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!
It was a wonderful Saturday afternoon… outside of Rogers Arena. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping.
Inside, the Ducks took 1 minute and 20 seconds to open the scoring against the Canucks.
1-0 Ducks early.
The moments that followed this game early on weren’t much better for the Canucks, but I did like what I saw from Victor Mancini while defending the rush. He was paired up with Quinn Hughes in the absence of Tyler Myers.
Speaking of young defencemen doing things I liked…
Elias Pettersson leaned into a great backhand drop pass from Linus Karlsson and blasted home the first goal of his NHL career.
1-1.
You know what? This was turning into a pretty wonderful Saturday INSIDE Rogers Arena as well!
2-1 Canucks.
Shortly after, Alex Killorn was called for hooking, giving the Canucks the game’s first power play.
There, Quinn Hughes went to work. After making a nifty stutter step at the blue line, Hughes made an even niftier snap pass to Brock Boeser’s stick blade, and Boeser made no mistake in redirecting this one past Lukas Dostal.
3-1.
The Ducks took another penalty, and again, Quinn Hughes took that as an invitation to do something great.
The goals just wouldn’t stop, as Dakota Joshua got in on the fun, setting the Canucks’ franchise record for the fastest consecutive goals scored.
Anaheim called a timeout, and the goals stopped there for the period, as the Canucks entered the second up 5-1.
Right off the bat in the second, Jackson LaCombe blew a tire, allowing Conor Garland to move in on a 2-on-1 and nearly helped the Canucks pick up right where they left off. Instead, the next goal went to Anaheim.
You won’t see it in the replay, but this all started with Filip Hronek calling for the pass, then proceeding to make a bad pass to Marcus Pettersson’s skates that jumpstarted the Ducks’ offence the other way. Haven’t liked what I’ve seen from Hronek down the stretch.
5-2.
The Canucks entered the third period up by a trio of goals.
Five minutes into the third, Max Sasson pushed that lead to four when he made a great play to steal the puck at the Canucks’ blue line and burst in on a breakaway before sliding the puck between Dostal’s legs.
6-2 Canucks.
What an impressive game for the Abbotsford Canucks’ players.
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!
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