HIGHLIGHTS 

• Ben Hutton had himself a rough game with quite a few turnovers and poor reads. Both of those types of miscues led directly to the Colin Miller goal early in the third period. Hutton tried carrying the puck out of the zone, got checked, then ended up screening Ryan Miller on the C. Miller shot. It was a bad sequence that just highlighted his struggles today. Hopefully it was just a one off for Hutton, and in part due to his recent return from injury.
• On the other-side Bo Horvat was all over the place today. He ended the game with one goal and one assist. Yet, he was not out there for the Canucks when they needed a goal to tie the game. He had just finished a shift with 1:13 left, but with team taking the time out, so getting him out there instead of Sutter, or Eriksson, or Edler likely would’ve been a worthwhile cause. At worst, it gets Horvat more experience at high pressure situations. Sutter was likely there for the right shot, and face-off. With his goal today – Horvat tied his goal total (16) from last season
• Ryan Miller was a surprise start today after a shutout on Thursday night. It was a surprise solely because he wasn’t scheduled to start today with the Canucks in Buffalo tomorrow. The justification makes sense to some degree – how can you not dress a goalie after a shutout? However, Miller just wasn’t the same as he was in Columbus. Jeremy Davis took a deep dive into it, and clearly showed through data that Miller is better with more rest. So although it is against conventional wisdom, sitting Miller today and then starting him tomorrow in Buffalo, his former team, made sense from a ‘win as much as possible angle’.
• According to Dan Murphy, Markstrom is expected to start tomorrow.

• Tuukka Rask started the Bruins game on Thursday vs San Jose – so now the Bruins have 5 points out of a possible 28.
• Markus Granlund scored his 14th goal of the season on the PP today – he is now on pace for 21 goals this season.
• Reid Boucher saw 1:50 of PP time, and although he was only credited with one shot – there was a sequence where he was just firing it any time it came near him. Unfortunately his total ice time was 6:48.
• With the loss – the Canucks remain 6 points out of the last wild-card spot, which is currently being held by Los Angeles

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The Canucks head to Buffalo hoping to rebound and get to a .500 record on this trip. With them heading to Pittsburgh and then St Louis, it’s imperative that they leave Buffalo with two points if they hope on making the playoffs. 

Otherwise, the season could quickly slip away. Which is good if you are the ‘move players for assets’ side of the ledger. But if you are hoping for playoff hockey in Vancouver in April, the next week is crucial.