Prior to tonight, the Canucks had one win in their last nine games and Christmas break couldn’t come faster. Players departed to their hometowns to spend quality time with their family and friends, then arrived back in YVR hoping to hit the reset button. Well, they did and it worked out for the better. The Canucks defeated Chicago by a score of 5-2.

The Statistics

  • Thomas Vanek: 2 goals, 3 assists
  • Sam Gagner: 2 goals, 2 assists
  • Brock Boeser: 1 goal, 3 assists
  • Goldobin, Edler, Stecher: 1 assist
  • Markstrom: 30/32 saves

Game Summary

For not having played in four days, together with the indulgence of Christmas dinners, the Canucks came out as expected in the first period: slow. Luckily for them, the Blackhawks appeared to suffer from the same side effects. The first goal of the game came off the stick of Sam Gagner, who deflected a shot past Anton Forsberg.
Four minutes later, Henrik Sedin went to the box on a hooking call. Nick Schmaltz tied the game with a one-timer assisted by Patrick Kane.
Later in the second period, Vanek put the Canucks up 2-1 off a nice behind-the-back pass from Gagner.
The line of Vanek-Gagner-Boeser kept rolling as they extended the lead to 3-1 one minute into the third period. That goal made it a 3-point night for Vanek, a 3-point night for Gagner, and a 2-point night for Boeser. But no, it did not stop there. With three minutes left in the game, the trio was at it again. Vanek made it 4-1 Canucks with Boeser getting the primary assist.
The deal wasn’t sealed yet. Boeser made is 5-1 to top off a terrific night with his line. Chicago scored with 8 seconds left in the game, but that doesn’t matter because nobody could take the spotlight off the VGB line.

Game Notes

  • The Blackhawks look far different from their dominant team from recent years. Aside from Patrick Kane, who found himself dangling between the Canucks and setting up opportunities, there was barely any push-back from the team.
  • The Vanek-Gagner-Boeser line was buzzing all night. Despite being matched against Patrick Kane and/or Jonathan Toews, they were offensive threats and, for the most part, shut it down in the defensive zone. For months now, we’ve all been hoping for Gagner to show some offensive consistency. Well, he has points in four straight games and tonight was an indication of some chemistry brewing between the three forwards.
  • Thomas Vanek was excellent tonight, despite taking a penalty in the first period. He had three or four quality scoring chances in the first period alone. He and Gagner set up Boeser for a tap-in goal in the second, but unfortunately he hit the post. Vanek finished the night with 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists).
  • Brock Boeser was Brock Boeser. When New York Islanders forward and BC’s own Mat Barzal scored a hat trick last week and jumped ahead of the rookie scoring lead going into Christmas break, there was a sense of worry amongst some Canucks fans. Boeser responded, however, by putting up 4 points and recapturing the scoring lead by two points.
  • Nikolay Goldobin stuck out in the first period and definitely looked like an offensive threat. He drew a penalty on former Canucks prospect Gustav Forsling, thus leading to the power-play which the Canucks almost scored on. Gagner’s goal was 3 seconds after the penalty expired. He dropped off in the second and third periods, though one could easily say the same about everyone not named Gagner, Vanek, or Boeser.
  • Alex Biega made a poor hit in the second period. With just 3 shifts totaling 1:42 TOI in the first, the bulldog came out hungry to make his case. With Murphy facing the boards and his numbers straight in front of Biega, the hit was just about as textbook as it could possibly get. Good on Biega for playing with grit and tenacity, but that was a poor decision.