VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The supporting cast took a starring role for the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Defenseman Matt Bartkowski scored twice and added an assist, and right winger Jake Virtanen broke a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal and earned an assist as the Canucks defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-3.

Vancouver right winger Emerson Etem also scored twice, once into an empty net.

Ottawa led 3-2 after two periods, but the Canucks rallied for the win.

If the Canucks (24-24-12) hope to keep their fading playoff hopes alive, they will need more production from their depth players.

"I thought we played well as a whole," said Bartkowski, who has five goals on the season. "There was a lot of ice out there, and we took advantage of it."

Virtanen put the Canucks ahead at 10:59 of the third. Center Bo Horvat took a shot that Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson stopped. Virtanen found the rebound and drove it through a sea of legs for his fifth goal of the season.

"It just came back to me and I saw an empty net there," he said.

It was the fifth goal of the season for the 18-year-old who has struggled at times during his rookie season.

"It's nice for me with the things that have happened the last two months or so," Virtanen said. "We're starting to roll a little bit. We have to push for a playoff spot, and we're getting every guy to buy in."

Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said, "At this time of year, teams will key on your top lines. You are going to have to have scoring from the other guys."

The first three-point night of Bartkowski's career comes at a time when the 27-year-old has been mentioned in trade rumors.

"If I start paying attention to that, I am not focusing on playing and what I need to be doing," he said. "I'll let the chips fall where they may.

"I can't control it, so there's no reason to even think about it."

It was only the third time in 25 games this season the Canucks won when trailing after two periods. It was also the first time since December that Vancouver managed to win back-to-back games at home.

The Canucks, who remain eight points out of the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, know they have little room for error.

"It's a big mountain, but if we take it one game at a time, like we are right now, then we can piece something together," Bartkowski said.

There was plenty of angst in the Ottawa room after the Senators saw a four-game win streak snapped. The Senators, who are four points out of a wild-card spot in the East, believed they let a win slip away.

"It's obviously not what we wanted," defenseman Marc Methot said. "With a team like this, it was up to us to get that extra goal or be a little tighter in our own end at the start of the third period.

"You've got to demoralize a team that's in the kind of position they're in, and we didn't do that."

Right wingers Mark Stone and Bobby Ryan and left winger Mike Hoffman scored for Ottawa. Stone's goal was short-handed. Defenseman Dion Phaneuf and center Jean-Gabriel Pageau had two assists each.

"It's very frustrating," Stone said of the loss. "We had a one-goal lead on the road. You can't ask for much more."

In the tight Eastern Conference, the Senators can't afford to give up points.

"We've got to win," Stone said. "I don't think we thought we were going to win the next 20 games, but one game at a time. We need to start winning.

"Other teams are winning. We've got to find a way to win, too."

NOTES: Vancouver RW Radim Vrbata, the subject of trade rumors, missed the game with a lower-back injury. He could be out a week. ... C Markus Granlund, obtained in a trade from Calgary on Monday, became the first player in Canucks franchise history to wear No. 60. ... There is a report that Chicago might be interested in obtaining Vancouver D Dan Hamhuis in a trade. ... Canucks RW Adam Cracknell and D Yannick Weber were scratches. ... Vancouver's next game is Sunday at home against the San Jose Sharks. ... Ottawa's scratches were D Patrick Wiercioch and LW Shane Prince. ... Of the Senators' final 20 games, 14 are against Eastern Conference teams. ... The Senators end their three-game road trip Saturday in Calgary.