My goodness, the Sabres wasted little time before slamming the gas pedal down on the Canucks. Josh Norris created two great scoring chances for the Sabres almost immediately, but just one resulted in an official shot on goal despite both forays making you jump up in your seat a bit.

They didn’t waste much time before actually scoring, however. Just a hair over two minutes into the game, Tage Thompson jumped on a loose puck in the slot to score his 9th goal in his last 13 games. Yes, you’re reading that right. This Buffalo win streak has been a lot of fun for many Sabres, but perhaps none more than Thompson, who is now on pace to score 42 goals this season.

The Canucks got a power play shortly after, and it was our first chance of the night to see Tom Willander quarterback the Canucks’ first unit. Willander actually wheeled down the half wall to create a good chance, Brock Boeser put a backhand attempt wide, and Kiefer Sherwood got a solid couple of shots off from the bumper spot before the second unit spilled over the boards. Buffalo killed it off, but it was five shots for the Canucks’ power play, and they indeed looked good.

Back at 5v5, the Canucks actually mustered up some impressive momentum. Before the first TV timeout, the Canucks had eight shots on goal. Unfortunately, that also meant Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had eight saves before the first TV timeout.

The Canucks kept pressing, and Bowen Byram took an interference penalty, giving the Canucks their second power play chance of the night. This time, they gave up a shorthanded goal and didn’t register a shot on goal themselves.

The Sabres’ high-end skill was proving tough to deal with, but Thatcher Demko made a marvellous save to keep the Sabres’ lead at just two. Fun period of hockey.

Some takeaways from the first:
-Liked what I saw from the Canucks’ power play. They took 12 shots against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night, and kicking off their first of the night with five was a great continuation of a shot first-mentality. Perhaps most impressive, though, was the quality of the Canucks’ five shots on that first power play. They were not soft shots floated on net by any means. The second one was far from ideal, but that first one was something to build off of for sure.
-Some uncharacteristically bad rebound control from Thatcher Demko in the first. If I’ve learned anything from watching him over the years, when Demko looks less like himself, it’s often because he’s dealing with something. Hopefully that’s not the case here.

Whereas the first period had some action worth writing about, the second might have been one of the most boring periods of hockey the Canucks have played this season. Buffalo — who had won 10 straight games prior to falling the Columbus Blue Jackets in their last game — looked like they had it in cruise control for much of the second. There was just one goal to talk about, and not much in between.

Alex Tuch seemed a little too sure that he’d score here. No? 3-0. 

Neither side seemed interested in hitting, and the best word to describe this period from both teams is lifeless.

Some takeaways from the second:
-Jake DeBrusk has been feeling it since his healthy scratch. He’s been a noticeable step quicker, and if Chris Faber were still here, he’d likely tell us that DeBrusk’s DAWG rating has seen a major uptick over the past few games. He had a couple of looks in the second period of this one.

The Canucks came out with some more jump to begin the third period (thank God).

Unfortunately, they also got back to their beer league defending in a hurry.

Just before the halfway mark of the period, Jake DeBrusk took a stick to the face and drew a four-minute double minor, giving the Canucks’ power play another chance to work. This one more closely resembled the first one of the night, and before the first of the two penalties expired, the Canucks got on the board! Tom Willander and Elias Pettersson played catch a couple of times, and Willander made a sharp behind-the-back pass to Brock Boeser, who got the puck down low to Kiefer Sherwood, who banged the puck on goal, leading to a rebound for Jake DeBrusk to bury.

Don’t go away just yet… the second minor penalty expired, but almost as soon as it expired, Elias Pettersson spun and promptly ripped the puck past Luukkonen to bring the Canucks within two.

And right after THAT, Liam Ohgren snapped a shot right through the Buffalo netminder to pull the Canucks within one with four mintes to go.

It wasn’t just the goal for Ohgren on this shift, either. He took a huge hit to make a play in his own end, which jumpstarted things for the Canucks the other way. Awesome to see him rewarded for that. 4-3. 

All of a sudden, the Canucks had the Sabres on their heels, and Buffalo used its timeout.

The Canucks fought hard to find the tying goal, but Josh Doan added the empty netter to put this one out of reach. 5-3 Buffalo.

Some takeaways from the third:
-It’s hard to single individual players out when the team as a whole is as bad as the Canucks are this season, and I know his underlying numbers have looked great as of late, but it would be so nice for Elias Pettersson to just take over a game one of these days. And don’t give me the excuse that he’s not playing with talented players. Rookie Pettersson put up 10 goals in his first 10 games while playing with Nikolay Goldobin and Loui Eriksson as his wingers. (I wrote this before Pettersson’s goal, which I want to just say is exactly the type of play I’m talking about. Not everyone can rip a puck like that! Do it more!!!!!)
-I have seen enough of PO Joesph. Time to get Elias Junior Pettersson back in the lineup.
-Liked Willander’s deception on the power play!
-Well that ended up being more fun than I thought it was going to be!

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