Canucks 5, Bruins 2
Shawn Matthias recorded his first career hat trick and Ryan Miller made 21 saves in his 600th appearance as host Vancouver skated to its fifth victory in eight outings.
All-Star Radim Vrbata netted his team-leading 21st tally to extend his point streak to eight games for the Canucks, who have won three of the last four meetings since falling to Boston in the 2011 Stanley Cup final. Jannik Hansen added an empty-net goal and Zack Kassian notched two assists to increase his point streak to five games.
Patrice Bergeron scored his team-leading 16th goal for the Bruins, who opened their five-game road trip by losing for the fourth time in five outings. Chris Kelly converted from the high slot at 5:41 of the third period to trim Vancouver's lead to 3-2, but Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg's turnover led to Matthias batting home his own rebound just 24 seconds later to complete the hat trick.
A neutral-zone turnover by Boston blue-liner Torey Krug led to Kassian wiring a saucer pass from deep in the right circle to Matthias, who redirected the puck from the left doorstep to open the scoring 1:41 into the contest. Matthias recorded his seventh career two-goal performance at 5:03 of the period, intercepting blue-liner Dougie Hamilton's pass before skating across the slot and beating a prone Tuukka Rask (20 saves).
Bergeron exited the penalty box and quickly trimmed the deficit by converting his own rebound at 9:38 of the first period. Vrbata regained Vancouver's two-goal advantage at 9:26 of the second, as Chris Higgins' slick feed between his legs found Vrbata for an easy conversion.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Vancouver moved two points ahead of idle Calgary and into sole possession of third place in the Pacific Division. The clubs meet in Alberta on Saturday. ... Boston has yielded the contest's first goal in five straight games. ... Vancouver failed on all three power-play opportunities and fell to 2-for-23 in February.