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! The boys are back after the 4 Nations break, and the Canucks carried a three-game win streak into tonight’s action against Vegas. Demko is still out of the lineup with an
upper-body injury, so
freshly signed Kevin Lankinen got the start after representing Finland at 4 Nations.
If I’m a betting man, I’m hammering the under on the Canucks’ first-period shots, as once again, they turned in a slow start and mustered just five shots toward Vegas netminder Adin Hill.
Tyler Myers accounted for two of three mental errors by the Canucks, which resulted in three power plays for Vegas—two bench minors and one delay of game—but the Canucks’ top-performing PK held strong, killing off all three and extending their streak to 13 consecutive penalty kills dating back before the break.
The final five minutes of the first frame turned into the Lank-show. The Knights had 13 shots and multiple quality chances, but Lankinen stood his ground, kept his team in it and continued to be lights-out on the road. You never know exactly what to expect after a player signs a long-term deal, but Lankinen came out and played some of his best hockey yet.
It wasn’t a great first for the Canucks; they had some good chances when playing five-on-five but it can be hard to generate consistent offence when you spend 30% of the period killing a penalty.
Game tied heading into the first intermission.
Sherwood had been bumped up to play with Pettersson and DeBrusk, and it paid early dividends in the 2nd period as DeBrusk opened the scoring six minutes in with his 20th of the season and 300th NHL point.
It was a solid shift from all three linemates—Pettersson did a fine job getting the puck up ice, and they were able to apply some pressure before a failed Vegas clearing attempt led to Sherwood finding DeBrusk wide open in front of the net.
Vegas was still outshooting Vancouver 16-8 at this point but the pace steadied for the Canucks as they were able to keep five players on the ice and even earn themselves a power play, which they couldn’t capitalize on.
Shortly after the Canuck’s failed powerplay, the same line that scored for Vancouver was on the ice as Vegas tied it up on a Barbashev rebound tally.
All in all, it was a fairly even second period with both teams generating chances of their own before once again, Lankinen had to make a couple dazzlers against late Vegas pressure to keep it tied 1-1 after two.
Vegas was the faster team starting the third, and 18 seconds in, they took a 2-1 lead. A three-on-two rush saw Lankinen challenge the shooter well outside his crease, but as he tried to recover for the ensuing rebound, which bounced hard off the end boards back out in front of the net, he was blocked by a Vegas player. Brandon Saad is there to deposit the puck into the vacant net.
The Canucks answered with a goal of their own after Aman banked one in off Blueger, but Blueger was in the crease by his own accord and the call was subsequently reversed.
After the 10-minute mark, Vegas went into defend-mode and the Canucks picked things up on offence, doing everything but put the puck in the net.
Chytil drew a hooking penalty with just under five minutes to go during a streak of offensive pressure and the boys were primed to tie things up at two. Dakota Joshua thought he had himself the tying goal, but this one was also called off after Adin Hill had it squeezed under his pad before Joshua pushed it over the line.
Lankinen was pulled with over three minutes left, and the Canucks had their chances but failed to convert. Tomas Hertl potted an empty-netter to put this one away for Vegas.
3-1 Vegas final
Some more takeaways from tonight:
-D-Petey is more willing to shoot the puck than forward Petey.
-Sherwood records 300 hits in 50 games, fastest in NHL history. No real takeaway other than he continues to prove to be one of the best free-agent signings of the offseason.
-Hronek continues to look very solid driving his own D-pair- could this open the door to a different looking blue line upon Hughes’ return if it continues for a long enough sample size?
-Höglander had one of his better games of the season, looking very solid in the transition game and was his usual wall-hog in board battles.
-Even in the loss, Lankinen was a stud.
-Boeser-Chytil-O’Connor line was dangerous but inconsistent in terms of chemistry- if they can all get on the same page throughout the game, the production should follow.
-Without Hughes commanding the first power-play unit, you’d like to see Pettersson be more assertive, but it just isn’t happening. He had played just 8 minutes and 26 seconds through two periods—second lowest on the team, only ahead of Sherwood. Some of that can be attributed to the time spent on the penalty kill, but you can’t have your highest paid player playing the least amount of time.
-When it’s bad, it’s very bad: Tyler Myers had one of his compounding-mistakes game in which he just couldn’t seem to keep things in front of him and looked out of breath at times. It’s likely a by-product of being asked to take on tougher assignments with Hughes’ absence, so I expect him to get back to his steady sheltered game when the lineup gets healthy.
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 LIVE on YouTube!
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