With the divorce firmly in the rearview mirror, it appears the Vancouver Canucks might be having fun again.
Apparently, coming to the rink knowing you need a strategy of how to politely say, “Those two guys need to figure their sh!t out,” when asked about the locker room dynamic might not have been a great head space to be in.
The wins haven’t all been pretty (some were downright gross), but when you go 6-1-1 in your last eight games, you’d be forgiven if you didn’t care about the aesthetic value of your dubs.
Clearly they will need to continue to improve as a team if they want to continue their push for a playoff spot. Offensively, they still have that GOTI stench floating over top of them, something that has been a problem going back to last season. Trying to come up with different ways of saying “playing with fire” as the Canucks have closed out some of these games has become a proud tradition for the writers.
But for a team that looked all but done before the JT Miller trade, this is about as remarkable a turnaround as you could have gotten from this team. Whether it’s the injection of speed into the lineup in the form of Drew O’Connor and Filip Chytil, the stabilizing presence of Marcus Pettersson, or just the fact the mental drain of being in a locker room with Macho Man and Hulk Hogan feuding over perceived slights has been removed, the Canucks look like a new team.
And I mean, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs is always a cause for celebration in this city. Watching their fans get to chant “Go Leafs Go” before settling down for another loss in Rogers Arena is a gift that keeps on giving. But it kind of felt like the team itself was feeling the vibes of being a winning hockey team again.
When Kevin Lankinen had to step in for an injured Thatcher Demko, there was no panic. Kevin is the guy you call when you’re sick, and you need someone to bring you chicken noodle soup. But even with that said, even with that belief in Kevin, when he made an incredible save to rob Auston Matthews to close out the game, the bench was downright giddy over it. The players got lost in the moment. They were enjoying the game of hockey.
When Quinn Hughes couldn’t dress for Saturday’s game, again, very little panic. A couple of weeks ago, the thought of having to watch Elias and JT play together without Quinn to hold things together would have caused a panic attack in the fan base. But on Saturday, Tyler Myers, Marcus Pettersson and Fil Hronek stepped up in his absence. Hronek especially has emerged as a guy who can provide offence with Quinn Hughes out of the lineup, pushing aside the whispers of him being the ultimate passenger player.
The Canucks just feel like a normal team again, which is a nice change of pace versus whatever the hell this team devolved into over the course of this season. Physical injuries are easy to point to as something that can hold players back, but we often discount the mental side of it. And while an eight-game sample size isn’t exactly the perfect “Aha, I told you so” moment to plant your flag in, it’s pretty easy to see from body language alone that this team has a different vibe to it. You no longer have to wonder if Elias Pettersson will swear at you during a post-game scrum.
And speaking of EP40, while he still has a long way to go in terms of rising to the price of his contract, he was one of the Canucks best players on the ice Saturday.  He had a beautiful assist to set up the game’s first goal, and was just generally displaying that 200-foot game that Toronto seems to inspire in him. At this rate, Leafs fans must be convinced he’s turned into Pavel Datsyuk, as this is the second Selke-level game EP40 has had against TO.
So with a long break ahead, the Canucks have put themselves in a good spot to finish out the season. They’ve shown management that maybe they’re trending towards the “buy” side of the trade deadline, something that didn’t feel like a reasonable option a couple of weeks ago.
Where this season ends, who knows? But what we do know is that hockey has firmly taken the spotlight in this town once again, which is probably a good sign for this club’s future.
Best it’s dangerous to go alone, take this with you
You know the team drama is behind you when Jeff starts breaking out his Lord of the Rings intros.
Best bringing your A-game
It didn’t take long for Elias Pettersson to make an impact on the game, and it all started with one of his favourite maneuvers; The big butt body check:
You might look at the scoresheet and see a lone assist and think that Elias didn’t do much in this game, but that’s because you’re a dumb dumb. This was one of EP40’s best games in a while in the sense that he was dominant on the puck. He wasn’t chasing the game; he was anticipating it. Instead of running around and doing that weird flailing body check where he desperately tries to shove someone to showcase how engaged he is, he chose to use his vaunted reverse hit, where he protects the pucks and lets you run right into the booty.
As a result of that puck protection on this play, they end up getting a Derek Forbort point shot on net, which, granted, isn’t that tantalizing. I don’t think anyone saw Derek loading up that wrister and thought, “Oh yeah, Joseph Woll is in TROUBLE!” with the lone debate being does Forbort go bar down or post and in.
What did happen was the puck was kept in Toronto’s zone, which led to Elias Pettersson watching over the play until he saw a point where he could jump in and steal the puck back. The end result? A perfect threading of the puck over to a pinching Fil Hronek:
Elias is watching that corner scrum the entire time, and you can see him waiting to jump in and steal the puck, which he does. He’s moving his feet, which is something that Rick Tocchet has absolutely been hammering away at all season long. It’s a favorite theme of his, in fact. Elias could have a five-point night, but if he didn’t move his feet to get them, Rick would be the first one to sigh in the post-game scrum and give a tepid review of EP40’s play. “He was fine tonight. Sure.” would be about as good as it gets from him.
But you can see why Rick hammers away at that because when a player is moving their feet, they win battles for loose pucks. Steven Lorentz is slowly skating away from the play as if the puck is going to get to him with no issues, which is where Elias skating it down and moving his feet wins the day for the Canucks superstar.
You also see on this play Derek Forbort waive off Hronek hammering away at the ice, calling for the pass because Derek knows passing to a guy right in front of him is the easier, simpler play, which is right in his wheelhouse.
With the puck back on his stick, Elias then captures the attention of Auston Matthews, Steven Lorentz, and most importantly, Matthew Knies, who is covering Hronek’s side of the ice. You see Knies give a quick shoulder check on Hronek, and then he just stares into the eyes of Elias for the rest of eternity, transfixed by the burning question of “what is he going to do with that puck?”
Hronek green lights himself and rushes for the back door, and Elias sends in the perfect pass, and boom, it’s 1-0.
It’s a goal created out of hard work, smart hockey, and Knies being cheerfully optimistic that nothing bad can happen to him as long as he’s smiling.
Best counter attack
The Leafs were quick to create a counter-rush that resulted in William Nylander just missing going top shelf on Thatcher Demko, right where Mom keeps the novel she’s working on that will be finished any day now:
Hronek gets walked in that clip, but that was the Leafs’ best scoring chance of the period, as the Canucks generally dominated the first frame of hockey in this game.
Best anguished Montoya scream
With Spanish tumbling from our lips and pointed “por qué’s” hammering away at the eardrums of anyone within our vicinity, all we could do was watch as we saw the Canucks net get filled by another man:
There was footage shown in warmup of Demko maybe favouring his leg at one point, and during the game, they showed him stretching out again after a save, but all we know is Rick Tocchet doesn’t think it’s serious and doesn’t think it’s the knee. At least we now know it wasn’t a fecal-related incident, something Roberto Luongo has taught us should never be discounted.
It has to be extra frustrating for Demko, as he was just starting to finally hit a groove as of late, showcasing that Bubble Demko swagger we all know is inside of him. Instead of heading into the break riding a high level of play, we are once again wondering what Demko’s latest injury is. It continues a worrying trend for a goaltender looking to land a new contract, where you just don’t know what shape his body is in and how well it can handle the rigours of the NHL.
All of which just seems to underline the fact that the Canucks should probably find a way to sign Kevin Lankinen to a new contract.
Best GOTI structure
The Trio of Pettersson’s all shined in their own way this game. MP3 and Ep40 more so than D-Petey, but still, it was a team effort that got the win for the Canucks against the Leafs.
One of the things Marcus Pettersson has brought to the team is that super boring, reliable style that Chris Tanev once brought to the club.  Even when he makes a mistake, he recovers and does his best to put out the fire he created.
In this example, he gives up the puck but then guards the side of the net, getting his stick back in the passing line, disrupting the Leafs cycle, leading to a zone exit:
“But Wyatt, that’s so simple, why are you praising that? Surely that can’t make you a lot of gif money.”
Well, you’re right. Much like crypto, I can’t pump and dump MP3 highlights of basic plays. But what I can do is just showcase how reliable he is. Give me a guy who can do 30 plays like this in a game, and I will show you a reliable 20+ minute-a-night defenceman in the NHL. How many times have we seen a Canucks D-man struggle to recover from mistakes? Life is just much easier with Marcus around.
And that’s where MP3 shines; it’s in his consistency. Sure, it’s not a sexy gif, but that bachelor gif lifestyle on defence is behind us. Sometimes, we just want to settle down with someone reliable and start a family. I don’t know where that metaphor is going, but let’s just keep it.
As for D-Petey, he will have his ups and downs as he learns the NHL game, but one thing you can count on is him being a physical SOB when given the chance:
What I liked about that hit was that he didn’t chase it and put himself out of position to make it. He, in fact, used the hit to make the defensive play, which is something the Noah’s of the world could probably take notes on.
Now, D-Petey only played 11 minutes on the night, and he struggled at times with puck decisions in his own zone, but the potential is there with him. You can see it when you watch him play that this kid is most likely going to be an NHL player.
Best putting their foots down
I don’t know if “back door” was written in all caps on the whiteboard in the Canucks locker room, but they were looking for that play constantly throughout the game.
First up was an Elias Pettersson post, followed by Conor Garland almost tapping in said back door play:
Up next was Jake DeBrusk trying to recreate the Canucks first goal, complete with Hronek doing the exact same bull charge to the net for the tap-in:
Although it was a 2-1 game, and that score is very much in line with the Rick Tocchet brand of low-scoring hockey we’ve grown to love and hate, this game didn’t feel like a normal GOTI grind-fest. I agree that the Canucks sort of parked the bus in the second period, but they really came out strong in the third period to take control of this game.
This felt like the Canucks earned this win rather than held on for dear life to win it.
Best piss missle
Nils Höglander was rewarded with his elevated play as of late by getting a prime spot on the fourth line. Tocch Pen is hard to escape from, what can I say.
That being said, despite a first shift in which Nils turned the puck over in his own zone, he had another tidy piece of business game. His best shift was near the end of the first, where his hard work in the corner drew a penalty and led to Tyler Myers debating what life would feel like if he just would up for a clap bomb and tried to go full Cody Hodgson:
Nils Aman couldn’t score on the rebound, but I think that’s mostly due to the fact I think it’s illegal for him to score in the NHL because then we’d have to admit he’s a real person who does, in fact, exist.
Best need for speed
The speed that Doc and El Jefe have brought to the Canucks lineup has been noticeable in that they skate really fast.
We got a nice showcase of this in the second period when they almost used the turbo button to, hey, look at that, try and tap in the back door pass:
There was a little too much mustard on that beat for Chytil to handle, but dang it, you know how exciting it is to see an actual rush chance from the Canucks instead of grinding the puck around the boards for two minutes, ending with a Forbort wrist shot that even he is wondering why he’s going through the motions on it?
Best speaking of
I fully expect Derek to go bar down next game just to prove a point, but on Saturday, he was merely a prop in a clip of Elias once again going full Tupac and getting all eyes on him as he dragged the puck through the offensive zone:
Make no mistake about it: Elias Pettersson had a tremendous game, but we’re still at a point where we need him to get the puck on net more. Being a facilitator is all good, but we know Elias can be an absolute sniper when he wants to. The Canucks need him to be the dual threat we know he can be if he wants to elevate himself back to a top level.
Dangling through the zone to set up a Derek Forbort shot can’t be the end game.
I feel like I am hammering away at Derek tonight, but that is purely in regard to his shot. Defensively, he’s actually settled his game down quite remarkably, and this was maybe, possibly, his best game to date with Vancouver? I didn’t find myself wondering where the hard liquor was when he was on the ice; I actually found myself whispering, “atta boy Derek!” when he made plays in the game.
Best stepping up to the plate
To Elias’ credit, he was working extremely hard at being a puck-possession beast and was constantly working hard to win all of the battles.
One of the fun plays that resulted from this was this little give-and-go action with Tyler Myers:
It was a bit more East/West hockey than we’re used to, but I think that plays into EP40’s strengths, to be honest.
I also love the confidence of CG57 to walk in with that puck and try to pick out the corner, which he was just inches away from pulling off. Dude straight up looks off Elias and just goes for broke because what else would the Chaos Giraffe do? The best part is that it felt like the right play to make?
Call me crazy, but I am willing to roll the dice with Myers anytime he wants to try and pick a corner, assuming it isn’t a 3-on-3 overtime situation.
I like to gamble, what can I say.
Best a bit much
The second period was probably the worst of the three for Vancouver, but leave it up to Tyler Myers sending in a chaos bomb from the point and almost generating a goal out of it:
Again, I don’t love the “work the puck to the point so you can float a weak wrister on net” approach that GOTI hockey tends to end up turning into, BUT, again, I will roll the dice on a Myers wrist shot because, end of the day, sometimes that chaos goes in his favour.
Best waiting for results
The Leafs tied the game up in the dying seconds of the period on a power play goal that they basically willed into existence:
It was good work from Toronto, and despite the fact we have to live with the fact that Leafs fans at the arena got to experience a brief moment of joy, I do have to give their team credit on this one. That constant quick puck movement had Lankinen running all around his crease, ending with the nicely placed shot from Morgan Reilly, who, despite being born in Vancouver, grew up a Leafs fan, showcasing his traitorous ways at an early age.
The important part of this game for me was, as Daniel pointed out, how the Canucks would respond in the third period. Would they sit back and hold on for dear life, or would they go out and a seize the day and make Professor Whitman proud?
To the Canucks credit, they came out in the third period, stepped up, and took control of their own fate. I don’t know if not having Quinn Hughes around was a nice lesson for them in not having to sit back and see if their superhero was going to save the day, but they found a way to play aggressively and continue to generate scoring chances in the final period.
Best safety dance
Hey, remember those routine plays we talked about from MP3? Here’s another one:
As one person on Twitter complained to me, that’s just a routine play; how dare I showcase that and use it as a positive.
The thing is, MP3 seeing that hurried pass from Myers and making sure he quickly got to the puck and then safely escorted the puck out of danger like he was on King’s Row is what makes him such a reliable guy. It’s the fact he will make this play more often than not that makes him such a solid player for this team.
Tell me you haven’t seen Vinnie Desharnais or Noah Juulsen try this same play, except it ends with a panicked puck being shot off the glass and out for an icing call.
Marcus Pettersson is the warm, comforting hug waiting for you at home after a long, hard day of work.
Best posting up
After seeing Elias One get a post earlier in the game, Elias Two was hungry to follow suit:
Luckily, Marcus Pettersson would avoid this temptation and would refuse to hit a post in this game. Even with an empty net staring right at him, yup, he would refuse to hit the post.
Right?
Right??
Best rent free
Hey, don’t worry, Toronto fans; Tyler Myers can do more than cross-check; he can also back-check:
Myers commits just enough of some stick-on-stick crime, preventing the EA Sports-generated name Bobby McMann from getting a clean shot off.
Best never lose sight of your goal
One of the few breakdowns in the third period for Vancouver was when D-Petey jumped up to make a play in the puck, and Hronek lost sight of Nylander behind him:
Luckily, Kevin is used to being left home alone, so he defuses the situation with a perfectly timed poke check trap.
That being said, you compare D-Petey jumping up for that puck with that clip from Tyler Myers literally sprinting away back into his own zone when faced with a loose puck in the offensive zone, and you can see that D-Petey has not fully embraced the GOTI system yet.
Best my client
The Canucks managed to earn a powerplay with a hard-working shift in the offensive zone (another benefit of not sitting back and praying that somehow you win the game), and not only did we get to see Dakota Joshua try and use Corolla’s mini-stick hockey move at the side of the net:
But we also got to see crisp puck movement without the help of Quinn Hughes to the point that Joseph Woll still has no idea Brock Boeser got this shot off:
That slick little tabletop hockey shot from Brock was absolutely delightful, as he just sort of casually turns into the shot and releases it all in one motion, which causes Woll to freeze on the spot like he’s being chased by a T-Rex. Woll just straight up gets beat on this goal, reading the play wrong and having no idea that Boeser was going to unleash that level of pain on him.
Best stepping up
Honestly, as much fun as it must be to play with Quinn Hughes, there is something to be said about being given the rock and told to go make something happen.
When your number one play is “how do I get the puck back to Quinn?” and you spend most of your shift kind of watching him razzle dazzle all over the ice, I do wonder if you sort of slip into a hockey coma of sorts. You kind of forget what it’s like to use some of your puck-handling muscles because you become so used to Quinn handling the majority of the work.
Without Quinn around, more has been asked of Hronek, and he has stepped up to the plate and delivered.
Again, you clearly always want Quinn Hughes playing, but the elevated play of Hronek in Quinn’s absence does lend itself to that theory that, hey, maybe the team can experiment a bit more with having Hronek and Quinn Hughes split up more often. I think Myers and MP3 have clearly become on-ice BFFs, so maybe you just continue rolling with Hughes and Hronek and them as your top four.
But if Hronek has the ability to elevate Derek Forbot as he did on Saturday, it at least gives you options to spread out your depth throughout all of your D pairings.
Best keep on grinding
Again, give me a Myers chaos bomb from the point any day of the week because I believe in the chaos:
Myers almost puts that puck in off of Jake McCabe’s skate; such is the power of CG57.
And just so you have an example of why this game felt different from the other eight-game during this stretch, it’s because even when up a goal in the third period, they still found a way to get the puck on net:
That’s Garland finding a way to get a puck on net and Dakota Joshua, who has been rounding into last year’s form as of late, trying to make something happen.
This is the team we saw last year, and this is the team Rick Tocchet has pleaded for from his players this season.
Now, does that excuse the offensive limitations of the GOTI system? Not at all. Tocchet still has a long way to go in order to prove his systems can create enough offence for the post-season.
But at least the Canucks are slowly returning closer to the form they showed last season, which should be enough to get you into the playoffs.
Best give him all of the money
Only one thing can make you scream obscenities on social media like that: Kevin:
That’s about as game-saving of a stop you can make in today’s NHL. One of the absolute best snipers in the game is Auston Matthews, and you manage to slide over and get your glove on that shot?
If I made that save, I would bust out a moonwalk and “hee hee” right in Auston’s face, but Kevin is classier than I.
If Kevin Woodley made that save, well, I can’t imagine him ever making that save.
To quote a famous mobster from Rounders, pay that man his money.
Kevin deserves a new contract. He’s earned it.
Best closing out the game
You know how you know the Canucks are locked in? Tyler Myers is out there going full Titanic on the ice, being drawn like a French girl, offering up his nuts to win the game:
You laugh, but those balls helped eliminate the Nashville Predators from the post-season last year.
I also had a nice chortle at him just sort of ninja kicking the puck while lying on the ice, and it almost cleared the puck out of the zone.
And lastly, here is Marcus Pettersson absolutely in no way hitting the post on an empty net:
I had visions of Patrik Stefan running through my head, I won’t lie, but it turns out that MP3 just wanted to hit a post like the other Petterssons did. Unity!
And that was the ball game. Like I said, a 2-1 win is normally a moment where we end this article talking about the limitations of the GOTI lifestyle, but on Saturday? That felt like the Canucks took control of their own fate. They utilized some East/West puck movement. They protected that GOTI, limiting Toronto to only a handful of high-danger chances. It was a solid game from them.
Now, all we have to do is wait and see if Quinn Hughes rests up or plays with his brothers at the Four Nations tournament.
Never a dull moment.
Best jersey Botch
An Ace jersey in this economy??
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