Instant Reaction: Elias Pettersson tallies 100 points, JT Miller scores career goal 200 in Canucks win

Look, for tank purposes, it would have been nice if the Canucks lost this game. Nobody’s disputing that.

But another couple of nice things happened tonight, and we’re here to talk about them.

And no, we’re not talking about the Vancouver Canucks beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in game 81 of 82.

Folks, Elias Pettersson tallied the 100th point of his season tonight. Then he tallied point number 101 shortly thereafter. You knew he’d do it — many in Vancouver have known for quite some time that he’d one day do it — but for him to actually hit the milestone is a story in itself. Pettersson picked up the marker after setting up Brock Boeser for a backdoor tap in.

In the history of the NHL, 12 Swedish players have hit 100 points, and the Canucks have four of them. Pettersson became the sixth Canuck to reach the 100 point plateau, joining Pavel Bure, Alexander Mogilny, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, and Markus Naslund in the franchise record books.

It wasn’t just Pettersson who hit a milestone tonight though, as JT Miller scored the 200th goal of his career when he recorded this evening’s game winning goal.

Pettersson skated on a line with Miller in this one, a nice gesture by head coach Rick Tocchet to try to ensure that the one point Pettersson needed wasn’t still hanging over his head going into Thursday, the final game of the Canucks’ season.

But before we leave it off, we need to give our instant reaction, and tonight, that’s about Akito Hirose, who continues to impress. When you see Hirose make plays under pressure, you can’t help but wonder what he could mean for the Canucks’ blue line heading into next year. Can he be an NHL regular over the course of a full season or is he better off in Abbotsford and serving as a call up option for the big club? Only time will tell, but Hirose has certainly caught our eye since arriving in Vancouver.

Finally, Thatcher Demko got his season record back at .500, and his save percentage above .900. Considering how much he struggled to kick off the season, it’s nice to see him claw his way back to somewhat respectable numbers thanks to some strong play in the second half of the season.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!