With Mike DiPietro back in net against the Czech Republic at the World Juniors, fans were faced with a more difficult decision on Saturday night than they were on Thursday when it came to changing the channel to the Canucks’ game. However, with Team Canada in command of a 4-1 lead and the resurgent Canucks up against the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames on Hockey Night in Canada, it was the sort of matchup that few could resist.

As always, Jeff Paterson had the lineups on Twitter, and this time around there would be some significant changes for the Canucks:

With Sven Baertschi and Troy Stecher both returning from head injuries, Tim Schaller and Alex Biega were relegated to the pressbox to join Michael del Zotto. Adam Gaudette was returned to Utica to make room on the roster for Baertschi’s activation.

The goaltending matchup featured Jacob Markstrom—Vancouver’s red-hot Mr. December—and David Rittich, who had never lost an NHL game on a Saturday.

 

On Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers, the Canucks scored on their first two shots. Things didn’t start off quite so well on Saturday, with the returning Troy Stecher picking up a high-sticking penalty just 23 seconds into the game.

The Canucks’ penalty killers had a lengthy PK streak snapped against the Oilers, but they looked calm and efficient in shutting down the early powerplay with relative ease.

Vancouver received a powerplay of their own just ahead of the period’s five-minute mark after a lengthy stretch of play with the penalty delayed. The Flames’ leading scorer, Johnny Gaudreau, headed to the box after slashing Ben Hutton in the neutral zone.

It didn’t take the Canucks’ top unit long to make Gaudreau pay. After 30 games on the IR, Sven Baertschi made an immediate impact by digging up the puck along the boards and feeding it to the point—and then charging hard to the slot. While Baertschi was opening up space, the puck was fed by Alex Edler to Brock Boeser—who skated in for an uncontested shot that found its way past David Rittich for the 1-0 lead.

 

Looking for redemption, Gaudreau and the rest of the Calgary top line proceeded to take control of the game over the next several shifts and generated a number of chances, but Jacob Markstrom and the Canucks’ defense continued to stymy them at every turn.

 

The rivalry heated up as Sam Bennett just missed catching Elias Pettersson with a knee in the neutral zone. Though Pettersson avoided the low contact with a deft move, Erik Gudbranson and Jay Beagle made sure to go after Bennett when the whistle eventually blew—resulting in a sizeable scrum. In the midst of all that action, Derek Ryan took a slashing penalty and the Canucks went to their second powerplay of the game.

 

The powerplay didn’t go nearly as well this time around, as a failed zone entry and Josh Leivo bobble at the blueline sent Noah Hanifin on a shorthanded breakaway. Markstrom made two nice saves on Hanifin, but Mark Jankowski was there to bang in the second rebound and tie the game at 1-1.

 

The situation did not improve as the Canucks found themselves shorthanded again shortly thereafter, following a rather late call on an Alex Edler trip. Things then went from bad to worse as Ben Hutton picked up a slashing penalty to put the Canucks down by two men. Fortunately, the Canucks were also the beneficiaries of a quick whistle on the Hutton call—resulting in the Flames putting the puck in the net a second too late.

Markstrom used the opportunity of the 5-on-3 to put on a goaltending clinic, writhing around on the ice like Dominik Hasek reborn. The Canucks’ PKers collapsed to the crease to support him, and the puck stayed out of the net until Edler could escape from the box. The remaining minute of penalty killing was significantly less eventful.

At period’s end, the shots were 13-6 in favour of the Flames and the score remained knotted at one apiece.

Hockey Night in Canada’s graphics department making it look like Elias Pettersson can blast Cyclops-style beams from his eyes.

Vancouver spent the first five minutes of the second period under siege, but the Flames were unable to put anything past Jacob Markstrom. That included a golden chance in which Johnny Gaudreau was left all alone in front with ample time to make any move he wanted, but he still couldn’t beat Markstrom. Gaudreau was shoved to the ice unceremoniously by Ben Hutton for his efforts.

The Canucks managed to fight back against the tilted ice over the next few minutes and generate a couple shot attempts, but they were unable to earn a real shot on net until nearly seven minutes into the period. Fortunately, that shot came on a Brock Boeser chance that also resulted in a Garnet Hathaway slashing penalty, granting the Canucks their third powerplay of the game.

The powerplay was ultimately unsuccessful, though its best chance came from the second unit—resulting in a Markus Granlund shot off the post. Shortly thereafter, the Flames headed up the ice on a two-on-one and Travis Hamonic also shot it off the post—and into the net behind Markstrom. It was the Flame’s second shorthanded goal of the game—and their 12^th of the season—and it put them ahead by a score of 2-1.

 

As the game hit its midway mark, the shots sat at 20-8 in favour of the Flames and the possession numbers were once again heavily stacked against the Canucks. Coach Travis Green was not amused.

As has been the case on many an occasion this season, the tide wouldn’t turn until Elias Pettersson stepped up to part the seas. Chris Tanev made a great heads up pass to Pettersson at the Calgary blueline, and after a couple of quick strides Pettersson had David Rittich at his mercy from his favourite shooting position—and the result was never in doubt. A hot wrister beat Rittich cleanly, and the score was tied again at 2-2.

That’s right, the official NHL Twitter account just referred to Elias Pettersson as an “absolute unit.”

Perhaps inspired by Pettersson’s offensive creativity, Nikolay Goldobin busted out a Marek Malik-style between-the-legs play on a breakaway during the next shift. He failed to score, but shortly thereafter Goldobin drew a boarding call against Flames’ captain Mark Giordano. Meanwhile, Jake Virtanen mixed it up with Rittich and TJ Brodie in the crease, but no further penalties came from that exchange.

Despite Twitter being awash with jokes about declining the powerplay, the Canucks set out on their fourth man advantage of the evening. Vancouver didn’t manage to score or generate any legitimate scoring chances, but on the plus side neither did the Flames.

Calgary would finish the period with another powerplay of their own after Virtanen got a little overzealous in a puck battle with Oliver Kylington and took a high-sticking penalty. That didn’t result in any chances of note, and neither did the period’s final seconds of five-on-five play—until extremely late chances from Dillon Dube and Garnet Hathaway that Markstrom deftly turned away. Hathaway also drew a high-sticking penalty from Erik Gudbranson as the horn sounded, meaning the Canucks would start the third period shorthanded—but with the score still tied at 2-2.

Jacob Markstrom finally getting some respect from the mainstream hockey media and Elliotte Friedman starting the “Pettersson for Hart” conversation.

Also, the extended preview of Quinn Hughes via the World Juniors:

The ice remained tilted in favour of Calgary as the third period began, but only because they were lucky enough to enjoy a fresh sheet of ice for the full two minutes of their man advantage. There were a few close calls, but the Flames were unable to convert on their chances.

The penalty kill may have been effective, but it also temporarily cost the Canucks the services of Jay Beagle—who up until that point was second in Canucks’ forwards in ice-time after Brock Boeser. Fortunately, he returned to play shortly thereafter.

 

For such a tightly-contested game, the opening quarter of the third period was largely uneventful and dominated by smart stickchecks and efficient positioning by both squads. Tyler Motte nearly sprang Bo Horvat on a breakaway with a clever bank-pass off the boards, but nothing came of the play.

Meanwhile, clips of Quinn Hughes from the WJC continued to distract this author from actually completing the Post-Game Recap:

 

With little happening on the ice, coach Travis Green threw his lines into a blender—which regrettably resulted in Nikolay Goldobin doing time on the fourth line, leading to plenty of chagrin from #Canucks Twitter:

Playing on a line with Markus Granlund and Sven Baertschi, Jake Virtanen nearly forced a breakaway, but lost the puck in his skates before he could full bust loose. On the next shift, the reunited unit of Josh Leivo, Elias Pettersson, and Brock Boeser generated a number of top-notch chances, but they also failed to convert on any of them.

For the back half of the period, the teams continued to exchange a handful of chances, but mostly dug in their heels and turned their gaze toward a seemingly inevitable overtime period. Horvat nearly turned a rolling puck into a close chance on net, but David Rittich was in good position to deny him.

 

The most interesting development of the late period was Dillon Dube taking a solid shot at Pettersson along the boards—and Pettersson getting back to his feet in time to take a small revenge run at Dube. It wasn’t anything excessive, but it was a nice bit of pushback from Pettersson and something that many wouldn’t mind seeing more of in the future.

The score remained tied at two as time expired, and the Canucks were headed to overtime for the first time in six games.

 

The overtime period opened up with a rare Chris Tanev offensive foray, which was immediately followed by an odd-man Sean Monahan chance at the other end that Jacob Markstrom effectively put an end to.

Another Flames two-on-one occurred on the next play, but a backchecking Elias Pettersson dropped to his stomach to break it up with his stick—looking like a veteran defenseman as he did so. The next shift saw a Johnny Gaudreau opportunity in close denied by Markstrom, and then Pettersson lugged the puck up ice for two full-blast shots from he and Brock Boeser—but David Rittich was equal to the task.

 

The opening three minutes of the overtime period saw more legitimate scoring chances than the entirety of the third period, with both teams trading opportunities on every shift—old time firewagon hockey. After yet another odd-man rush was turned away by Markstrom, Alex Edler carried the puck up the ice, dropped it to Boeser, and went straight to the front of the net—where Boeser hit him with a perfect pass. Edler snapped the one-timer past Rittich’s pad to win the game for Vancouver by a score of 3-2.

Pundits predicted a tough test for the Vancouver Canucks in tonight’s matchup against the Calgary Flames, and that’s exactly what they got. It was a test that the Canucks passed, and although it was far from “flying colours,” it was an important demonstration of the team’s ability to hang with the best of the West.

Once again, Jacob Markstrom was the team’s best player, as he has been for the majority of December. As long as he keeps playing this well, there’s no telling just how high the Canucks can continue to climb in the Pacific Division standings. There’s still a lot to be worried about in Vancouver’s defensive game, but the dominance of Markstrom and the team’s top shooters are currently papering over the holes with some serious aplomb.

The story of the Canucks’ success in December starts and ends with the improved play of Markstrom. He’s been one of the league’s best goaltender throughout the month, and he’s been keeping the team in games they have no real right to be in—including tonight. Markstrom is finally realizing his potential as a legitimate starting goaltender in the NHL.

Pettersson “only” had a single goal tonight, but he also made positive plays all over the ice and was noticeable throughout the game. Pettersson dangled through multiple Flames on multiple occasions, and he made the defensive play of the game in overtime—demonstrating once again that he’s already one of the most multifaceted talents in the league.

Edler is currently playing as well as he ever has in a Canucks’ jersey. Edler’s statline alone—one goal, one assist, plus-two, two hits, four blocks, and 27:45 in ice-time—was undoubtedly impressive against the Flames, but he also passed the eye test with some truly dynamic plays at both ends of the ice. Right now, Edler is carrying an enormous load on the Canucks’ blueline—and he’s thriving under the pressure.

The road trip continues for the Canucks as they travel to New Jersey for a New Year’s Eve matinee matchup—December 31 at 10:00AM PST on Sportsnet Pacific.