First period recap: Zzzzzzzzzz

Oh shoot, it’s a goal! Ah, yes, it came from Tage Thompson.

After an icing call late in the first period, the Sabres won the draw in the Canucks’ end, and wasted little time in getting the puck into the right hands.

1-0 Sabres. Would have liked to see Brock Boeser put up more of a fight on this one.

The second period got started with more action than we saw in the entire opening 20 minutes, as noted Italian-Canadian Phil Di Giuseppe benefited from a Vancouver bounce to open the scoring early.

Not seen in this clip is the solid work from both Nils Höglander and JT Miller to keep the Canucks’ cycle in the offensive zone alive.

The Canucks picked up the game’s first power play after Jack Quinn was called for a phantom trip on Quinn Hughes. While the first unit didn’t score, we got to see a 5v5 shift that resembled a power play shortly after.

After Tage Thompson’s stick broke in the Vancouver end, Filip Hronek hit Elias Pettersson for a quick zone entry, and it was there the Canucks got a great cycle started. Boeser and Pettersson retrieved the puck a few times, and because they were able to keep the play alive as well as they did, it allowed Quinn Hughes to hop onto the ice.

With the ice seemingly tilted in the Canucks’ favour, we saw a vintage Pettersson snipe to cap it off.

2-1 Canucks. More of that please, Elias.

A pass hopped over Quinn Hughes’s stick at the Buffalo blue line, and the Canucks’ captain was called for holding to give the Sabres their first power play of the game.

The Canucks’ penalty killers did a great job, with Pius Suter taking a whiff from Rasmus Dahlin and turning it into what was almost the Canucks’ second short-handed goal of the year. Unfortunately, Suter hit the post on the play.

Fortunately, the Canucks killed the penalty off and entered the third period up by a goal. A much better second period than what the Canucks turned in during the first period.

Buffalo began the third period with a power play after Carson Soucy hooked Tage Thompson on a partial breakaway following a giveaway from JT Miller. The Canucks killed that one off too, but a defensive breakdown back at 5v5 allowed Buffalo to tie this one up.

Tocchet shaking his head after this one is certainly going to be a GIF in tonight’s edition of The Stanchies.

Anyone’s game.

Just like they did earlier in the game on the first goal, the Canucks iced the puck and lost the ensuing defensive zone draw, allowing the Sabres to strike quickly.

Filip Hronek had a golden opportunity to tie this one up after Quinn Hughes set him up for a tap in that went off the heel of Hronek’s stick and wide of the net.

With 1:40 left, the Canucks pulled Thatcher Demko in favour of an extra attacker. Hughes found Pettersson in the slot for a deflection that resulted in a rebound opportunity for JT Miller. Luukkonnen stopped both.

The Canucks had another great opportunity as Hughes, Miller, and Pettersson pulled off a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play, but Luukkonnen made a great save to stone Pettersson on the shot attempt. Conor Garland had a chance afterwards as well, but ultimately came up short.

Some more takeaways from tonight:

-After a sleepy start to the first, the Pettersson line really came alive in the second period of this game. In fact, all of the Canucks did. Their best players were their best players, as all of Hughes, Pettersson, Boeser, and Miller picked up a point in the second. But as has been a problem all season long, they couldn’t keep up the consistency and lock down the win.
-I really like the idea of letting Thatcher Demko get on a roll. Nice to see him get a third straight start, and I’m trying to be patient, but man the Canucks could have used a save on one of those goals tonight.
-Derek Forbort and Mark Friedman both stood out to me tonight in a positive way. I hope Friedman stays in the lineup over Noah Juulsen when Juulsen becomes an option again.
-No real excuse for allowing Buffalo back in this one when they played last night in Seattle. This was a game the Canucks should have had.
-Canucks haven’t won consecutive games in 23 games. Tonight was a golden opportunity to buck that trend.
-Finally, tonight marked the sixth annual edition of the Botchford Project. As the first recipient of the honour back in 2019, the program holds a special place in my heart, and I made it out to morning skate today to be there for this year’s three recipients. Jason Botchford was so special and so unique in the way he covered this team. He was my inspiration for wanting to start writing about the Canucks, and I don’t take the opportunity to now call that a career for granted. Before I ramble too much, I wanted to close out Instant Reaction with this nugget from a conversation I had with Elias Pettersson following morning skate today.

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