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CanucksArmy Postgame: Jake Virtanen shines, Tyler Motte doubles down and the Vancouver Canucks take a 3-2 series lead
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Photo credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
Faber
By Faber
Aug 20, 2020, 01:45 EDTUpdated: Aug 20, 2020, 01:54 EDT
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The Canucks didn’t have to depend on their big guns tonight as the offence was lead by Jake Virtanen and Tyler Motte.
The team was able to get three goals from typical bottom six players, JT Miller scored the fourth and Jacob Markstrom did the rest to give the Canucks a 4-3 win.
This game saw Travis Green run out 10 or so different lines. He began with a big lineup change that saw Adam Gaudete come into the lineup and Zack MacEwen went back to the press box.
This was the biggest game of the season as their momentum from games one and two had completely disappeared after an overtime loss in game three and an absolute shellacking in game four.
The Canucks needed to be better and control a bulk of the possession in the offensive zone for once. Luckily for them, they found that in this game.
Lines
The lines were mixed up and they went into another blender during the second period. We will get to that soon but it’s time for puck drop now so…
Let’s go!
First Period
The Canucks needed to be good in the first period to be in this game and they were. They controlled the pace of play and possessed the puck in the offensive zone for a majority of the period. The Canucks attempted 27 shots in the first period compared to the Blues’ 19.
Early on the line changes looked good for Travis Green, the Miller-Horvat-Boeser line was able to get the puck on Allen and even the Roussel-Sutter-Gaudette was able to generate some bottom-six possession time — which has been a real struggle for this team in this series.
The Canucks struck first in the game when Tyler Motte jumped all over a broken stick from Alex Pietrangelo on the powerplay. He came down with the puck and juked like Reggie Bush in his USC days before firing the puck past Allen. 1-0 Canucks.
NHL GIFs and Tyler Motte — name a more iconic duo.
Some may say Brayden Schenn and Ryan O’Reilly. Those two made this game swing back into the Blues favour when they both scored late in the period.
Oscar Sundqvist was able to get the puck off of a strong forecheck and found Schenn — who stepped into a wrist shot late in the period and ripped it top corner over a screen Markstrom to tie the game up at 1.
The Blues used the buddy system in this period as O’Reilly scored a goal of his own. Everything this guy does right now works.
The Canucks may have been down after 20 minutes but they should be happy with their game. With 27 shot attempts in the period, they tested Allen and he needs to be challenged if the Canucks want to make any bit of noise in this series.
They needed to come out and have a strong second period. The second periods have been full of scoring in this series and we saw that once again in this game.
Second Period
This was likely the best period of the series for the Canucks.
Even when the scoring began with the Blues scoring their third straight goal. The Blues went to the powerplay early in the period and Zach Sanford scored on a rush that saw Tyler Motte have his stick lifted out of his hands from a bit of interference. 3-1 Blues.
After the Sanford goal, it was ALL Canucks for the rest of the period.
The Canucks went on to score three goals in a row of their own and they came at 5-on-5 from some unlikely sources.
The top six lines went into a blender once again and we saw Miller link up with Pettersson and Virtanen while Horvat began to skate with Pearson and Boeser.
It worked.
The first Canucks goal of the period came from Miller as he jammed away at a puck that was partially loose under Allen and on that goal, Virtanen had the first playoff point of his career. 3-2 Blues after the Canucks goal.
The Miller-Pettersson-Virtanen line had a great period. They followed up this goal with another shift that generated a scoring chance and the shift that followed that they found the back of the net once again.
Virtanen found a bit of space off of the Pettersson and Miller cycle. He then scored from a tough angle off of Allen. 3-3 after the Canucks goal.
The Canucks had a ton of sustained pressure in that period. They were finally able to put a few passes together and it got results. Markstrom had allowed three goals but he had to be good in the period as they Blues tested him with some dangerous chances as the period went on.
With Markstrom and the Canucks 5-on-5 play going it seemed like the team was finally catching some breaks. Speaking of breaks, Motte went that way late in the period.
Yes, Motte scored his second of the game and the Canucks were up 4-3 after 40 minutes.
It wasn’t all great news in the second period as Edler took a skate to the head late in the period and needed to go right down to the locker room for repairs.
Edler did not return in this game.
Third Period
Another period, another line swap for Travis Green. He leaned on his top six a lot in this period and his top six was back to the combination of The Lotto Line and The Insurance Line. Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson was all over the O’Reilly line in the period and did a good job of limiting the offence.
Boeser was excellent in the third period. He was back up on The Lotto Line and played solid defensively and gave plenty of effort on the forecheck.
The Canucks had two powerplay opportunities to score an insurance goal but were unable to get set up on either opportunity.
The only other line that really saw time in the third period was the occasional shift for Motte, Beagle and Virtanen.
The Blues pulled their goalie for the final 100 seconds of the game and the Canucks held them off to close out the third period and take a 3-2 lead in this series.
The Fancies
Top Performers
Tyler Motte hit the scoresheet with two goals in the game. The Canucks needed depth scoring in this one and he was the leading man in that regard. Scoring a shorthanded goal was huge for the team and adding another one at 5-on-5 was the main ingredient in the Canucks recipe for success.
Jacob Markstrom was great again, he allowed three goals on 21 shots but then slammed the door shut for the remainder of the game. He went on to stop the next 18 shots he faced which included 12 scoring chances from the Blues. He was the team’s MVP in this game as he has been all year long. Markstrom was happy with the result but knew there were more battles to come.
“I’m feeling really good but not getting bounces, it was nice to not see the referee on the scoresheet (on that one save). We battled so hard today and it’s a pleasure being out there with the group. We have to recharge our batteries and it’s going to be a tough game next game.”
Wrap-Up
The team needed some scoring from their bottom six and it was there on Wednesday night. The Canucks got goals from Virtanen and two from Motte and they topped that off with a gritty goal from Miller. Markstrom shined in this one as the Canucks wrapped the win up and Markstrom put the bow on it.
Markstrom was tested in the third period but remained incredibly calm and led his team to victory. His calm demeanour gave this team some confidence. Speaking of confidence, there was finally some of that from coach Green for Virtanen tonight. The third period did not see a regular shift for the Roussel-Sutter-Gaudette line and Virtanen was trusted to play a lot of minutes with their team grasping to a one-goal lead.
Brayden Schenn said that his team “fell asleep” in the second period and before they knew it was 4-3. The Canucks turned it on and they need to keep that type of effort to get a win in this series instead of just in game five.
There was no real update about Alex Edler after the game but Thomas Drance of the Athletic reported that two of the three doctors left the press box to get down and work on Edler. I’m not a doctor and I won’t try to be here but with that much immediate blood, it looks as though stitches will be needed. If the injury were to be even worse than it looks we might see Olli Juolevi or Brogan Rafferty jump into the lineup. This story will be an interesting one to follow.
The Canucks will be back in action on Friday night as they look to put this series away.

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