This is an edition of Instant Reaction written right from the rink. So because of that, I can tell you firsthand that Quinn Hughes took warmup and had a long conversation with the trainer at the bench before he was ultimately named a healthy scratch for tonight’s game.

So here’s the good news. Carson Soucy was scratched! I mentioned in the last edition of Instant Reaction that it might be a good idea to give him a night off, and that’s what they elected to do tonight. The bad news: Noah Juulsen still slotted into the lineup.

I did like the look of the Canucks’ forward group though! That Joshua-Chytil-Garland line seems to have a ton of potential, and the O’Connor-Suter-Sherwood trio could be very annoying to play against.

This game got started with Brock Boeser moving in on a partial breakaway but getting stoned by Alex Lyon’s glovehand.

It didn’t take long for Drew O’Connor to make an impact, as he and Kiefer Sherwood got in on the forecheck to help the Canucks regain possession of the puck. Pius Suter tipped an Elias Pettersson — the defenceman — point shot that got past Lyon to make it 1-0. 

DPetey’s first NHL point!

The Wings answered back quickly, however, as Filip Chytil fired a puck wide off the rush that Conor Garland whiffed on, leading to an odd-man rush that Detroit capitalized on to make it 1-1.

Derek Forbort took a late interference penalty, giving the Canucks’ penalty kill their first chance to work on the night. They escaped unscathed and killed off the remainder of the penalty that bled over to the second period. Nice work by Marcus Pettersson on this sequence.

Just over five minutes into the second, an Elias Pettersson stretch pass was too much for Kiefer Sherwood to handle, leading to an icing call against the Canucks. On the ensuing sequence, Ben Chiarot fired a puck through traffic (Noah Juulsen) that found its way past Kevin Lankinen to make it 2-1 Red Wings. 

Watching the Pettersson line for the first 40 minutes of play was so frustrating. Pettersson hardly had the puck, and that wasn’t all his fault. Whereas Chytil had wingers getting in on the forecheck after dump-ins, Pettersson had DeBrusk and Boeser, who I don’t think won a single puck battle for the first two periods. That’s not to absolve Pettersson of wrongdoing, either. Chytil was carrying the puck through the neutral zone and looking to create with his skating and stickhandling ability. No reason Pettersson shouldn’t be able to do that.

Despite that, the Canucks were absolutely crushing the Red Wings through 40 minutes of play.

ZERO High Danger chances against?! Unfortunately for them, the Canucks trailed by a goal heading into the third.

The Pettersson line had a nice sequence just under five minutes into the third where Tyler “Bobby” Myers made a phenomenal play behind his net to send Pettersson in on an odd-man rush. Pettersson made a great pass to Boeser, who moved in with space and… elected to pass.

I’m 100% certain that’s going to get a “we’re just trying to pass pucks into the net too much” from Tocchet post game.

Thankfully, Fulup Chytil was rewarded for his efforts when he stickhandled through the slot, and shot — NOT PASSED — the puck past Alex Lyon to even this one up. 2-2. 

Alright, this one wasn’t on Pettersson. In fact, there’s not much more he could have done on this play to create a goal.

The Pettersson line really woke up in the third period, to their credit. But also, Detroit was on the second leg of back-to-back games, and they weren’t getting the toughest matchups — those were reserved for the Suter line.

This game needed overtime. OT without Quinn Hughes is scary.

The Canucks started OT with Chytil, and he won the draw, giving them the early advantage. Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson had the Canucks’ best chance of overtime, but Pettersson ripped the puck well wide of the goal.

The Wings eventually went the other way, with Alex DeBrincat putting a bow on this one.

Some more takeaways from tonight:

-I really like O’Connor and Sherwood on a line together. O’Connor was holding onto pucks well and was a puck-retrieving machine all night long.
-Liked parts of Filip Chytil’s game, particularly his ability and willingness to stickhandle through traffic to help the Canucks transition the play the other way. Again, Chytil is another new guy who isn’t afraid to hold onto pucks.
-Really liked Marcus Pettersson’s defensive stick, especially on the PK. He came as advertised.
-Filip Chytil was the Canucks’ most dynamic centre tonight through 40 minutes.
-Liked every line but the “top” line tonight. Hardly anything from Pettersson. Nothing from DeBrusk. Nothing from Boeser.
-Chytil and O’Connor were holding onto pucks and looking to make things happen East-West. They’ll be a good litmus test for all the people who are convinced that Tocchet sits his players down and coaches any will to be creative out of them.
-Been saying this for a while now, but really tough to argue the Canucks should extend Brock Boeser right now.
-Shoutout to Kiefer Sherwood, who broke and set the Canucks’ all-time record for hits in a season.
-Liked DPetey’s game a lot tonight. He was hungry for the puck and was looking to make things happen. Don’t take him out of this lineup.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below! And be sure to tune into the Rink Wide Vancouver post game show LIVE on the CanucksArmy YouTube channel!