Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
Dakota Joshua got a loud cheer when he hopped over the boards for his first shift since his cancer diagnosis. That cheer was almost as loud as the one that reverberated throughout Rogers Arena when Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored his first career goal.
What a shot, honestly. The Canucks want to create more offence off the rush this year, and with shots like that, Lekkerimäki looks like he’ll be part of the solution in that department. For years.
Lekkerimäki took the game’s first penalty on his next shift, but the Islanders’ power play struggled to even get set up, so all we need to remember is that Lekkerimäki scored.
The Canucks didn’t create much of anything for the rest of the first period, and even needed to kill another penalty off after Carson Soucy hauled down Bo Horvat behind the Canucks’ net. That time, the Islanders struck and tied the game up at 1-1. 
The good news, of course, was that the game was only 1-1 after the Canucks were outshot 9-3 and failed to create much offence at all after the Lekkerimäki goal.
More bad news: the Canucks opened the second period by allowing a goal 14 seconds into the frame.
Even more bad news. After a solid bounce-back shift from the Miller line, the Canucks allowed another goal, and in the blink of an eye, they were down by two goals.
Vincent Desharnais was looking to fight with Max Tsyplakov after this hit on Quinn Hughes in the first:
Eventually, Desharnais got his wish, but it was Matt Martin who dropped the gloves instead of Tsyplakov.
Can you really call this a fight?
Oh, and before the second period ended, the Canucks took a too many men bench minor.
This was quickly turning into just an all-around bad game for the Canucks.
The Canucks killed off what was left of the bench minor penalty to start the third period, and they took their seventh shot of the game as well!
Lekkerimäki jumpstarted a solid sequence early in the third when he chased after a blocked shot into the corner, took the puck back, and tried to centre for Elias Pettersson. Pettersson’s line then had the Canucks’ best controlled offensive zone shift of the game. Pettersson deflected a Quinn Hughes point shot off of Semyon Varlarmov’s pad. The Canucks turned in some more quality shifts after this, and for the first time on the night, looked like they had some life.
Aatu Räty had an absolute mess of a shift that ended with the Islanders scoring what looked like their fourth goal of the game, and although the goal didn’t count, that’s a play Nils Aman doesn’t make.
Bo Horvat set up Anders Lee for the 4-1 goal that basically sealed this one after Filip Hronek put on a clinic of what not to do.
The Canucks got their first power play of the night in the dying moments of the third period. The Islanders added an empty net goal, and Tyler Myers scored the Canucks’ second goal of the game in the dying minutes.
5-2 final.
Some more takeaways from tonight:
-As Tyson Cole broke down in the most recent edition of The Tape, Jonathan Lekkerimäki’s NHL debut was a success, even if he didn’t score. He was in the right spot almost every time, and showed plenty of promise in that game. Tonight was more of the same, and now he’s got a goal to show for it.
-Rick Tocchet experimented with a line featuring both Dakota Joshua and Kiefer Sherwood on it. Inject that into my veins.
-Aatu Räty has looked lost for a while now, and the would-have-been 4-1 goal was squarely on him. It didn’t count, but it really feels like his current NHL stint should probably come to an end. And I hate writing that on his 22nd, birthday, but it wasn’t just tonight. The fourth line has struggled in almost every game he’s been up, and at some point, you’re either part of the solution or part of the problem.
-Pius Suter took a turn at centre between Sherwood and Joshua later in the third, which to me suggests curtains for Räty. Will we see a Bains call-up? There will be an empty spot at wing if the Canucks move Suter from wing to centre.
-Likely the Canucks’ worst team effort of the season. It was far too easy for the Islanders to score tonight.
What are your thoughts on tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
Also be sure to tune into Rink Wide Vancouver post game! Jeff Paterson and I will have you covered tonight, so come in and interact with us in the YouTube live chat!