Both the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators entered the night on two-game win streaks—much to the chagrin of those fans on each franchise’s respective Teams Tank. One squad would be leaving Rogers Arena with a three-game win streak in hand and bragging rights about not being the worst team in Canada—and that was all the motivation that players on either side would need, lottery odds be damned. Still, there was more than pride on the line.

The recent victories had put the playoffs back in sight—albeit distant—for the Canucks once again, and they entered Wednesday’s contest just six points back of the last wildcard spot in the west. In other words, this matchup with the lowly Senators represented a game that Vancouver could not afford to lose—but also the exact kind of game that they frequently do.

Anders Nilsson—who would start the game opposite Jacob Markstrom—had a little extra motivation on his side, too, as he faced off with his former employers for the first time since being dealt.

The rest of the lineup was provided in graphical form by the @CanucksPR account, and it featured no changes from the previous game—and thus no Nikolay Goldobin:

The Canucks nearly jumped to an early lead less than three minutes in, courtesy of the new second line of Tanner Pearson, Bo Horvat, and Loui Eriksson. Though this would have represented a markedly better start than in the last few outings, Anders Nilsson was able to turn away multiple chances from his former teammates in quick succession.

The game then settled into a period of play that could be generously described as “uneventful.” Solid defensive positioning by defenders like Alex Biega kept the Senators to just five shots against by the second TV timeout, but the Canuck forwards also struggled to earn any chances of note against Nilsson.

The only real highlight of the opening frame’s first half was this regal twirl by Elias Pettersson when his record for rookie points was announced in-arena:

Action picked up when Jake Virtanen drew a holding penalty on Cody Ceci, sending Vancouver to their first powerplay of the game. After going one-for-one on the man advantage against Chicago, the Canucks PP got right back to work—earning several marquee chances in the first 30 seconds of the powerplay.

The seemingly endless barrage of offense from the top unit culminated in a play in which every member contributed. Brock Boeser rocketed a shot on net, then Pettersson picked up the rebound and set up an Alex Edler point shot that was deftly tipped in by Bo Horvat—all the while Josh Leivo provided an effective screen in front of Nilsson. Pettersson picked up a secondary assist to extend his lead on Pavel Bure. The Canucks were up 1-0, and the once-flagging powerplay was now officially on fire.

Whereas a week ago fans were talking about the team declining powerplays, suddenly:

The period ended with the Canucks doubling the Senators on the shot-clock—to the tune of 14-7—and ahead by a goal.

Hearing the Sportsnet panel debate whether Elias Pettersson’s rookie season is more impressive than Pavel Bure’s or not—and having it be a legitimate discussion. What a ride it has been.

The second frame opened up with perhaps the strangest goal of the Canucks’ season thus far. After Alex Biega sent a high dump into the Senators’ zone, Tanner Pearson let it bounce once before expertly batting it past Anders Nilsson. It was an impressive display of hand-eye coordination and, just 32 seconds into the period, Vancouver was already ahead 2-0—on a play that nobody could have planned for.

Nobody, that is, except Alex Biega—friend of the blog and underrated hockey genius.

The good times kept rolling a few minutes later, with Jay Beagle sending Jake Virtanen and Tim Schaller on a two-on-one—and Virtanen not even briefly considering the pass. Barely taking the time to glance over at Schaller, Shotgun Jake bore down and buried a wrister past Nilsson—wetting palates province-wide and moving the Canucks into a commanding 3-0 lead.

Confusion erupted at the Ottawa net the next time Beagle’s line hit the ice, and the Canucks’ fourth line combined to put another puck past Nilsson with a series of frantic—though the ref ruled it “no goal” on the grounds that Nilsson had been pushed into his net. Travis Green chose not to press the issue after having an entire TV timeout to consider it.

Virtanen drew the ire of the Senators toward the end of the period by crunching Zack Smith from behind, setting off a scrum—but somehow avoiding a penalty. The next shift, JG Pageau looked for revenge by hitting Ashton Sautner in the numbers and headfirst into the glass—but this time the ref made the correct call. Sautner would eventually be removed for concussion protocol, only to return later none the worse for wear.

The suddenly-deadly Canucks powerplay picked up where it left off. Elias Pettersson dug the puck off the boards and fed it back to Alex Edler—who then smoothly passed it over to Brock Boeser, posted on the right point. Taking advantage of being far from his usual spot, Boeser walked in toward Nilsson and lasered one right past him—extending his personal point streak to eight games and the Canucks’ lead to 4-0.

As the middle frame expired, Ottawa was starting to become testy—and it was easy to understand why. In addition to the lead on the scoreboard, the Canucks also dominated the shot-clock by a margin of 33-13—and the Senators had yet to be awarded a powerplay.

Definitely not the Sportsnet panel talking about Nikolay Goldobin like he’s already gone. ☹

Vancouver liked their start in the second so much, they decided to replicate it in the third. Less than a minute into the frame, a Bo Horvat forecheck led to Loui Eriksson intercepting a clearing attempt at the line. Eriksson fed it back to Horvat, who relayed it to a net-side Tanner Pearson—and Pearson made no mistake in tapping the puck into the yawning cage. The Canucks moved ahead 5-0, and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.

After getting away with some nasty crosschecks to Elias Pettersson’s back the shift before, Brady Tkachuk was sent to the box for interference—granting the Canucks an opportunity to go three-for-three on the powerplay.

This time, the second unit came out to start—and although they earned a couple shots on net, they didn’t look nearly as effective as the top squad. They also gave up a two-on-one shorthanded that very nearly cost Jacob Markstrom his shutout—and so Pettersson and pals hopped onto the ice before more damage could be done. They were also unable to score.

Markstrom’s shutout wasn’t long for this world, anyway. The newly-signed Max Veronneau was waiting patiently at the net-side to tip a Dylan DeMelo pass up and over Markstrom—scoring his first NHL goal in the process and narrowing the Canucks’ lead to 5-1.

As the period reached its halfway point, Tkachuk took advantage of some spotty coverage—and a brilliant backhand pass by JG Pageau—to cut the lead further, tapping the puck past an unsuspecting Markstrom. With the score now at 5-2, the Canucks were still in command of the game—but Vancouver fans were not without reason to worry.

Those fears began to come true with just over six minutes left, as Markstrom mishandled a dump-in—which allowed the Senators to set-up an Oscar Lindberg snapshot from in close that Markstrom was unable to deny. As the scoreboard flipped to 5-3, it was starting to look like the Canucks might end up the victims of the sort of comeback effort they’d become so fond of themselves in recent games.

To make things even more interesting, Tyler Motte took a slashing penalty with 3:45 remaining, granting the Senators their first powerplay opportunity of the game—and a golden opportunity to move to within one. And that’s exactly what they would do.

With just under two minutes remaining in the game, Anthony Duclair snuck a shot through the crowd in front of Markstrom from the top of the circle. Markstrom got a glove on it, but the puck trickled into the net anyway—turning the score to 5-4 in favour of the Canucks and the momentum decidedly in favour of the plucky Senators.

Fortunately, that was the limit of the Canucks’ “fall-from-ahead” efforts in this one. With just over a minute left on the clock, Bo Horvat won a draw back to the point and went straight to the front of the net to tip in an Alex Edler shot. It was the duo’s second collaborative effort of the game—making the score 6-4 and preventing the Senators from making what would have been considered an embarrassing comeback.

Loui Eriksson picked up the assist on Horvat’s goal, his third point of the night, and he made it four on the very next shift—lobbing a long bomb from his own end into the Senators’ empty net. With the seventh goal of the final frame—and the score now at 7-4—the teams agreed to call it a night.

Was this a good game for the Canucks? It’s difficult to say.

On the whole, Vancouver extended their win streak to three games and moved to within four points of a wildcard spot in the Western Conference. The Canucks really couldn’t afford to lose this game—and they didn’t! So, that’s a positive.

On a more micro level, the Canucks also gave up four straight goals in the third period to nearly squander a 5-0 lead—and they did so against the worst team in the NHL. Though Vancouver may have technically put themselves back into the playoff race with this victory, they also solidified the fact that they’re not still not a true playoff contender.

All in all, it was a fun game—but it’s hard to call this anything but a discouraging performance from the Canucks.

Four points on the night gets Eriksson on this list automatically, but don’t be fooled by the fact that all three of Eriksson’s assists were secondary. Eriksson consistently made smart plays at both ends of the ice in this game, and his play seemed to perfectly compliment Horvat’s. It’s too little, too late to salvage the season for Eriksson, but this sort of performance is still welcome from the $6 million man.

If Horvat isn’t wearing a “C” on his chest next season, Vancouver fans should…engage in mild civil unrest. It’s becoming more and more apparent that Horvat is capable of putting this team on his back whenever the situation calls for it—and his two goal, one assist performance in this must-win game is another perfect example of his clutch-ness.

Edler was once again all over the scoresheet, notching three assists, a plus-three rating, two hits, and two blocks. While his 26:12 of icetime is actually on the low side for him, Edler was incredibly effective at both ends tonight. He’s practically carrying the blueline single-handedly at this point—and he’s looking great while doing it.

The Canucks will enjoy a couple of off-days at home before heading back to Rogers Arena on Saturday, March 23 for a matchup with the Calgary Flames. The start-time is 7:00PM PST and the game will be broadcast on both CBC and Sportsnet Pacific.