If you've ever wanted the thrill of pre-season hockey with the hint of spring just around the corner, then the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks had you covered.
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It was like you wandered into 8 Rinks and sat down to watch an 11:30 pm puck drop. Did either team want to win that badly? Not sure, really. It wasn't the hardest game of hockey I've ever seen played. At one point, I think I saw Crazy P frown for the very first time; that can't be good. A couple of Sharks fans tried chanting for a few minutes; that was neat. One kid in the intermission hockey game had some really nice dangles?

What I am saying is this game felt like it had no stakes because it, in fact, had no stakes. It was about as low-event hockey as you can get, as both teams are clearly looking forward to the end of the season.

The roster itself felt like a pre-season lineup due to players being shut down and dealing with injuries. Not Quinn Hughes, though, who ended up playing over 30 minutes of hockey even though by Rick Tocchet's own admission, the Canucks captain might be the most hurt of anyone on the team. Bad ass? For sure. Give me a captain who will ride and die with you over a meaningless game in April any day of the week. Should the team gently pat his shoulder and tell him to rest up and sit out the next game? Probably. I think so. Feels like a good idea.

We even had a couple of NHL debuts in Nikita Tolopilo and Kirill Kudryavtsev, who played quite well, even if at times I wasn't sure any of the Sharks player's controllers were plugged in. Despite that, and despite controlling the majority of the game, the Canucks found themselves down 1-0 for a large portion of the evening. But like any good 8 Rinks team sandbagging in the standings will tell you, you can float along and just win the games when you need to, which is what Vancouver did to pull out the 2-1 victory. Like, I have video clips from this game, but nothing REALLY happened until around seven minutes left on the clock.

There was just not a whole lot to take away from this game. The only talking points I could squeeze out of this is that it feels like Linus Karlsson and Aatu Räty have gained an inside edge on making the roster out of training camp next season? Rick Tocchet singled them out as guys who have managed to continue to get better in their time with the team, something we've noted in each game recap.

At one point, Tocchet said Tomas Holmstrom should be something Karlsson should work towards, which is a bit like telling someone to go be the Michael Jordan of the blue paint game, but I get it. I see the vision. As long as you don't sit a player in a chair and tell them to watch Chris Pronger videos, you should be good to go in this town.

Honestly, there isn't much to draw from in this game. Some of the kids played well, and Quinn Hughes got one step closer to being the highest scoring Canucks defenceman of all time, tying Alex Edler at 409 points with the Captain's assist on the game winner. Which is wild considering it felt like Edler played here for 103 years and was a part of the spirited 1,915 Vancouver Millionaires Stanley Cup win, yet Hughes is about to take that scoring title away at the age of 25.

The biggest action of the night was the fights in the media about whether Tom Willander had signed an entry deal or not with the Canucks, if we're being honest.

All of which is to say, let's watch some clips and get to bed. We've got one more game, and we can put this season behind us. There is only so much we can put into this game.

Let's make some gif money, folks.

Best shattered dreams

https://twitter.com/Adamkblat/status/1911957972324155734

Sometimes life just isn't fair.

Best new additions

https://twitter.com/benkuzma/status/1911959380742087049

My biggest takeaway from the night is that some players call Drew "OC", which just opens up an entire new realm of "Welcome to the OC, bitch" references next season when he scores.

If he scores.

One day.

Best Ty Mueller highlight

https://twitter.com/laura24fan/status/1911965073465283041

Ty Mueller's best play of the game? Avoiding a hit and setting up Jake DeBrusk for the game's first scoring chance:

https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNmttdml4ZzE4dDFwaTByNXl4MGZybnNvZTU2NGwzM285bnVnaHI0eCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/c3GACRS4gyGSozJWsJ/giphy.mp4

I think we can all agree that was a scoring chance.

What a game. What a time to be alive.

I'm not burned out; you're burned out.

Best leading by example

https://twitter.com/passittobulis/status/1911968085701177667

Hey, they always say some of the hardest games for a goalie are the ones where they don't see a lot of action. It's the Roberto Luongo Rule. Pepper him with 70 shots, and he's stopping 69 (nice) of them. Hit Luongo up with 12 shots; he's letting in 4 goals. It's science at this point.

Which is why it was nice to see Marcus Pettersson literally point at Ty Dellandrea, letting him know he was going to give him the puck, so he could set up Danil Gushchin for a scoring chance on Tolopilo:

https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExeHg0cWplOWhwa3lmOGZpanlzeTVvMnJ0YWx1bm5ud25nNXc1M296aSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/C3JpqnADqWBZx6ZBrj/giphy.mp4

Tolopilo ended the night with 15 saves on 16 shots, so he had just enough action to get past the Luongo rule. And part of that is because of selfless acts of MP3 giving up the puck so the Canucks goaltender could face some shots and get into a rhythm.

I will say that the media scrums at the end of the night had that "end of the high school year" giddy energy where everyone is already game-planning being away from all of this for several months. Talking to Vittorro Mancini and Linus Karlsson was the usual media scrum questions, nothing groundbreaking.

But Tolopilo? He held court with the entire group, answering multiple questions, giving fun answers, avoiding cliches, and giving some personal insight into his NHL debut (his wife was at the game, but his parents couldn't make it because it's hard to get visas).

Again, does it ultimately mean anything? Of course not. But it was generally just a nice conversation to have with a kid who was living his ultimate dream of playing in an NHL game. For those brief moments, you just got to enjoy watching someone who just experienced a core life memory, which was a nice reprieve from the Judge Judy JT Miller vs Elias Pettersson scrum days. At no point did he yell at a reporter to read the room and storm out or demand if he should bring out another teammate to answer questions with, which I appreciated.

Best crawling to the end

https://twitter.com/522IntoOvertime/status/1911969162576142625

With Elias Pettersson eating a high stick and briefly leaving the game, the Canucks were handed four minutes of power play time. Spoiler alert: they ended the night going 0/5 on 11 shots with the extra man, and none of the chances were that thrilling? Like, you'd go on a date with these scoring chances, don't get me wrong, but you'd probably waffle on getting back to them, and I highly doubt you'd ever see a second date with them.

The power play looked decent, though. Like I said, first date worthy. Lots of puck movement with the added bonus of the Sharks seemingly not giving a shit on the penalty kill, offering up the most passive resistance I've seen since the Travis Green Canucks era.

The two best chances off those first power plays? Probably Brock Boeser setting up Pius Suter the Shooter Tutor in the slot:

https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExY2c1YmtjMmNkNDQ5dmV1dTM5dHYzeXJva3RwcGplanBscXZiYW1taCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/Z9Cnkf9nCK2ObsMjPL/giphy.mp4

Then Quinn taking turns generating scoring chances for Brock Boeser and Nils Höglander:

https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMGtwdnlhYXczajcxcjhoZ3I0NmhjYnVpdmk2dTd3eWtwN3d3bzBlaiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/w7au2YU20mRHZfeaeR/giphy.mp4

Coach Tocchet was asked a question post-game and he kind of looked into the distance and then randomly brought up the fact the Canucks had around 50 shot attempts that never found the net, which is kind of in line with how this game went. The Canucks controlled the majority of this game, and while they ended up getting 37 shots on net, a downright miracle considering some of the games we've witnessed from this team this season, it was just, yeah, another night where you wondered why this team couldn't score. Why this team couldn't bury their chances. Why they couldn't generate better looks on net.

All of which is to say those were the absolute best highlights of the first period. Yes. Those few clips. Including my desperate MP3 giveaway clip.

Best hometown hero

https://twitter.com/KingofWhopper/status/1911979803617673235

With the Sharks on the power play, Elias Pettersson made the dreaded mistake of leaving the kid with a sniper in his gloves all alone with the puck:

https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNnozY245dmZ0OHF4NDRrYXJhM25oZ2hpaWVkeHZranh4YnA3NzNibCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/8vMhfiZzJd44vs5BZb/giphy.mp4

Yes, that is a hell of a shot from Macklin Celebrini, who gladly accepted the path to the net from EP25, sniping home an absolute filthy goal upstairs where Mom keeps the hand lotion because the weather is unseasonably cold for this time of the year.

This will be the last San Jose Sharks highlight I get to show you because they are not a good hockey team. This was the high point of their night.

Best starting to worry

https://twitter.com/Toad0082/status/1911981065725722704

The Canucks have a proud tradition of losing to random goalies, so with Alexandar Georgiev staring at a shutout, you'd be excused if you didn't ponder "so this is happening is it?" It's just how we do here.

And much like the first period, the Canucks weren't exactly generating glorious scoring chances? And the ones they did, they missed the net?

Here is one of the 50 shot attempts from the Canucks that didn't find the Sharks goalie, as Mancini's slick bank pass to Nils Höglander and subsequent cutting to the middle of the ice ended with him narrowly shooting wide:

https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExdzliYm4wamc4eHZ6emRucDc0Z2dlMXJxYTYwaHZudHN0NW84OTRtcSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/07y4LvykVcBZ2UFcvp/giphy.mp4

Fun fact: the Canucks put out Snickerdoodles at this point in the game. I ate one.

Please let this season end. I am so sorry you are reading this.

Best keep on worrying

https://twitter.com/Toad0082/status/1911984104264048779

Much like a week at a White Lotus retreat, sometimes you just find yourself in an existential crisis no matter what you do.

And with the second period winding down, and the Canucks best scoring chance coming off of tossing the puck near the crease and hoping Suter did something with it?

https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbTNnbThuN2pkdnIwZmpwNmowcGI4bm52NzYzaTNuMnNpbjlscmpkZyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/u52yJ2jHT906FJGrXM/giphy.mp4

Yeah, sometimes it felt like someone was driving off in a boat with a bunch of money and leaving you behind with nothing but broken promises and shattered dreams.

Best more exciting highlights

https://twitter.com/FTHockeyFans/status/1911986757652087191

The Sharks had a chance to go up 2-0 on a power play, but because they're the Sharks, and are awful at hockey, it allowed the Canucks to generate the better scoring chances.

First up was Teddy Blueger trying to set up Suter the shooter on an odd-man rush, only to be thwarted by a lunging goalie:

https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMmdteDE3dWEwenZpaHRldzV2ZmdzZjlncTNxb3I3MXl0MTQ5OGJjYyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/Rw3sim2RXswQ7bFRB9/giphy.mp4

And next was Kiefer Sherwood getting the puck over to Drew O'Connor, who, despite knowing Seth still loves Summer even if they're broken up, was unable to get the puck into Brown University:

https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExa3c3OGQyY3hoeGxtb3p3cTdhNHFxdjJlbHE4c3l4enBpdHhrb3dzYSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/u1Z3a12LEjOH5J6jKi/giphy.mp4

There's only one more period, I promise.

Wait, there was overtime as well.

God damn it.

Best back to the special teams

https://twitter.com/kuzmenkosbanana/status/1911993284651782395

With Brock Boeser seen leaving Rogers Arena with what looked suspiciously like a jersey signed by all of his teammates and his dogs posting farewell walk pictures on social media, it pretty much feels like his time with the team is officially done.

Which means him scoring a goal in one of the last two games would be one of the few happy moments this crowd could have, giving him the send-off he so richly deserves.

And while it felt like he had his chances in this one, he just never found a way to get the puck into the net:

https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExYWpnZDJsMWF1aHM5Ymp6c3dlczkyNmp3ZTh4d2M5d2tnYTEzdmY2aiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/Pb78OTRmUbkCTwM8AP/giphy.mp4

Brock ended the night with four shots, giving him one last game to try and go out to that standing ovation you just know is waiting for him.

Best the North remembers

https://twitter.com/PG_Lee_80s_Baby/status/1911995036470005796

Teddy Blueger finally solved Georgiev by realizing if you just put a garbage shot on net, there's a good chance the goalie will dry heave and cough up one of the worst rebounds you will ever see:

https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExd2NtMDl4MnFobHlwYjA5b3cwNHhzNzJ3bDVubmFoYXE5YnNqbGVrMyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/4utueql08nMq9qaO49/giphy.mp4

Linus Karlsson, summoning up the energy of Holmstrom, made sure he was in position to deposit the rebound. And as I've said for a couple of weeks now, I really do like what Räty and Karlsson have brought to the team. The fourth line tends to be a revolving door on any hockey club, but I am intrigued to see if we get a season of the Räty/Karlsson era next year.

Seriously though, re-watch that clip and that rebound. Absolutely brutal.

Best back and forth

https://twitter.com/522IntoOvertime/status/1911996369247855040

The game got kind of exciting with around seven minutes left? At least we got one back-and-forth sequence where Teddy Blueger went full Tyler Motte and was unable to score on a breakaway after Tolopio's best save on the night off of Tyler Toffoli:

https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbHd0NDF2YTM5ZmdsejA4MXpjeGYyejk1a2UwbDRyZnQ5YmF1YXJodCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/9Cdvvka2EjXrTwZIst/giphy.mp4

Remember those 17 glorious games Tyler Toffoli had with Vancouver, back when the Canucks depth at centre was Elias Pettersson, JT Miller and Bo Horvat, and none of them were openly feuding with each other? They just kept everything hidden and repressed like a good stiff upper lip Brit? The worst we heard was someone was mad about Fortnite?

Those were the days.

Best extra time

https://twitter.com/EDDIE_TRECE/status/1912000969967099962

With the Canucks going to overtime, it was essentially "give Hughes the puck" time, which I think we can all agree is the right strategy at all times? Rick Tocchet joked about the team's poor overtime performances this year, saying maybe the key is to, yeah, just give Quinn the puck every chance you get.

And again, the Sharks are very awful at playing the game of hockey. Just a garbage bag of old socks on ice. The one time the Sharks got the puck, they elected to take a point shot as their offensive strategy. This is overtime, where teams wheel out of the zone and reset if they're not getting a high danger scoring chance out of it, yet here was San Jose literally just like "yeah sure, let's just toss the puck on net from the point, with no screen and nobody near the goalie."

And even with that brilliant strategy at play, where it felt like a team was very much open to the idea of just walking off the ice so the home team could win the game, both teams ended up calling a timeout in overtime. Vancouver I can kind of understand, maybe you try and give the fans or Brock a nice moment after a year of sh!t.

But the Sharks? What, you're calling a timeout to draw up a play where you take a shot from the corner? It felt odd.

That being said, the Canucks held onto the puck for almost the entire overtime session, led by who else, Quinn Hughes.

Quinn almost scored with under two minutes left by dancing to the net and watching as his shot just dribbled wide on the rebound:

https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExN28zejlodjN4d2NsaHNmNXllNXZyenRjNWNhMW04bGIxdW9oaWh2NyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/z8W9gZohBdgkqRMeIA/giphy.mp4

Then you had Brock Boeser setting up Suter with a chance down low, only to be robbed by whatever material it is they make goalie pads out of these days. Adamantium? Leather? Pleather?:

https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExaGFxdHpwYWJ3aW14dGNsbjN1OWp5cHBobTN0ZzI2aGlkeTJ6bGluZiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/dyvxvVjFg8HMGAyHUw/giphy.mp4

All of which led to...

Best sweet mercy

https://twitter.com/passittobulis/status/1912002207437746436

With Quinn clearly looking to set up Boeser as much as possible, circling the ice repeatedly until he could find an open lane to Brock, the game ended when Jake DeBrusk tapped in a rebound on one of said shots:

https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExa3B0NDl4M2VicnhkejVzZXV6eWF2cWpjeXdvcXJ2OG10ajcydzhwbyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/Vl6EgN1LLuPTs0jGvb/giphy.mp4

Again, this game had that pre-season energy where it felt like the home team only really tried near the end, and the other team kind of let them do their thing because, whatever, it's just an exhibition game.

Still, an assist for Quinn to move him into the record books, and at the very least, Boeser got one last enjoyable memory on Rogers Arena ice?

And that was it. The game? Meaningless. The result? Good, I guess? I don't know. I'm sitting here, and I honestly don't have much to say other than "that was a game of hockey we all watched." Yay.

This season has felt like a long one. We're all tired. We're all drained.

Let's grind out one more of these on Wednesday and call it a night.

Best by the numbers

https://twitter.com/NHLPR/status/1912010306441585097

Sponsored by bet365
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The Stanchies: Hughes ties Canucks defenceman scoring record in meaningless win over Sharks

Danila Klimovich during the Vancouver Canucks' 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets at the 2024 Young Stars Classic from Penticton, BC.

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