The Vancouver Canucks managed to hold off a spirited comeback from the Seattle Kraken, taking away two points after a 4-3 shootout win.

Did the game feature another blown lead in the third period against Seattle? Of course it did; that’s just sort of how things go nowadays. You’re not even fazed by it at this point; you just sort of nod your head and mutter, “So that’s how it is in their family,” as you watch from afar.

But for the Canucks, securing the two points is a major victory for a team struggling to maintain a sense of consistency while three of their best players are out due to injury. And with reports coming out seemingly every day from people weighing in on the Elias Pettersson and JT Miller dynamic, putting up wins is probably the only thing that will silence the noise somewhat, even if only temporarily.

We’ve heard from Brad Richardson and Bo Horvat, but personally, I’m waiting to hear from Tyler Graovac and Brogan Rafferty before I come to any conclusions.

And while the victory in Seattle didn’t feel like a leaping-off point for a team about to turn things around for the better, it at least helps them tread water while they wait for Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson to work their way back into the lineup.

I wish I had an Oscar-level speech to give you about this game, talking about its importance in the grand scheme of things, but truthfully, it just felt like a middle-of-the-season game. Not to say some interesting things didn’t happen in this contest, but overall the malaise of the locker room dynamic has just sort of fallen over the team like a cloud, leaving people in a holding pattern until I don’t even know what. One of the players gets traded? Miller and Pettersson hug at center ice? I’m not sure what makes this feeling go away, but it just seems like we’re stuck in the Swamps of Sadness and the role of Artax is being played by our enjoyment of hockey.

Whatever the future holds, we can at least talk about a game in which the Chaos Giraffe scored a goal and remains a top heel in Seattle?

Let’s do this.

Best welcome to 2025

I watched team Canada get eliminated at the #WorldJuniors so I switched to the #Canucks game and they get scored on within 5 seconds of me switching the channel…

— Liams_Limes (@Liams_Limes) January 3, 2025

The Canucks kinks include soft petting and getting scored on early:

If that felt like a weak goal, your instincts are very correct. Thatcher Demko continues to try to find his groove in net, which has led to him giving up goals on shots we’re just not used to seeing from him. That looks like the type of goal EA Sports would show a trailer of to showcase their hot new puck physics, and goals can dribble in behind your goalie.

We can’t even break this one down into “this guy did that, then this guy made a mistake here, and then that guy screws up there” because this entire play is essentially “Chandler Stephenson shoots the puck and oh no.” How can we shame players for making mistakes if the shot simply goes in? This isn’t fair.

Best wake up sleepy heads

Every fucking game is non stop odd man rushes and breakaways on our goalies.
#canucks

— kevin (@kevinlambert23) January 3, 2025

Guillaume “Not Patrice” Brisebois got the start while Erik Brännström was scratched, which at first, you were like, “Why scratch the one guy who can actually move the puck?” But that’s before you considered two things:

One, Tyler Myers has been the bad Chaos Giraffe, so odds are that the pendulum is going to swing the other way at some point. So why not lean into it and let him be the puck mover? (I assume Tocchet coaches with a strict Highlander philosophy at this point.)
Two, Guillaume Brisebois is a player they have been calling up for spot duty since 2018, and in a world full of uncertainty, we need the reliability of knowing Guillaume will always be called up for a handful of games. I want it to be the year 2035, and fresh off defending their third Stanley Cup in a row, Brisebois has been called up from the Surrey Canucks farm team to replace the injured Frederick Salo for a couple of games.

And what better way to introduce Guillaume back to the NHL than with Tyler Myers pinching up high despite three forwards being down low and causing a two-on-one rush for Brisebois to defend?

That’s how you know Guillaume is a seasoned call-up veteran. This sort of odd-man rush doesn’t throw him off in the slightest. Dude barely breaks a sweat shutting it down. He stops that rush and is almost like, “Oh, was that it? Okay.”

And while giving up an odd-man rush might seem bad to the common eye, the more discerning amongst us realize that sometimes you do that to pad your defensive stats.

Because I am going to give you a spoiler alert here: Myers and Brisebois might be the next Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer if this one game is extrapolated into every other game ever played again:

Big day for my brand pic.twitter.com/LAzhS9CuRt

— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) January 3, 2025

When they teach kids about shutdown defence, they will use video from this game as the basis for it.

Or maybe it was just a solid one-off from the duo against a middling opponent.

Who can tell, really?

Best sink or swim

Breakaways two on ones my god.. my God this is horrible#Canucks

— -T (@travizz007) January 3, 2025

The first period was definitely the worst period of the game for Vancouver, as aside from that muffin of a goal on the first shot, Demko was put into action after some questionable life choices by his defence.

First up was Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais forgetting about the whole “defend the net” thing, allowing Jaden Schwartz to get a dangerous look on net:

Then a minute later it was Carson Soucy mishandling an airborne puck, allowing Oliver Bjorkstrand his first of four breakaways on the night:

Again, end of the night, the Canucks noticeably tightened things up after a shaky start. Hell, Carson Soucy and Noah Juulsen had what many were calling an inspired bounce-back game after the horrendously low bar they set last game.

But the first period wasn’t a pretty one, and it’s the kind of start that, against a better team, could have had them in a lot of trouble.

Best El Jeffe

shots are 5-1 Kraken mid-first. Just leaving this here: #Canucks season low for shots in a game is 15 in 2-0 win at Boston

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) January 3, 2025

The good news is the Canucks got more than 15 shots. The bad news is I’m starting to fear that legally the Canucks are not allowed to get more than 25 shots in a game, as they ended the night with 22.

Still, it wasn’t for lack of trying, as Carson Soucy tried to dangle through the Kraken to get a shot off:

Is it kind of depressing that this rush ended up with an Alex Edler special? Of course it is. But hey, at least we’re seeing someone trying to use their dekes, and that feels nice, you know?

And perhaps that inspired Tyler Myers because on his next shift, the Chaos Giraffe was going end to end with this beauty of a shot:

Okay, it wasn’t a lethal shot by any means, but that’s purely because CG57 was calibrating his rifle. He was getting a feel for the net. He was letting Seattle know he was coming with a firm knock on the wall because he’s a gentleman.

You laugh now, but just you wait.

Best shhhhh

Sasson. Heinen. Höglander.
Can we call that the be quiet line! SHH! #Canucks

— Mike 🦝 (@MikeGT79) January 3, 2025

I think this name works really well because it can mean they had a quiet night, or it can mean they quieted down the fans with goals, or it can mean they simply enjoyed a nice night in, listening to rain noises on their headphones while playing Minecraft.

In the case of Thursday night, the Quiet Line shushed the crowd with a goal late in the first period:

That’s a pretty fortuitous bounce off of Danton’s skate right onto the stick of Max Sasson, but hey, they don’t ask you how it went in, they just demand you tell them how many times you scored, while looking you directly in the eyes with an off-putting intensity.

I was actually really impressed with this line on the night. Nils Höglander had one of his best games in recent memory, and Max Sasson continued to play well despite the national crisis currently at play over how to pronounce his last name. And Danton Heinen simply exists, which I think is him at peak Heinen levels. I don’t think it gets much higher than this for Danton.

Regardless, it was one of the few lines, aside from Conor Garland’s line, that seemed to be able to generate offensive chances consistently throughout the night.

Best phrasing

Nice dump job Dak ! #Canucks

— Riffster (@Chipshot20) January 3, 2025

Dakota Joshua is still finding his legs this season, and while this game wasn’t exactly an offensive display the likes of which you’ve never seen, his physicality was fully in gear:

We’re still unsure what kind of player Dakota Joshua is in terms of how much of his season last year was a product of the Corolla Garland School For Kids Who Can’t Read Good versus how much of it he brought to the table. And certainly, his return from beating cancer means we might not know until next season when he can hit the ground running to start the year.

But at least we’re seeing some signs of him using his size and driving hard to the net, which is something that has been more noticeable over the last few weeks.

Best technically cross-checking

I straight up hate calls like this, because as Ray Ferraro pointed out on the broadcast last night, you could call a hundred of these a game:

Like, sure, JT Miller shoved him, but also, come on.

I feel like they get called on Miller and Myers the most based on how many cross-checks they’ve handed out previously in the game. Like the ref warns them to lighten up the lumber shots, and then, when the officials have had enough, they call a penalty on the next one that causes someone to fall to the ice.

Luckily for Vancouver, Demko had things dialled in by this point, so this scoring attempt from Seattle was as laughable as something about Tacoma?

Okay, I have googled a good Tacoma joke to end this on, let’s roast this city:

What happens when you eat too many tacos?

You fall into tacoma.

Oh wait, I see where I went wrong.

Best chaos is a ladder

Calder Winner Tyler Myers on PP1 instead of Brannstorm is the answer apparently. #Canucks

— Connor Garland (@connorgarlandbc) January 3, 2025

Look, here’s the thing. I agree, Brännström should be given more time with Quinn Hughes out. I mean at this point, why not, what else do you have to lose.

But Rick Tocchet seemingly, allegedly, has very little time for Erik. He’s the Adrian Aucoin to Mark Crawford.

So, while I disagree about the usage of Brännström at the moment, I will say getting a chance to see Tyler Myers on the first unit power play is an absolute delight, mostly because I truly never know what is going to happen.

We end up with spots like this, where Chaos Giraffe winds up for a clap bomb, and I truly don’t know whether he’s going bar down for a goal, or his stick will shatter and he ends up giving up a breakaway:

Why is Garland setting up shop behind Phil Grubauer on that shot? No one knows. Or maybe Corolla knows it’s the Chaos Giraffe shooting, so odds are high that puck bounces off the glass and lands neatly in the crease. That’s the beauty of CG57, nobody knows, you can only make wild guesses.

The power play ended the night 0/2, but write me down as somebody who is looking forward to more of this madness. He had 48 points in his rookie season, 16 of which were on the power play; I know CG57 has some of that offensive madness within him.

Best he’s not wrong

Ferraro's praise for Deharnais taking the time to make a routine 7-foot lateral pass instead of dumping the puck or turning it over sums up the expectations for this current D-core pretty well. #Canucks

— caleb kirby (@kirbman23) January 3, 2025

Best putting on a clinic

✨Manifesting some good chaos out of the Giraffe; chaos that benefits the team✨#Canucks

— Hughes Canucks Fan. Boes Believe it. (@McnuggetPeople) January 3, 2025

It might not be a sexy clip, but you want the good chaos? Here’s Tyler Myers using his size and reach to beat out Seattle players to the puck in his own zone twice, all of which leads to a zone exit:

I think that’s the maddening thing about Tyler Myers. He does have such an intriguing skill set, so when he puts it all together, you’re like, I get it, I see the vision. But then, one game, he’s out there in overtime, stumbling to the ice and passing into a breakaway for the other team, and you’re wondering when men will stop lying to you.

And even when the Kraken snuck in behind Myers and Brisebois, Demko was there to make the save:

One thing I have noticed with Quinn Hughes out is the increased number of times the Canucks defence has been caught pushing up the ice too far with a man behind them.

But again, this duo settled things down, and went back to basics; Boxing out the crease and protecting back door tap-ins:

Again, not a sexy clip, but the alternative to this is me posting a clip of someone actually tapping in the backdoor pass because nobody was guarding them. This is the kind of clip you normally don’t see because it’s basic and boring, but more importantly, it’s textbook defence from Myers because he ties up his man and takes him out of the play.

Best do your dekes, bro

Oh my god Garland that was filthy #Canucks

— Logan (@Achey_Breakey) January 3, 2025

Corolla Garland has entered the chat:

My analysis of this goal? Sick dangles.

Also, fantastic pass from Phil Di Giuseppe.

Speaking of clinics, that second period from Conor Garland was an absolute master class in putting your stamp on the game. Not in an Alex Ovechkin, three-goals, chasing-down records kind of way, but just in a team leader, stepping up and creating a variety of scoring chances way. This is especially vital for a team that struggles to generate much of anything, so when three of your top guys are out, this is the kind of period you need from your remaining top players.

Corolla Garland. Reliable as all heck, what did I tell you?

Best food for thought

i love demko but if he gets injured this easily we may need to invest in lankinen instead #canucks

— sydney (@simpforquinn) January 3, 2025

So the bad news for Vancouver is Thatcher Demko had to leave the game due to a suspected injury, A.K.A., not a Roberto Luongo. We don’t know for sure where he injured himself, it might have been on one of the thirty Bjorkstrand breakaways he stopped, or maybe it was when Juulsen ran into him:

To be fair to Noah, Demko sort of changes lanes on the Queensborough bridge without signalling properly, and Juulsen is so locked into “must hit player” that they just sort of collide and Thatcher gets the worst of it. And again, we don’t know if he hurt himself on this play, or if this played a part in it, but he was certainly slow to get up after it.

All we do know is he had to leave the game and did not return, which opens up the discussion of injury concerns when it comes to the American goaltender. Rick Tocchet spoke after the game and declared that it was back spasms and was hopeful it was a day-to-day situation, but I was once told Tanner Pearson simply had a cut on his hand, so who knows at this point? We shall simply wait and see how this plays out.

In the meantime, he’s Kevin Lankinen being put into the game and immediately having to make two big saves:

It is wild to think where the Canucks would be without Blankinen this season. The Arty Party was a fun ride last year, but oh boy did that look rough the next morning when everyone was sober.

I don’t know what the future holds for Vancouver’s goaltending, but the fact that Kevin Lankinen is around as a Marvel “What if?…” scenario is a bonus for this club.

Best Night of the Long Shift

OMG WTF IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW. WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM #canucks

— hammertime (@Q_H43) January 3, 2025

Corolla Garland’s second period of dominance continued, highlighted by a shift that resulted in a Jamie Oleksiak four-minute shift. Yes, you read that right, Jamie was stuck on the ice for over four minutes. At one point Adam Larsson looked like he might vomit on the ice if he had to take a single stride towards the puck.

It didn’t result in any goals, but they at least generated some high-danger chances on Grubauer, three of which are noted below.

The first one was a result of Garland dragging the puck through the middle of the ice before finding Dakota Joshua with a backhand pass for a shot in the slot:

Up next was noted dangler Carson Soucy finding Kiefer Sherwood in all alone for a shot in tight:

And lastly, Carson ‘Head Chef’ Soucy was once again handing out the sauce, this time finding Teddy KGB in the corner, who waited until he lined up a pass right to Nils Höglander in the slot.

It was the kind of shift we just haven’t seen a lot of from Vancouver as of late. I don’t want to say it inspired people to name their babies after any of the players, but I think it at least planted the seed for a birth certificate to one day read Dakota Danton Forbort.

It was just nice to see a bit of a killer instinct from a team that knew it would 100% be fighting off a spirited comeback in the third period.

Best big save Kevin

Is that lankinen or hasek in net? #canucks

— Doodle Hockey (@DoodleHockeyX) January 3, 2025

~~Travis Green~~ Rick Tocchet hockey without Quinn Hughes involves an awful lot of protecting the GOTI, which tends to lead to your goalie having to make saves in traffic, A.K.A. Silovs’ living nightmare.

Kevin, however, tracks the puck extremely well and always seems to center himself to the puck:

Lankinen ended the night with 13 saves on 15 shots, giving him the Grant Fuhr save percentage of .867%, but damn it, he stopped the last shot, that’s all that matters.

But for real, Kevin had a good game.

Best last gasp

Sherwood is awesome. Another great chance #Canucks

— Canucks Fan (@lottoline2024) January 3, 2025

After having a dynamite second period, the Canucks almost got their third goal of the night after a fortunate fall in the corner:

Kiefer didn’t score on the shot, but I assume he smirked and giggled on the bench, as is tradition.

Best Lord of Chaos

TYLER MYERS HATES SEATTLE AND IM WEARING MY GODDAMN SHIRT MY GOAT

— liz 𓆟｡˚𖦹✩⋆ (@hunnyjoonie) January 3, 2025

Tyler Myers was finding his range, what did I tell you?

You saw it early in the third when he started skating with the puck on his stick across the middle of the ice, before banking a pass off of some skates over to Teddy KGB:

Essentially you knew he was feeling it. No longer having to delegate the puck over to Quinn Hughes, CG57 knew this game was his time to shine, if for no other reason than to make Seattle hate him even more than they already do:

That’s Calder Chaos right there. Myers straight-up picks his spot on net and racks it up. Bouncing pass from JT Miller? No problem, Tyler calms it down before unleashing hell upon Washington.

This is the beauty of CG57. I truly never know what to expect from the guy. Coming off of a brutal game to end the year, now he’s out here playing shutdown defence and sniping goals to put his team up two.

It doesn’t make sense, except it sort of does.

Best let the comeback commence

Miller’s ill advised o zone penalty results in a Seattle pp goal. 3-2 #canucks 10 to go.

— just a guy. (@jaycee24_) January 3, 2025

After a lazy JT Miller penalty in which he stood still and jammed his stick into the body of a Kraken player until the officials had around five minutes to call a hooking penalty, Seattle went on the power play.

And initially, Kevin Lankinen had no issues with this, as he calmly let Matty Beniers shoot the puck into the side of the net:

Did Tyler Myers chase a hit needlessly on that play, opening up a ton of room down low? Sure, but that doesn’t matter, he scored a goal.

The bad part came moments later when the Kraken fed Beniers in the bumper spot, pulling Seattle to within a goal:

Honestly, that’s a nice shot. Also, Teddy KGB and Noah Juulsen have their sticks all over that shooting lane, I am honestly surprised Beniers got the shot off.

Sometimes, you do, in fact, have to hand it to them, so hats off to Seattle for that goal.

Best dingle dangle

Best game for hogz in awhile #canucks

— Robby (@Dosange) January 3, 2025

I assume being in the Rick Tocchet Penitentiary feels like an awful lot like how they describe Dementors in Harry Potter. At some point, you just want to give up on everything and stop trying.

So credit to Höglander for continuing to fight the good fight, and showcasing some of the razzle-dazzle he used to score 24 goals last year:

I feel like Höglander is in that spot where his natural skills of scoring just aren’t going to shine in the Tocchet system. So, to his credit, he’s out there throwing hits, engaging in board battles, and doing the GOTI hockey.

But we’re missing the offensive side of the game from Nils, like we see in this clip. That offensive creativity where he can create something out of nothing is a skill not a lot of players on the team have.

Maybe there is a perfect world in which he can do both, but part of me worries that it’s a fool’s game for Nils because in order to stay in the lineup, he has to use a skill set that ignores what he’s best at.

Still, I’d like to sign up for more games with Sasson and the Pig Man playing together because their speed was fun to watch.

Also, Danton Heinen was there.

Best of course they scored

And there it is. Please don’t put Meyers out in OT. #Canucks

— Snowstar444 (@snowstar444) January 3, 2025

lmao everyone knew this was happening #canucks

— Lafayette Post (@PostLafayette) January 3, 2025

I think Kevin is still looking for this shot through traffic:

Credit to Seattle for scoring to tie the game up, but man alive ~~Travis Green~~ Rick Tocchet hockey at its most tedious was on full display as this game wound down.

I know there is a certain aspect to parking the bus that all teams do, but ending the game with zero shots through six minutes is one of those things where clearly you need to have more pushback from the team. It’s something Rick talks about, but I also never see the team implement it, so I don’t know if the players can’t do it, or the coaches can’t coach it.

All I know is this team has blatantly slapped the team slogan in the face all year long by refusing to meet pressure with pressure.

Best close your eyes and pray

JT Miller overtime special is back on the menu boys #Canucks

— Ramon (@bgav23) January 3, 2025

The JT Miller experience didn’t even start overtime, which was a bit of a surprise.

In fact, JT Miller’s ice time since he came back continues to be very…measured, as he is no longer out there rocking 20+ minutes a game. In fact, on Thursday night, he only got 15:41 of ice time total, which is interesting, to say the least. Is it injury-related? Is it discipline-related? Is it the coach going with the hot hands?

Whatever it is, it is a noted difference from before he went on leave, in which it felt like he was being counted on for more ice time. If anything, it is something to keep an eye on moving forward.

And while I fully agree JT Miller on the ice in overtime is a coin flip as of late in terms of being good or bad, Pius Suter didn’t fare too well either, as he couldn’t even handle the first pass from Tyler Myers:

Weeeeeee.

Best because damn it

Why is Myers playing in OT again????? You don't need a dman in 3-on-3. #Canucks

— Derek O'Brien (@Derek_J_OBrien) January 3, 2025

Because Myers can continue to be the top heel in the PNW by making Seattle fans think he got away with a penalty:

Seriously, though, who else are you going to play in overtime? Danton Heinen merely exists; he cannot play. Sometimes you have to go with the Highlander rule and go with the guy who got you there.

Best out of nowhere

If Shorty gets anymore excitement in this OT he's going to loose his voice holy shit #canucks

— Rutherford's – Embrace the Hard 🏒 🥅🏒 (@Jhammy51) January 3, 2025

Or you can put Vincent Desharnais on the ice and watch him almost get the game-winning assist to Jake DeBrusk, before giving up a breakaway to Bjorkstrand, as is tradition:

I didn’t think 2025 would be this wild this quickly, but here we are, watching Vincent Desharnais on 3-on-3 in overtime.

Best bang bang bang

Shootout!!!! 😲 #Canucks

— Pawsitively Odie (@odiesislandlife) January 3, 2025

Kevin Blankinen stopped all three shots he faced, starting off with a Bjorkstrand breakaway, as is tradition:

I have to think Bjork had one of those long showers tonight where he had to be alone with his thoughts for a while and was the last one out — just sitting there wondering what he could have done differently.

As for JT Miller, he uses the slippery snake technique, A.K.A. the Pavol Demitra, where he comes in real slow and real wide, and when it doesn’t work, it looks like pure trash — just putrid.

But when it does work? He makes it look almost too easy:

All of which set the stage for Kevin to go full Blankinen in the shootout:

Final score: 4-3 good guys.

Look, it wasn’t a fantastic game, but it was a solid one. Your guess is as good as mine as to what team we will see tomorrow, much less what next round of outside noise will be circling the team.

But on Thursday night, the Canucks secured two points, which is all you can ask from them at this point.

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