logo
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
The Stanchies: Canucks keep stranglehold on last place with gutsy 2-0 loss to Senators
alt
Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Mar 10, 2026, 01:33 EDTUpdated: Mar 10, 2026, 02:02 EDT
Comments
Travis Green and his Ottawa Senators rolled into town Monday night, and to all the haters who said it would be a tedious, low-event hockey game, well, you were correct. Honestly, great call from the haters.
Losing 2-0 or 19-18, it ultimately doesn’t matter, however. Maintaining your ability to draft a top-three pick is the only endgame here, though I will say this contest was better than others we’ve watched this season. The bar is low, of course, shockingly low, but at least the team didn’t seem to be openly pouting about being stuck here?
And look, I get it, a lot of the veterans who got shipped out thought 2024 was the start of something great. That a lot of their plans were based on a team led by Quinn Hughes, JT Miller, Thatcher Demko, and Elias Pettersson. It was probably hard to switch up from that to “we think this AHL trio is going to be gangbusters for us this season.” But the vibes were bad, we all know it. It doesn’t matter why they were, but things around here were depressing. The culture on this team was essentially an in-game chat of a game of Warzone.
Now, it at least feels a bit lighter. Partly due to the trade deadline no longer being an escape pod, and partly because a lot of the veterans were sent to live on a farm upstate, it left a group of young men who are excited to prove they belong in this league, and Evander Kane.
And while once I finish this article, I will never think nor want to view anything from this game ever again (I encourage you to do the same), at least when watching Travis Green slowly choke the life out of anything resembling excitement in hockey, you were able to appreciate the feisty push back from the Canucks.
No, they weren’t able to solve the Ottawa Senators’ defensive system, as this is a hard league to win games in, after all.
But they hung around and made Ottawa work for the victory, which, low bar aside, is a welcome reprieve from watching Conor Garland stare 1,000 yards into the distance on the bench as he wonders if Max Sasson will remember to write “Fragile” on the proper boxes, should he get traded.
I don’t think we need to wax poetic any longer about this game, so let’s just dive right into the dystopian nightmare known as Travis Green hockey.
Best anticipated debut
With so little to watch for, you bet your ass that the debut of Sir Douglas the Tall is going to garner some excitement in Vancouver. This fanbase got just a taste of big man swagger when Nikita Zadorov briefly patrolled the blue line in Vancouver, so you can excuse people for chasing that dragon and looking forward to seeing if the rebuild years, which will be lean, at least come with a healthy dose of “eff you” energy in the form of angry shoves, big hits, and occasional fisticuffs.
You might beat Vancouver easily for the next several seasons, but a solid combination of youthful exuberance and Burnaby 8 rinks late-game-emotional-baggage-anger-energy will go a long way in keeping this fan base entertained and supportive.
I will say that I was disappointed that on the first shift, Sir Douglas didn’t drop his gloves and point his sword at Brady Tkachuk and challenge him to a duel, but baby steps. He, in fact, did nothing of note in this game, which I attribute to the fact that it was a 1-0 game, and Curtis wants a job next season. Running around chasing hits and costing his team a victory is probably a quick way to find himself benched, so it wasn’t surprising to see him have a bit of a cautious debut.
Also, it was jarring to go from Kyle Wellwood rocking 42 to this new Winter Soldier variant.
That being said, the next time we get a blowout game or someone takes a run at a Canucks player, I look forward to the jousting tournament from Curtis.
Best this is where the big boys  play
The Senators’ offence is fueled by Brady Tkachuk just sort of bowling into people like he’s overstayed his visit on a Saturday night on Granville, and he put it to good use early on. The first big scoring chance from Ottawa was off a play where Linus Karlsson lost a board battle, and Tom Willander stepped up to try and cover, leading to Tkachuk receiving the puck down low in front of Kevin Lankinen:
Lankinen made a good save by standing his ground and was actually really good throughout the night. Again, this wasn’t exactly a barn burner, so the offensive chances from both teams weren’t exactly lighting the world on fire, but credit where credit is due, as Kevin was solid in this one.
Brady then had another great scoring chance where the Senators essentially threw a ball for their Golden Retriever to chase down, and it almost resulted in Tkachuk redirecting the shot into the net with his skate:
It was a grindy, low-event game that brought to mind the 2003 trap era of hockey, the kind of hockey Darby Henrdickson and Wes Walz would be proud of, and if you hear the sound of someone screaming and wishing for a sweet release from this life, that would be me.
Best new PBs
First, Elias Pettersson sets a record for blocked shots, and now he’s out here reaching new heights in penalties. The transformation to embracing the “little things” is both impressive and also horrifyingly scary. Do I think he has fully turned into Loui Eriksson? Of course not. Don’t be silly.
Am I worried he is trending that way rather quickly? Of course I am, you’d be silly not to. As long as he doesn’t put a puck into his own empty net, we’re safe, but I find myself wondering if it’s only a matter of time with the way Adam Foote pulls his goalies early in games.
Anyways, here is the monster penalty Elias Pettersson earned in this game for…slightly touching someone with his stick?
To be fair, nobody has drawn more penalties from flops on the Canucks than EP40, as he has perfected the art of the Myotonic goat. You can’t really complain about him having to balance things out by taking an eyebrow-raising penalty once in a while.
Also, with Tyler Myers gone, someone has to pick up the burden of handing out lower-back cross-check penalties, so on that end, it shows savvy veteran leadership.
Best glimmers of hope
We talk about it often, but glimmers of hope are all you have during seasons like these. Glimmers of a better future, one in which single line tracking on the Skytrain doesn’t rear its ugly head at you on a rainy day.
And on this night, the Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, and Brock Boeser line was the most offensively intriguing trio in the game for Vancouver, as they actually looked like they might score on occasion.
Their best chance was probably the shorthanded two-on-one rush started off of a delightful Brock Boeser defensive read in his own zone:
Boeser continued that defensive energy and would later pick off a puck in the Senators’ zone, before finding Liam for the shot attempt on net:
Somehow, for one period, Brock Boeser turned into an elite defensive takeaway machine, and I was absolutely here for it.
If we fast forward to the second period, the trio started a counterattack from their own zone that ended with Rossi almost feathering a pass through right in front to Liam:
Remember, glimmers of hope don’t have to include goals or even successful passes; they just have to make you think “that would have been cool if it had worked.”
Rossi would then later generate a zone entry with possession, leading to Brock Boeser threading a pass over to Öhgren in the high slot, only to be denied by, let’s check my notes, oh that’s right, James Reimer:
Yes, James Reimer got a shutout in the year 2026, don’t let that get you down! Focus on the glimmers! Remember the pass that almost got to Liam? Remember how fun that was??
Now, the offence was completely shut down in the third period, but for two periods, these three men had us wondering if we should come up with a fun nickname for them, and damn it, that’s better than nothing.
Best glimmers as far as the eye can see
The other glimmer in this game? The play of Zeev Buium. Again, I have to caution that none of these highlights will ever be like that journey we took with Quinn Hughes, where this rookie suddenly turned into a superstar in some Marvel-like scenario. In the normal (boring) world, you have to groom your younger players into being top-level players, which means a lot of lows before you start hitting the highs. Instead of the rip-roaring 80s, where cocaine was on every table, Vancouver danced the night away; the Canucks now live in a world in which finishing your taxes early means you earned yourself a light beer. That’s the kind of energy this team is at.
So on that end, sure, maybe using his speed to generate repeated zone entries might not seem that exciting after the Hughes evolutionary track, but this is the reality of the world. Watching Zeev push the Senators back on their heels, allowing him to enter the zone and buy time and space for his teammates? That’s the good stuff:
He had around four or five big rushes like this throughout the game where he would move the puck up the ice with confidence, making cuts to evade incoming checks, and finding a way to gain the zone with possession.
Which means, yes, he earned himself a light beer for the night.
Best standing tall
It wasn’t quite at the level of the battle of Florida, but the Canucks seemed to be doing a good job of matching shove for shove and face wash for face wash on the night, something this team has struggled with for a couple of seasons now.
Nobody fought or threw a massive hit, but you could see some of the checks landing with a bit of spice, and after every other whistle, there were some heated talks.
The best highlight of the first period was Nils Höglander throwing a “I could have murdered you if I had wanted to” hit near Tim Stützle’s head after he had fallen to the ice:
Nils straight up thunders his butt into the boards just above Tim’s head just to let him know, which is something I found quite endearing.
Best give credit where credit is due
My favourite reaction of the game? Max Sasson getting a semi-breakaway on James Reimer and then nodding his head and admitting it was a “good save”:
Any struggling beer leaguer worth their salt recognizes and appreciates this move from Max. Sometimes you do, in fact, have to hand it to them.
Best vintage EP40
Absorbing hits with his derriere to keep puck possession was a staple of EP40 in his prime, so it was nice to see him bust out that move a couple of times in the game. One of which led to a rush that didn’t score, but at least showcased some slick passing and drew a penalty on the play:
I’m still at the point where I am screaming angrily at the TV for EP40 to shoot from every single spot on the ice instead of trying to pass it, but whatever.
Look, I understand the vision on the play, and it would have been a nice goal had Jake DeBrusk scored in his nightly cameo, but at this point, just shoot the puck my man. Pretend it’s NBA Jam and there are heat spots all around the ice, and if you score from one of them, it’s worth like eight goals or something. No angle is a bad angle; shoot from behind the net for all I care. Just shoot the puck. For once in their lives, the people who bang on the glass and scream “shoooooot” are in the right.
Best it’s a pirate’s life for me
I would be remiss if I didn’t first show Linus Karlsson getting a penalty for, let me check my notes again…ah yes, allowing himself to be dragged to the ice:
Seems like an odd call, but alas.
And while the Senators didn’t score on the ensuing power play, they did score just as it expired, and they did it in a shades-of-grey, nonconventional way:
Yes, that is Ridly “Old” Greig on a pass off the gloves of Shane “The mean bean” Pinto.
Now, at first glance, that appears to be a simple situation in which the goal will be waived off. Clearly the puck went off Pinto’s gloves directly to Greig; that is a hand pass, as we all understand it.
Except the Amazon Prime crew talked about a rule where if you’re defending yourself from potential injury, you can essentially do whatever you want with the puck. It’s the “Homer Simpson, he’s gonna open and close his mouth while walking forward, and should he happen to eat a pie, how is it his fault?” rule.
This is the same Amazon Prime crew that said Elias Pettersson was the captain of the Canucks, however, so I began doubting their research.
This is also the same league that, for an entire season in 1999, if any part of your skate, toe, skate lace, or bated breath was in the goalie crease, the goal was called off. Until the Finals, when Brett Hull scored with his entire foot in the crease, and then all of a sudden the league was all “oh hey, we sent out a DVD in the mail before the playoffs that explained a new rule in which if you maintain possession of the puck, you can toe the crease as hard or as often as you want, so go live your kink life to the fullest.”
All of which is to say, the rules don’t tend to be rules in this league; they’re more like guidelines than anything.
What does the actual rule say?
I guess you could say Pinto didn’t allow the puck to do anything. How could he allow a non-sentient entity to do something?
I don’t think Shane Pinto meant to nail that perfect pass by jumping into the air, closing his eyes and turning his head, and in a way, I kind of want the goal to count because if you can pull that off, have at it, good sir.
But also, it feels like if this game were against the Rangers or Bruins in the Finals, and it was Vancouver doing this, I think we all clearly know what the call on the ice would have been.
Best prophet of doom
Vancouver would end the night with 16 shots on net, which, yeah, not great. But this is Travis Green, and looking at you impassively in the eyes while he attempts to murder your enjoyment of anything is sort of his specialty.
Which meant there weren’t a lot of highlights in the offensive zone as the game wore on.
What we do have, though, are the glimmers. Never forget the glimmers.
So here’s Zeev Buium using his skating to create space and setting up a nice cycle in the offensive zone that led to a Fil Hronek shot on net:
Yay!
Best out of nowhere
Artem Zub wasn’t pleased with Linus Karlsson spraying Reimer with ice, which led to a scuffle, which led to the first-ever LKO:
Now I saw some people saying it was a Stone Cold Stunner, which is exposing them for the frauds that they are. No boot to the stomach, no dropping onto his ass, no beer drinking celebration, that’s no stunner, my friends.
Clearly that’s a cutter, and Linus pulled it off almost flawlessly.
Best at least make it subtle
My favourite penalty of the game was when Marcus Pettersson got called for holding. At first, you’re like, “ok, so he held his stick for a second in the corner,” but then the clip keeps going, and it eventually ends up with MP3 spinning around and bending over while STILL holding onto the stick, and I mean, yeah, that’s an easy penalty call:
Best grinding to a halt
I don’t want to say the Senators’ offence carried the day in the third period, but it was slightly ahead of Vancouver’s. All of which led to, yeah, a bit of a dry turkey of a period to end the game on.
Dylan Cozens generated a nice look on net off a great pass off a board battle from Brady Tkachuk, only to be thwarted by Lankinen:
And then the Senators got a two-on-one shorthanded rush after Drew O’Connor was denied on the puck entry, leading to Shane Pinto air mailing a pass over to Tim Stützle, who couldn’t get a handle on it:
That was sort of it from Ottawa, as again, this third period was fully in a Travis Green lockdown.
As for Vancouver, I don’t know if they were thinking they needed the perfect shot to beat James Reimer, which seems odd, but one of their best looks on net was a shot that Jake DeBrusk missed by about three hundred feet:
Hey, at least it was a good zone entry and setup from Elias Pettersson?
Hold onto those glimmers!
Best all roads lead to this
Brady Tkachuk would then ice the game after a point shot into traffic, aka the Canucks favourite offensive weapon, ended with a counterattack that netted the second goal of the night for Ottawa:
I have seen better games, but I have also seen worse games this season. As stated earlier, at least this game felt like Vancouver wanted to win the game and was willing to work for it, rather than some of the other offerings we’ve been given.
The draft cannot come soon enough, however.
Best sure have at it
Best complete lack of surprise
I am just going to put this out there: any player who leaves this team will most likely have a bump in their play. If EP40 ever gets traded, his play will improve due to the fact that they are no longer on the last-place team in the NHL.
Unless you’re JT Miller. For some reason, not him.
Sponsored by bet365

Editorials

Breaking News