The Canucks began life without Henrik Sedin tonight (who will be out of the line-up until after the All-Star game) against the New York Rangers, in Billy Joel’s house aka Madison Square Garden. It was game number four of their six-game road trip, which will take them through Boston and Pittsburgh before returning home. After a surprisingly good first period from Vancouver, they came down to earth in the 2nd and eventually coughed up their 1-0 lead. Before regaining a 2-1 lead and coughing it up again. In overtime, the Rangers eventually took the 3-2 victory. Let’s dive in!

Much talked about before the game was Brandon Prust’s sudden insertion into the Canucks lineup, after it seemed he would be removed from the line-up in favour of Jake Virtanen in this game. He was furious, and WIllie gave in to the veteran’s demands to play his old team in New York.

He also added that it “isn’t ideal” that Jake Virtanen is sitting yet again for the 2nd straight game. It doesn’t seem like management and Willie are on the same page yet again, and it’s definitely something to keep your eye on for the remainder of the season.

Prust didn’t exactly make the most of the opportunity, either.

To real game action now, where Ryan Miller once again stood on his head early in the 1st for the Canucks, prior to Sven Baertschi put the visitor’s on the board midway through the period. It was yet another example of Bo Horvat/Sven Baertschi’s chemistry in recent games, which is a major bright spot for the future of the franchise. If that tandem can sustain the great play they have provided the team with recently, things won’t look so grim from here on out.

As I mentioned before, Ryan Miller stood on his head yet again in the opening frame, facing 17 shots in the 1st period alone. Jacob Markstrom filled in admirably during Miller’s absence, and it seems that it may have lit a fire under a goaltender who seemed unmotivated prior to the injury. He is playing with urgency, and seems to be seeing the puck as well as he has during his tenure with the team. He was also helped by a surprisingly good first period by guys like Matt Bartkowski (it wasn’t sustained) and Alex Biega (it kinda was), who posted a +5 corsi each in that frame.

In the intermission, Doug MacLean on the panel, dropped this little nugget which is sure to be discussed on Vancouver Sports Radio in the coming days.

The 2nd period wasn’t as kind to Vancouver. Miller was mostly able to sustain the dominance he was showing early, performing as well as he could but couldn’t keep one out due to dumb plays in the defensive zone by Matt Bartkowski and Jannik Hansen, which provided scoring opportunities, with the Bartkowski one resulting in a goal. All in all, the Canucks are just giving up way too many shots the last few games, and if not for dominating performance from either of the Canucks netminders, this could have been dreadful. The team has given up 40+ shots each of  the past four games.

Alexandre Burrows did the unthinkable tonight, and scored a goal. His first goal in 25 games, and a big sigh of relief on his face. But even more than that, Emerson Etem notched his first point as a Canuck with an assist on the goal, and it just solidifies even more that he was a savvy pick-up so far for the Canucks who only had to give up failed project Nicklas Jensen and a late pick.

The Canucks played better near the end of the period, and shut it down to keep it a 1-1 game going into the 3rd period. 

The posts helped too.

The Canucks attempted to control the play for the 3rd period, but it seemed like the 4th line spent a lot of time out there on the ice in that frame, which isn’t a surprise in the Willie regime. 

Luca Sbisa hit the linesman, Steve Miller, in the head with the puck, too. It was Miller’s 1000th game, and he stayed in. And it wasn’t Sbisa’s fault. But we’ve reached peak Sbisa.

When you allow 40+ shots, it’s hard to sustain a 2-1 lead. And the Canucks didn’t leaving Miller out to dry yet again, allowing Zuccarello to notch the tying goal. The 4th line was out there yet again, for whatever reason. Shockingly, after the 2-2 goal, Derek Dorsett and Brandon Prust didn’t see the ice again in the 3rd period.

But against all odds, they were able to sustain the draw to yet another overtime period. Their 3rd in a row.

In overtime, an awkward shot by JT Miller caught Ryan Miller off guard, he thought he had it, and JT Miller wrapped around and into the net. The Rangers walk away with the W.

Also, Elliotte Friedman decided to get the hopes up of Canucks fans everywhere yet again, by mentioning the Canucks as a suitor for Steven Stamkos in the offseason, yet again.

Lastly, during the game the Canucks signed Mike Zalewski to a NHL contract.  He has 8 goals, 9 assists and 17 points in 36 games with the Utica Comets so far this season.