Defending champion Hurricanes beat Canucks 6-3 to take NHL lead

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Logan Stankoven and Nikolaj Ehlers each scored twice and had an assist and the Carolina Hurricanes beat Vancouver 6-3 on Tuesday night to take the NHL points lead and hand the Canucks their eighth straight loss. Nicolas Deslauriers also had two goals for the defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes (8-2-1). Jackson Blake added three assists, and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 14 shots, They rebounded from a 3-2 loss at Calgary on Sunday night. Linus Karlsson, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Max Sasson scored for the Canucks (2-8-1). Leevi Merilainen provided a bright spot for Vancouver with 38 saves. He stopped Sebastian Aho on a penalty shot in the second period after Canucks center Elias Pettersson was caught throwing his stick. Up next Hurricanes: At Edmonton on Thursday night. Canucks: Host Detroit on Thursday night. ___ See AP’s full NHL coverage here