STATS

HIGHLIGHTS

GAME NOTES

• Griffen Molino made his NHL debut tonight for the Canucks, making him the 39th player to suit up for Vancouver this season. There’s been some hand-wringing over the signing of Molino, but overall he didn’t look terribly out of place. He skated primarily on a line with Drew Shore and Alex Biega that got it’s teeth kicked in at even-strength, but was notable for it’s speed and physical play. Molino finished -4 in shot attempts but also had one of the better chances of the game late in the first period. He’s got a long way to go towards being an everyday player, but players have certainly had worse debuts.

• The trio of Sven Baertschi, Bo Horvat, and Brock Boeser came to play tonight. Not only did they generate a number of high quality chances, but that line also led the team in shot attempt differential. That’s notable considering Horvat and Baertschi have struggled to remain solvent at even strength this season without the presence of Alex Burrows. The Canucks’ plan is ostensibly to have Boeser start in Utica next season, but if he continues to look as good as he has he’s going to make it awfully difficult for the team to send him down.
• The Sedins looked like their old selves again tonight after a two-week stretch of indifferent play. Daniel Sedin alone had 6 shots on goal, and they controlled play at the level we’ve been accustomed to over their careers. It’s been tough to watch them struggle this season. They can still do most of the things that have made them so successful, but you can see they’ve lost their fastball a bit over the past few seasons. Daniel had a couple of chances for a one-timer on the power play, only to see one go off the heel of his stick, and the other off the toe. It’ll be interesting to see how the coaching staff approaches their deployment next season, but I’d like to see them get an extended look with Boeser. They’ve looked dangerous on the powerplay together, so I’d like to see what they can do at evens. The Sedins could really use somebody that can drive shooting percentage and Boeser has looked like that type of player, albeit over a very small sample.
• Jarome Iginla scored his 625th career goal tonight, tying him for 15th all time in goals with Joe Sakic. He’s slowed down over the past half a decade or so, but he’s truly one of the all-time greats. It’s disappointing that he’s wasted the past few years on mediocre teams, and with the Kings on the outside looking in, it appears as though that trend is going to continue.