The Vancouver Canucks broke out for three-second period goals en route to their fifth victory of the season on Sunday night, a 4-2 decision over the Washington Capitals.

The Canucks were unable to solve Capitals goaltender Justin Peters early in the game, as he was stellar in turning aside all 14 Canuck first period shots.  Meanwhile his Washington teammates got out to a sluggish start playing the second of back-to-back games, managing just six attempts at Canucks backstop Ryan Miller in the opening 20 minutes.

Marcus Johansen opened the scoring for the Capitals just over five minutes into the middle frame but the Canucks were able to respond with three straight goals in a 2:47 span. Henrik Sedin tied it at 1-1 with a bank shot while on the power play, followed by markers from Nick Bonino and Luca Sbisa both with shots that beat Peters glove side. The Capitals would get one back just before the end of the second period as rookie Liam O’Brien scored his first NHL goal with a nifty redirect to make it 3-2.

The final period would prove to be uneventful compared to the second stanza with Radim Vrbata providing the only scoring into the empty net with a minute to play securing a 4-2 win. 

Canucks netminder Ryan Miller was solid in stopping 20 of  22 shots to earn his fifth victory of the season while at the other end Justin Peters suffered his first regulation time loss after allowing three goals on the 33 shots he faced.  It was the Capitals second loss of the season and the first time they’ve allowed more than 30 shots against in the young campaign.

The Canucks were in need of a good result not only to open their three-game home stand on the right note but also because they had shown some concerning inconsistency in losing three of their last four games coming into the night.

Vrbata, Bonino and Chris Higgins all had two point nights for the Canucks while Alex Ovechkin was held off the score sheet after registering 2 shots on net in nearly 22 minutes of ice time.