Friday night, those of us who were snubbed on TaySway tickets were stuck watching the Canucks play hockey on home ice. If you have been following this team this season, you know that the odds are, it’s going to suck. But before the Canucks even failed to show up for the first period (again) we had a couple of small wins. First, it was a Black Skate night.
For those of you who don’t know, I am a big #FreeTheSkate guy, so I am always extra excited when the yellow, black, and red come out for a game. But the second win probably was not a small one. Thatcher Demko returned to the lineup, although as a backup, he was still in the lineup for the first time in 229 days.
So while Lachlan was dancing next door to the tune of Love Story, Canucks fans were dancing at the sight of their long-lost starting goalie.
With Demko expected to start his first game of the season either on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Lightning or on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues, it was good to see him laughing at Desharnais for his breakaway attempt. But I’ll get to that later. For now, let’s talk about the first period.
Best Playing the Classics
Once again, the Canucks gave up the first goal of the game. It’s baffling how often the Canucks put themselves down by at least a goal to start a game.
This goal is always a tough one for a goalie. The pass from Sillinger behind the net is a great pass, you can see Lankinen was anticipating Sillinger to skate around the far side of the net and start to turn his head, but Sillinger at the last moment made a fantastic pass to the near side for Ollivier to score his 8th of the season. Even if Lankenin had anticipated the pass going near the side, this would be a hard save, simply because by the time Lankinen sees the puck, it’s already halfway to the shooter.
The next goal was scored a little over five minutes later from Damon Severson.
Goals like this, I always put on the goalie unless it comes off an elite shooter’s stick.
Severson does not fall into this category.
Lankinen has tons of time to square up to the shot, there is no credible passing threat, and this was a 1v1 battle. However, Soucy did Lankinen no favours. He over-committed to a potential passing threat on the far boards, and when Boeser is beaten on the outside, Soucy doesn’t have enough time to get across the ice and take away the shooting threat.
But again, I think Lankinen should have had this either way. So sue me, goalie nerds.
Worst that is it?
Well… that is all there is really to talk about in this period beyond the fact that the Canucks were out shot 17-2 in the first period. The CBJ were coming off of a back-to-back, and it often is the case that the unrested team comes out fast in the early stages of the game to try and build a lead early. And while the Blue Jackets did just that, the Canucks didn’t show up.
The one nice thing for Canucks fans that happened in the first period was getting to see this highlight from earlier in the night.
After watching the Canucks have a season-low 2 shots in the first period, seeing this highlight made me miss Chris Tanev.
I know, I know, not related, but I was really scratching and clawing for content to share with you from the first period.
Best Rallying the Troops
Rick Tocchet’s vocal chords got the night off, because captain Quinn Hughes delivered the message that needed to be sent after a dreadful opening 20 minutes.
How would the captain respond? Hint: He’s going to be on the ice in every goal clip you see for the rest of this article and logged 26:25 of total ice time.
Best Ouchie
The Canucks came out faster in the second period. Pettersson continued his goon era with an early penalty where he tripped Provorov and ended his night with a presumed broken thumb.
I’m no doctor, but from what I understand, thumbs should not look like that.
Best Not Quite the Same
After successfully killing Petey’s penalty, the Canucks started to heat up with their first great chance of the game coming from Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland.
We are finally starting to see some of that chemistry that made the Canucks so hard to play against from Joshua and Garland. But it’s not quite back yet. I don’t think Joshua is in peak form just yet.
Which is fair. He missed all of camp, the start of the season, and has been dropped into a Canucks team missing two of its four best players. But each game he looks better. If this pass was just a few inches over, the Canucks would have started the comeback on this play.
The Canucks need JT Miller back most, then they need Demko back as a healthy second. Third, they need Garland and Joshua to find their magic, and then the Canucks will be a scary team again. Oh, and they need another top four defenceman too.
Best Alien Sighting
Pettersson had a strong game tonight. He wasn’t just out there breaking bones, he was also a scoring threat all night. His first great chance came in the second period.
Pettersson uses his speed and hockey IQ to beat the defender wide, protect the puck and get a shot on net. You can see by the second angle that there was light in Merzļikins’ five-hole.
In the third, EP40 had another shot that honestly should have been a goal. 9/10 times, this goes in the net.
When Pettersson is on his game, not only is he a scoring threat, but he is a defensive threat. His defensive IQ and ability to read a play as it develops is what makes him so valuable to the team.
Brännström misplays the puck behind the net, and Pettersson casually notices and skates right through the Columbus player’s pass taking the puck with him bailing on the Brännchise.
He does small things like this all night long when he is playing to his potential. But best of all are the hits he throws when he is feeling it. They aren’t show-stopping by any stretch, but they are effective. Here Pettersson prevents a breakout from Kent Johnson during a 4-on-4 situation.
Hitting is not his strength, but he does it. And he does it smart.
Best Getting the Party Started
The comeback starts thanks to the Brockstar himself. Boeser finds some space and is able to get his lethal shot away before any defenders can plug his lane.
This is Boeser’s first goal since returning from his head injury early in November. It took him six games to get there, but the monkey is off his back.
Best Rare Find
The game was nearly tied from a rare Desharnais breakaway.
Desharnais has only one goal in the NHL in his 129. And he nearly got his second on what I bet is his first breakaway.
Fun fact. Desharnais has never scored an NHL goal in an NHL arena.
Best Elvis Has Left The Building
Sherwood scored his 7th goal of the season to tie the game. But all the credit for this goal goes to Elvis Merzļikins for deciding mid-game to take a weekend road trip to the cabin.
I am not sure what possessed Merzļikins to go on such an adventure, but the Canucks made sure to capitalize.
Best PewPew
The Canucks took their first lead of the game on a trickle of a goal from Pius Suter who is suddenly one of the best goalscorers on the team.
Who set up the goal? Who else but Conor Garland himself? Garland is now third on the team in points with 23.
Garland is on a 79-point pace if I did my math right. If he keeps this up he will blow out his career high of 47 points.
Worst Bad Luck Boeser
In nearly 1:05 Boeser was robbed of two sure goals.
Just from watching this save, I am now week-to-week with a pulled groin. Goalies are freaks, man.
Boeser’s frustration showed after Merzļikins made another five-alarm save as he put his hands on his head as the puck sailed away from the ice like his hopes and dreams.
Best Luck Boeser
Only 12 seconds later, he would collect his 400th career point in his 497th game with a secondary assist.
Quinn Hughes has his stick break on a slapshot, but DeBrusk was able to redirect the shot through Merzļikins to give the Canucks a two-goal lead.
Worst In the Hög House
I know that look. That is not good news.
Nils Höglander continues to struggle this season. Tonight, while he wasn’t the low-minute man, he only logged 10:10 of ice time and all he had to show for it was one hit and one penalty. Not a single shot. It is really giving me the sense that if and when the Canucks make a trade, Höglander will likely be dangled as part of the return.
I really like Höglander, but there is no denying he just doesn’t seem to bring Rick Tocchet’s non-negotiables on a consistent basis and can’t seem to find his spot in this Canucks’ lineup.
Best Fin
The game would be put on ice whe- wait no that phrase doesn’t work for hockey. Hmm.
The game would be put away when PewPew Suter scored his second of the night into the empty net like a prime Loui Eriksson.
The Canucks once again came out slow, and when they went down 2-0 in the first period I was prepared for another Classic 2024-25 Canucks home game, but to the Canucks credit they decided to take the first-period Shake it off like it never happened and came back to score five unanswered.
This isn’t a sustainable way to win games, but with Demko still not in the net, Miller still mysteriously missing and Hronek out after getting lower-body surgery after an upper-body injury(?), Canucks fans should be happy with the team keeping their head above water, let alone maintaining their 15-7-4 record.
There is a lot of talk about the Canucks not playing at their full potential, and if they can finally pull together and play to their potential, this team could once again be very, very dangerous.
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