Linus Karlsson kept his feet moving and was rewarded by drawing the first penalty of the game as a result. On the power play, the Canucks’ first unit quickly gained the zone, and while snapping the puck around, Elias Pettersson passed up on a good chance to shoot. Shortly after, the puck made its way back to Marco Rossi, who pulled off an excellent seam pass to find Pettersson, who this time, was ready to blast home a one-timer.

1-0 Canucks. That’s Pettersson’s first goal in 20 games, for those keeping track at home.

The Canucks had some great jump to start this game, but the Panthers didn’t take long to tie this one up. Elias Junior Pettersson attempted to snap a stretch pass out of his own end and, but the puck took an unfortunate bounce off a Florida player and found Matthew Tkachuk all alone in front of the net.

Thankfully, the home team earned themselves another power play, and once again, Elias Pettersson was ready to shoot this time around. After a few fortunate bounces, Pettersson had ripped home his second goal of the night.

I know a lot of the focus will be on Pettersson’s two goals (and that’s great!), but I really can’t get over just how good Marco Rossi has looked recently, and how good he looked on these power play attempts on the left half wall. Also that’s a nice pass from Brock Boeser, too.

The Panthers were having all sorts of trouble breaking the puck out of their own end in this first period, and the Canucks were giving them fits on the forecheck.

After some great work along the boards from Liam Öhgren to stifle a Panthers breakout attempt, Öhgren moved the puck down low to Brock Boeser, who quickly realized that because Florida was in the process of breaking the puck out, their other defenceman was up high in the zone. That left Marco Rossi all alone in front, and he made no mistake on his attempt:

That’s a three assist period for Brock Boeser. Three points for Marco Rossi. Two goals for Elias Pettersson. All in the opening 20 minutes.

The first ten minutes of the second period were very low event, and the Canucks were absolutely fine with that.

Shortly past the halfway mark of the period, the Panthers pulled within one. Defending a Florida rush chance, three Canucks swarmed toward the puck carrier, leaving the front of their coverage in front of their net in shambles. That allowed Sam Bennett to wind up for a wrister and beat Kevin Lankinen.

It wasn’t long after the Bennett goal when Aatu Räty brought his team back within one, taking a pass from Evander Kane and beating Sergei Bobrosvky to restore the Canucks’ two goal lead.

Vibes were good at Rogers Arena.

The Canucks were up by two already, and got another power play opportunity early into the frame. Linus Karlsson nearly scored after a great pass from Evander Kane, but tipped the puck wide of the net. Then Karlsson fed Tom Willander for a similar chance, and just like Karlsson did, Willander put his attempt wide right. The Canucks’ PP certainly generated some more good looks, but moved to 2-for-3 on the night.

Back at 5v5, the Canucks were in protect mode.

With just over ten minutes to go, Florida turned up the heat, and nearly scored to pull within one if not for a great defensive play from Tom Willander. On the next shift, Evander Kane took a penalty to put the Canucks shorthanded. The Canucks’ PKers did a good job of keeping Florida to the outside, and got things back to even strength without giving up a goal.

What’s the saying? “The best defence is more offence”?

Who said that again? Was it Drew O’Connor? Probably.

O’Connor scored his 16th goal of the season with just over five minutes left after receiving a nice feed from Linus Karlsson as the Canucks once again benefited from the Panthers defensive zone strategy of leaving the area right in front of their goaltender as open as possible.

Some takeaways from tonight:
-Marco Rossi is showcasing some serious skill these days, but he also showed a bit of bite. I counted two separate instances where he pissed off an opponent, took a slash, and gave one right back to his opponent.
-Blown away at how open the ice in front of the Panthers’ net was tonight. Who’s coaching this team??
-A night like this serves as a reminder that the Canucks should absolutely enter next year with the mindset that they’ll go as far as their young players and existing veterans are ready to take them. There’s no need to worry about accelerating out. Give the young guys opportunities, and see what they can do with it.
-It’s been a dreadful season for Kevin Lankinen, but that’s a win in his 200th game, and three straight games with a save percentage above .900. That’s the first time this season that’s happened for him.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!