The Vancouver Canucks were given an opportunity Tuesday night to exact revenge for an embarrassing 1-0 loss they suffered a week ago at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. Fortunately for Vancouver, this game went far more according to plan than the last one did.

In the shadow of a trade deadline that saw controversial defenceman Erik Gudbranson traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for winger Tanner Pearson, it would be the usual suspects who would step up in Horvat, Pettersson, Boeser, and Markstrom. To the delight of most fans, players such as Nikolay Goldobin and Luke Schenn also made significant contributions.

Good news on the roster side of things came in the form of Thatcher Demko being back on the bench as the backup goalie for Vancouver in support of Jacob Markstrom. With Ryan Miller on IR, Kevin Boyle was given the start on the Ducks’ side of the ice, though Anaheim did have to make an emergency call up from their AHL affiliate in San Diego of goalie Angus Redmond to sit as backup.

Veteran linesman Lonnie Cameron was also honoured alongside his family for reaching 1,500 NHL games mark as an official.

The rosters for each team was provided as usual by Jeff Paterson via twitter:

The game began somewhat mildly. Neither team really did much to really grab control of the game right out of the gate, but a theme emerged as the period wore on with Vancouver appearing to play slightly better despite Anaheim dominating the more traditional statistical measurements. The Canucks didn’t even register a shot in the first two minutes of the game, but newcomer Luke Schenn did his best to make a good first impression with the home fans by drawing a penalty from Derek Grant for holding at 4:09.

The Canucks, 2/34 on the power play in their last 10 games and tied with Anaheim for 27th overall in the NHL, went to work motivated to change the narrative around their special teams play. Leivo started things off with a good shot on net tipped wide by Boeser, although the puck was sent all the way back to the other end of the ice.

It would only be a temporary set back, however, as Nikolay Goldobin quickly executed two great passes to set up teammates for quality scoring chances. Guadette made the first attempt, with the second coming from another newcomer in the form of Ryan Spooner. Both shots were either blocked or off target entirely, but the plays to set them up had the right idea and were very sharp looking.

It was a good looking power play, but it ended with Vancouver only having a single official shot to show for it. That being said, Canucks fans wouldn’t have to wait much longer to see the home team finally bang one home:

After Pettersson made an excellent move to block a pass in his own end, he skated into the neutral zone and fired off a rink-wide pass at speed to Nikolay Goldobin, who was in full flight down the right wing. He took a brief moment to pick his spot, and fired an absolute laser over Boyle’s right shoulder for his 7th goal of the season at 8:04. It’s important to remember how bad the Ducks are, but games like these are why Goldobin causes so much debate in this market – every now and then he’ll look like there should be absolutely no discussion about whether he should be on that top line or not. He just needs to keep doing it, and that’s where the struggles have occurred.

The first goal of the night was followed by a good neutral zone pass by Ben Hutton to the goal scorer himself, as Goldobin skated in with speed and got off another shot in close that was blocked. Another good effort from the Russian. This preceding some rather amusing booing of Ryan Kesler, as he tried unsuccessfully to deflect a puck into the Vancouver zone.

The booing would continue throughout much of the rest of the night, and Kesler responded early by getting mixed up with Antoine Roussel. The two were skating in close proximity, taking turns sticking each other. Roussel gave Kesler a shove to the back of the head as the two players found themselves having words behind the Anaheim net. The volume of the crowd surged, and Roussel unfortunately did exactly what Kesler was hoping he would when he escalated to a full-on cross check.

Roussel was sent to the box at 13:21, but the ensuing Ducks power play lived up to their low-ranked status and never really threatened. Corey Perry had a single chance when he tried to tip a rebound in at the side of the net, but Jacob Markstrom held tightly to the post.

The Canucks managed to put themselves up 2-0 at 16:40 when Ryan Spooner sent a solid pass forward to Josh Leivo. He was obviously hoping for a deflection, but the pass was missed and icing was called off. The puck was retrieved in the corner by Leivo, who then sent it behind the net back to Spooner. Pouliot took a pass back to the line and set up Alex Biega for a shot from the point that managed to sneak it’s way under the right pad of Kevin Boyle:

The period would go on to end with a series of mucky plays that would go on to define the night as a whole: the appearance of having a lot going on without any of it actually ever proving to be very critical.

Roussel did manage to end the period channeling the feelings of Canucks fans everywhere, and that was pretty good:

Ryan Spooner started the second frame off by wiring a long shot through a crowd to the net, only to ring it off the cross bar. Anaheim responded with one of their most dangerous looking zone entries of the night when four Ducks skated straight through the neutral zone as a pack. Hampus Lindholm got a shot off in close, and Daniel Sprong almost clipped the mask of Jacob Markstrom when he tried to wack in the rebound. The Canucks had trouble with the puck right in front of the net, giving Corey Perry a chance at a rebound. It was the most challenging series of plays in the game for Markstrom, but a quick pad save kept Anaheim off the board.

The Ducks were penalized at 1:40 when Brendan Guhle was sent to the box for Boarding, giving the Canucks another chance for their power play to get off the schneid and make something happen, and Bo horvat stepped up to answer the call:

Horvat collected the puck with speed at his own blue line and bull-rushed it into the Anaheim zone before passing it back to Pettersson. Hutton then took a saucer pass from Pettersson and threw a long wrist shot on net that was corralled by the Ducks. Horvat stole the puck back as he fell to his knees and chipped it over to Brock Boeser, who skated it right in front of the Anaheim net surrounding by four collapsing Ducks. With a backhanded pass, he was able to get the puck back to Horvat, who was waiting at the corner of the net and managed to bang in his own rebound. With that goal, he matched his career high of 22 in a season, and it was his first on the power play since December 20th against the St. Louis Blues.

Pettersson quietly had an impressive night himself, as this was his second assist of the night and his 14th multi-point game of the year. The only Canuck with more multi-point nights in their rookie season? You guessed it – Pavel Bure with 18. One of several records in danger of being broken by EP40 before the season is done.

One storyline that began to emerge from the game around this point was the fan reaction to the play of Luke Schenn. It’s fair to say that there were basically zero expectations for him when he was acquired for basically nothing, and most fans were expecting a player similar to the recently departed Erik Gudbranson. There are indeed a lot of similarities between the two men as far as how their careers have gone and the reasons why they’ve struggled in today’s modern NHL, but Schenn’s first impression with Canucks fans was a pleasant surprise across the board:

With over 700 NHL games under his belt, it’s not like Schenn is inexperienced. The first reason he stood out was that his positioning was pretty spot on for most of the night. He seems to understand his limitations, and as a result kept his game within the bounds of what he’s capable of. He made a good first pass, showed off his big (if not entirely accurate) shot from the point, and even brought some unexpected aggression to the game. There were a handful of instances throughout the night where he was clearing the front of his own net the way fans were told for the longest time Gudbranson would.

He battled hard, and Canucks fans definitely noticed and appreciated the effort. I like a lot about what I’ve seen from Schenn so far, but it’s important to remember why he’s had the trouble he’s had and not get too hyped up just yet. It’s still just one game, and he’s 29 years old. It’s not like he’s still a young defenceman who’s learning the ropes and finding his way. But it’s still highly encouraging, and I’m going to be making a special note to follow his play for the rest of the season. If he finds a way to turn himself around into a legitimate, consistent contributor on the back end, it would be hard to describe just how much of a win that would be for an organization that desperately needs to overhaul it’s blue line.

The rest of the period continued to be a confusing affair, with a lot happening but not happening at the same time. Pettersson got a good check in on Kesler as he was once again booed. Gaudette managed to get a good shot off on Kevin Boyle from in close. But generally just a lot of mucky play. There was a lot of back and forth throughout the remainder of the period, and indeed the rest of the game, but none of it ever really amounted to much in terms of genuine scoring chances.

The Canucks genuinely looked like they were playing well and were obviously in full control of the game, but it’s hard to say just how much of that was legitimate or not because of how poorly the Ducks were playing. It’s not like you’re aren’t still going to take a night like that, but how proud should one be of beating an opponent that takes care of most of the work for you?

As the game progressed, so did the muck. Several of the first minutes were spent with the same back and forth happening, but without any real danger or consequence to any of it. The Canucks still obviously had the lead, but it very much felt like the tightness of the game was mostly a result of the flaws of both teams rather than any real superiority that was on display.

Yes, Vancouver played well, but let’s remember that looking good against the worst team in hockey doesn’t mean much unless you can replicate your results against a tougher opponent.

The one highlight of the period came in the form of a second Horvat goal at 7:12. With an awesome personal effort by the captain (but that’s none of my business), Horvat dived for the puck in front of Ryan Kesler and whipped home a pass from Leivo when Kesler was unable to regain control of the play:

With his career high 23rd goal of the season, Horvat put a bow on a night where he showed why he continues to be the heart and the engine of this Canucks squad. Pettersson might be the team’s best player, but Horvat is without a doubt the team’s most important player. He drives the bus, and everyone knows it.

As the rest of the period progressed, the Canucks were finally able to bring their shot total in line with the Ducks. The Ducks were outshooting Vancouver by 2-1 for most of the game, but a big reason why the shot count didn’t reflect what was happening on the ice is because of the large number of times Canucks players missed the net entirely. What momentum there was in this game was certainly with Vancouver, as Anaheim never really had a single moment where they genuinely threatened the Canucks whatsoever.

The big line for Vancouver got another solid scoring chance when Max Jones made a poor pass in the Canucks’ zone and the puck ricocheted right to Goldobin’s stick. He was able to get it up to Pettersson before receiving it back after entry as a trailer on the play, and managed to make a cross ice pass over to an open Brock Boeser. Boeser managed to get a tight shot off in close, but he fired it wide by mistake and it bounced off the outside of the net.

Anaheim had their second decent attempt of the night when Max Jones made a decent entry in on the right side and sent a hard pass to the middle to set up a hard shot on net from Hampus Lindholm. Grant collected the rebound off the backboards and had a wide open net, but grazed the post despite having Markstrom beaten.

Goldobin made another good entry into the Ducks’ zone around the 12 minute mark, setting up Boeser for a shot that was met with a glove save by Boyle. Schenn and Jones battled in front of the Vancouver net for much of the remainder of the game

With 1:12 left in the period, Horvat was called for Interference on Carter Rowney (I don’t know either), and the game would end with the Canucks short-handed. Silfverberg had a decent chance to score with a nice deke, but the save was made and Hutton (who was also quietly having a solid evening) successfully cleared the puck.

Jacob Markstrom closed the game out with his 3rd career shutout; his first of this season. It was also his first shutout since last years February 11th game against the Dallas Stars. Loui Eriksson was spotted on camera handing him the game puck as he received congratulations from the rest of the team.

As I said before, this game was a bit of a dud, despite the result.

On face value, Vancouver came away with a convincing win, but it took an awfully long time for the data to reflect their better play. Again, I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, and I have a ton of positive things to say about tonight’s effort as well, but it’s just hard to get too excited about beating basically the worst team in hockey. And to require such great performances to do so. So let’s take all of the good news with a grain of salt.

Because there was certainly good news.

Bo Horvat was an absolute monster in this game. He scored 2 goals, drove the team’s momentum, and helped to get the power play back on track.

Elias Pettersson quietly had a decent night, with 2 assists to show for his efforts.

Jacob Markstrom was obviously one of the team’s best players. Not only did he post the shutout, his now .912 save percentage and 2.73 GAA are closing in on career highs for him.

Nikolay Goldobin looked dangerous all night, and every part the player that the Canucks want him to be. He still isn’t quite there consistency-wise, but he’s certainly progressing, and it’s nice to see that he’d been kept around once the trade deadline had passed. If he can continue to play like he played tonight, it’s going to be harder and harder for Travis Green to keep him out of the line up.

Boeser and Hutton both quietly had effective nights as well. They were less statistically exciting, but all you ask from your players is that you notice them. Both of these guys were noticed all night, and for doing all of the right things.

Luke Schenn had a fantastic debut at Rogers arena, and I’ve already gone into detail as to what he did to make that happen. Hopefully he keeps it up. I was surprised that he wasn’t one of the three star selections at the end of the night.

All in all, a win that fans will take. The Canucks are next in action this Wednesday in Denver at 6:30pm PST. The surging Colorado Avalanche are 5-1-1 in their last 7 games, so it will be fascinating to see if Goldobin, Schenn, and the rest of the Vancouver Canucks can continue their strong play against what will surely be a more challenging opponent.