Vancouver’s playoff chances may have ended Friday night with a 3-2 Colorado win over Arizona, but that didn’t mean the end of their effort level for the year.

In their penultimate home game of the year, the Vancouver Canucks were looking to keep the Quinn Hughes good times going to excite fans even more over what next season may bring. Jacob Markstrom’s play was excellent, as usual. So was Brock Boeser’s. But the true star of the evening, and the best story of the night, was a returning Sven Baertschi.

As usual, Jeff Paterson provided tonight’s rosters via Twitter:

It may seem simple, but there are few things in life that can’t be broken down into smaller, more manageable, bite-size challenges. If you want to win the game, start by winning a period. If you want to win a period, start by winning a shift. If you want to win a shift, start by doing, yes, the little things.

Those little things were going both ways to start this game. The Canucks started off on the right foot by taking the simplest first step to success: getting the first shot on net. Unfortunately, they followed that up by taking the first penalty of the game as well when Troy Stecher was called for hooking at 1:31.

Dallas doesn’t exactly have the highest scoring offence in the league, so it was no surprise when their first unit struggled to set up once the man-advantage began. Things got worse for Dallas when, after winning a defensive zone face off, they came skating up the ice in a hurry. Victoria kid Jamie Benn made a centre ice pass to Jason Dickinson, who almost immediately returned the pass. Benn was able to get some release with his backhand, but Markstrom was strong in net with his first big save in a game where he made many of them. Additionally, Tyler Seguin took a tripping penalty on the play, leaving the two teams to duke it out at 4-on-4 for a minute and seven seconds.

After a bit of back and forth, Quinn Hughes finally got his first opportunity to hit the ice during a Canucks power play, after not having had the chance in his first game. Not much came of it, but he did make a fantastic entry into enemy territory by using his speed and excellent maneuverability.

Momentum from the brief power play led to Vancouver racking up quite a few shots on net in a short stretch of time, and eventually the pressure paid off:

Tim Schaller scored at 4:52, with apples going to Jay Beagle and Alex Edler. With an excellent effort, Schaller was able to win a battle behind the Dallas net and wire a sneaky backhander past Anton Khudobin.

Following the goal, the Canucks continued to apply pressure by pouncing on pucks and keeping plays alive. They were relentless in their forecheck and showed no signs that they were going to take their foot off the gas. Jacob Markstrom also had his chances to show off the fine form he was in this evening:

With a pair of quality stops, the first a five-hole attempt and the second requiring him to glove the puck as he dove to the ice, things were looking good.

At this point, the Stars woke up. They seemed to collectively decide that this wasn’t how they wanted their night to go, and started to push back. Good pressure by Dallas forced Alex Biega to take a penalty for holding at 8:36, but a series of good plays by Markus Granlund and Jay Beagle resulted in a successful kill.

Sven Baertschi, who led the entire Canucks roster in corsi this evening (53.85%) and was playing with his hair on fire all night, had a pair of great personal efforts to carry the puck into the offensive zone with good speed and control. His hard work paid off with a genuine snipe:

With his first goal since January 23rd, Baertschi gave Vancouver a 2-0 lead to take into the first intermission.

This is where the game dipped a bit, entertainment wise. Sure, there were still chances, but overall the play just kind of lagged a bit as both teams managed to simply neutralize each other’s efforts to create.

Tanner Pearson did some good board work in the Dallas zone, including a great little spin move that allowed him to break free from an opponent. He was able to get the puck over to Bo Horvat, who was waiting patiently on Khudobin’s doorstep to bang home a goal. A nice try, but no luck.

Ben Hutton was called for interference at 1:09, but special teams did their job and pulled off another successful kill.

Baertschi’s good play continued with an excellent takeaway in his own end. Foot on the gas, he sped down the right side of the ice. Using a drop pass (shocking, I know), Baertschi was able to get the puck to Josh Leivo, who circled around the back of the Dallas net and centred it to Luke Schenn, of all people. Schenn was all alone, just above the blue line, with all the time in the world to shoot. The entire play looked great, but it was still an easy save for Khudobin because, well, the hottest hand in the west Luke Schenn ain’t.

The Canucks had another turn on the power play when Blake Comeau was called for tripping at 4:41. The penalty was also partially a result of a standout defensive play by Schenn. With excellent gap coverage, Schenn stood his ground and refused to give up the middle of the ice. He held his line at the post and was able to get down and block a shot before making a nice recovery to get back into position.

The first unit had a few hard slapshots from Pettersson to show for their efforts. After the second unit hit the ice, Hughes managed to set up Adam Gaudette with a glorious scoring chance, despite a poorly timed drop pass as the Canucks attempted to gain the zone:

Side question: Why on Earth is the coaching staff stifling this young man’s obvious mobility and offensive upside by telling him to play along with what has to be the most infuriating strategy for gaining a blue line… ever? Because it seems to me that, with less than half a dozen games to go, they should really be giving him as much leeway as possible to see what he can actually do. I mean, what’s at stake here? They’ve already missed the playoffs. Let the kid do his thing.

The period went on to feature a few good moments from Brock Boeser, a few more critical saves from Markstrom, one particularly dangerous looking chance from Horvat in close, and a very nice clearing attempt from Schenn.

The third began with a penalty to the Stars. Comeau was taken for tripping at 0:44, and the Canucks were able to find a few decent chances in the opportunity, but another goal was proving elusive.

At one point, Baertschi was denied at point blank range after a great play from Boeser. He quickly went backhand/forehand and managed to beat the goalie, but was let down by the post:

This is when things started to go downhill.

Markstrom throws the puck around the wall, Dallas pinches to keep it in, amd Andrew Cogliano manages to bang in his own rebound.

The Canucks also found themselves more and more on the losing side of the shot clock as Dallas started to make a real push to get back in the game. Leivo and Spooner managed a nice 2-on-1 attempt, but more bad news was on it’s way:

Tied at 2.

The Canucks did have an opportunity to put this one away when Radek Faksa (all-time name club) took a hooking penalty at 15:09. Leivo opened the power play with a surprisingly heavy shot, but overall there just wasn’t much to threaten Khudobin with. The power play is going to need some serious work this offseason, because what they’re working with right now just isn’t cutting it.

The Stars also had an own opportunity to end the game in the final seconds before it reached extra time:

Most fans couldn’t be blamed for kind of wanting this game to get to 3-on-3. After the exhilerating play of Pettersson, Boeser, and Hughes in overtime of the last game, pretty much anyone with a pulse was desperate for more. While Travis Green may have waited to actually get those three on the ice, fans wasted no time in cheering for them once they arrived:

The downside was that the Canucks just didn’t seem to be able to seal the deal. No other players were able to generate decent scoring chances, and overtime would end with a frantic push from Pettersson, Boeser, and one last big shot from Edler.

After 8 rounds of the shootout, Markus Granlund finally managed to slip a puck through Khudobin’s five-hole, ending the game in favour of your Vancouver Canucks.

The Canucks were not going to be all down in the dumps and wanting for effort, despite receiving the news that they had finally been mathematically eliminated from the 2019 NHL post-season on Friday night. Call “playing for pride” a cliche. It is. But it’s what was on display tonight.

They know they’re not going to the playoffs. They know they got outplayed and outclassed in a number of games this year. But there is an overwhelming sense of positivity surrounding the team; a pride they’ve found in themselves. They’ve decided that they want to finish the season as strongly as possible – to make a statement.

They need to fix their power play this summer. Whether that’s with or without Newell Brown, I don’t particularly care. They just need to fix it. It’s far too static. Too telegraphed. Once they’ve set up, they’re basically standing still the entire time while the opposition waits to see whether it’s going to be #6 who shoots from the right or #40 who shoots from the left. It needs to start moving. It needs some mobility and fluidity. If they can’t do that, it’s not going to matter who’s on the first unit, because the players are going to be as stifled as Quinn Hughes looked tonight making that ridiculous drop pass. But if they can do it? If they can get their standard power player to look anything like their 3-on-3 power play? It’s a complete game changer.

Hughes and Schenn are both positive additions to the defence. Other moves will come this offseason. With Pettersson, Boeser, Horvat, Hughes, Gaudette, Stecher, Demko, and Markstrom, there is hope for the future. This is a team that sees potential in itself, and tonight they played like a group of guys who are already looking forward to the opportunity next season will give them to prove that they’re better than they’ve been for the last few years. That’s exciting, and the fans can feel it.

The next time you can catch the Vancouver Canucks in action is this Tuesday, April 2nd when they host the San Jose Sharks for the final home game of the season. Puck drop is 7:00 PST. There are only three games left, so catch them while you can!