Vancouver Canucks' Elias Pettersson (40) celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers with his teammates during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

By The Canadian Press

Elias Pettersson scores twice, Vancouver Canucks down Florida Panthers 5-2

Mar 17, 2026 | 10:39 PM

VANCOUVER — Elias Pettersson scored twice, including the 200th goal of his NHL career, and the Vancouver Canucks held on for a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

The Swedish centre opened the scoring at the 3:49 mark of the first period, blasting a one-timer in from inside the faceoff circle during an early power play. It was his 14th tally of the season and his first goal in 21 games.

Marco Rossi also scored and contributed a pair of assists for the Canucks (21-38-8), who rebounded from a lopsided 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.

Vancouver centre Aatu Raty and Drew O’Connor each added a goal apiece, Brock Boeser tallied three helpers, and Kevin Lankinen — playing in his 200th NHL game — stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced for his first win since Jan. 21.

The Panthers (33-31-3) got a goal and an assist from Matthew Tkachuk. Sam Bennett also scored and Carter Verhaeghe had two assists.

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TAKEAWAYS

Canucks: Took a 3-1 lead late in the opening frame, then withstood Florida’s late push to finish out the win. … Went 2-for-4 with the man advantage. … Winger Nils Hoglander slotted back in after being healthy scratched two games in a row. He replaced Curtis Douglas in the lineup.

Panthers: Defenceman Seth Jones returned to the lineup after missing 26 games with an upper-body injury. Bennett also played after an undisclosed ailment kept him out of Florida’s 6-2 loss to the Kraken in Seattle on Sunday. … Winger Nolan Foote played his first game for the Panthers after getting called up from the AHLs Charlotte Checkers on Sunday. His dad is Canucks head coach Adam Foote. … Bobrovsky skated in his 800th regular-season NHL game and winger Tomas Nosek made his 500th appearance.

KEY MOMENT

Boeser sent Pettersson a behind-the-back pass from near the crease and Pettersson ripped a shot off, with the puck hitting Florida defenceman Gustav Forsling on its way into the net for the centre’s 200th regular-season goal. The tally gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead at the 13:40 mark of the first period and prompted chats of “Let’s go Petey!” from the crowd at Rogers Arena.

KEY STAT

Vancouver now has three wins in its last six games (3-2-1) after amassing three victories over the previous 26 outings (3-19-4).

UP NEXT

Panthers: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Canucks: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2026.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press