No matter what state the team is in, or what time of the season, Hockey Night in Canada is still special. Sportsnet is flooded with games all the time, and in this day and age you can see any game you want, but there’s still something about watching a Canucks game on CBC that makes it feel important. The Canucks came to play, too as they skated off with a 4-2 win in a game that had a bit of everything. Let’s dive in.

There weren’t too many highlights in the first half of the 1st period, it was just a controlled effort from the Canucks. However, there was one big one when Jake Virtanen showed off his feisty side, by laying a big hit on Mike Ribeiro and then answering to most unlikely of candidates.

Sportsnet’s crack stats team dropped an interesting one on the masses midway during the period as well. You can get mad at me all you want for including this tweet in here, but it’s too late now to say sorry.

Shortly after that, Sven Baertschi gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead on a beautiful effort in front of the net. It was stellar, and pretty much epitomizes what Baertschi has been since December. 

Moments after that, Derek Dorsett gave the Canucks a two-goal lead with help from a dish by Bo Horvat. The young guns came out in full force tonight. 

 Derek Dorsett scores after the really nice pass from Horvat – #Canucks up 2-0 after 1 period pic.twitter.com/dFhQFlxXms

A 2-0 lead going into the first intermission is a luxury the Canucks very rarely afford as of late, but sloppy play by Nashville and a powerhouse display by some of the Canucks of the future was the recipe for success.

The 2nd period didn’t have much to show for on the scoresheet early on, but the Canucks never let off the gas and continued to control the play. Midway through the period, Ryan Miller made a save that even the biggest pro-Markstrom advocates couldn’t deny. 

And then, Sbisa and Bartkowski happened. A long shift left the pair tired, and Bartkowski was caught snoozing in front of the net while Mike Fisher cut the lead in half. Maybe Bartkowski should think again before he cheats. 

But not to worry, the kids are still around to save the day. A Yannick Weber point shot got rebounded right in front and Bo Horvat cleaned up the garbage, restoring the Canucks two-goal lead and furthering the notion that this was the game for the kids. 

As CanucksArmy’s own Jeff Paterson points out too, it wasn’t just the young guns coming out to play. 

It was also a period in which Daniel and Henrik Sedin showed bouts of physicality, both taking penalties and getting their money’s worth for both of them. Definitely, a great sight to see that the Twins still have that hunger for the game after all this time and with the team out of the playoff hunt.

The Preds got one back near the end of the period, as Roman Josi dished a beautiful pass across the crease to Colton Sissons. It was a great play, and Ryan Miller had not shot to save it.

I don’t want to say that we here at Canucks Army are psychic, but our own Always90Four called a Sissions goal in his GDT this afternoon.

While some of the Canucks had a great first 40 minutes. Matt Bartkowski didn’t have a good first 40 minutes.

The 3rd began with a bunch of penalties, and a huge save by Ryan Miller which kept the Canucks lead intact. 

Not much else happened after that, as the Canucks slowed down play and tried to hold on to the one-goal lead. 

The final minutes of the game were exhilarating, though, as the Preds pulled Pekka Rinne and they were close a few times in the offensive zone to send this one to overtime. But it wasn’t meant to be as Daniel Sedin finished off with an empty netter and sealed the victory for the Canucks.

In a rare event at Rogers Arena, the fans got their money’s worth as the rookies, the veterans and the goaltenders all put on displays worth the price of admission. By no means was this a perfect game by the Canucks tonight, but they held their own. It’s a fantastic thing to look into a crystal ball and possibly see what the future of the Canucks could be as we saw tonight with Baertschi, Horvat, Hutton, Virtanen and McCann all making contributions in different ways in this one. The team tank crowd will hate this one as it distances them from the basement in the NHL, but you can’t deny a performance like that.