The Canucks’ red-hot penalty kill stayed hot, as they were tested early following a puck over glass penalty assessed to Tyler Myers under five minutes into the game.

This game had some life early on, as three sets of coincidental minors were handed out in the first period alone.

It was a quiet, low-event first period, and the Utahns were certainly the better team through the opening 20 minutes of play. Thankfully for the Canucks, Kevin Lankinen was up to the task.

To kick off the second, Quinn Hughes left his mark on the game when he let go of a point shot that found its way through everyone during the Canucks’ first power play of the game.

After getting a lead despite being outshot and to some degree, outplayed, the Canucks missed their chance to use that fortune to give them some jump in an attempt to extend their lead to two. Sure enough, shortly after the ten minute mark, Utah tied things up.

After 40 minutes of play, this one was tied up at one apiece with Utah outshooting the Canucks 17-10.

The Canucks got their second power play chance of the game early in the third after Elias Pettersson drew his 22nd penalty of the season, and obviously, the Canucks were hoping for a similar outcome as they got on their first one.

This time, the Canucks didn’t get any good looks off, and didn’t really test Vejmelka.

Back at even strength, Logan Cooley capitalized after an unfortunate bounce off of Canucks bodies in front of Lankinen led to a wide open net for Cooley to shoot at.

The Canucks got their best chance at getting back in this game when Clayton Keller was assessed a double minor for high-sticking Brock Boeser.

The Canucks used both units — the second unit featured five right-handed shooters — but couldn’t find the back of the net. And really, that appeared to be the end of the Canucks’ chances at coming back in this one.

Utah came to play in what was their biggest game of the season. They stay in the Western wild card hunt.

Some more takeaways from tonight:

-Kevin Lankinen was good in this one, especially in the first period.
-Brock Boeser has looked so beyond inneffective for quite some time now, but I thought tonight he showed signs of going in the right direction. A couple puck battles won, moving his feet to create space for himself, and more. Baby steps, but didn’t think was the worst we’ve seen from him lately, even if it still wasn’t a great game by any means.
-I’m becoming more and more appreciative of the steadiness in Marcus Pettersson’s game.
-Utah did an excellent job at defending the Canucks in the neutral zone. Made it so difficult for anything to happen.
-Great game for Hughes, but a great job by Utah at making it hard for him to find anyone.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below! And be sure to tune into Rink Wide Vancouver moments after the final horn!