward Andrei Kuzmenko, a 39-goal scorer last season who was a healthy scratch the previous two games.
Boeser added an empty-netter with 48 seconds left.
“I’m very happy. He’s been great for us this year and he keeps scoring goals,” Pettersson said about Boeser leading the league in goals.
The Canucks were outshot 27-12 through the first two periods before an improved third-period performance.
“It’s a lesson that we learned last year,” Boeser said about the Canucks emerging in the third.
“There were lots of games last year where we weren’t good in third periods. (Canucks coach Rick Tocchet) came in and I think that was one of the things I think we picked up on, ‘You’ve got to play good in third periods and you can’t have a letdown.’”
The Ducks played without defenseman Radko Gudas, who sustained a knee injury in the loss to the Oilers on Sunday. The Ducks lost another defenseman when Ilya Lyubushkin did not come out for the second period because of an upper-body injury.
UP NEXT
The Ducks host the Washington Capitals on Thursday at 7 p.m.
