Storylines fuel sports. After all, what are competitions if not big, intense reality shows?

No fanbase understands the value of a good storyline like Canucks fans do. Which is why Saturday night’s 4-3 victory over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins – the Canucks’ fourth win in a row – was that much more cathartic.

The Canucks had the table set for a big evening. They donned their Black Skate jerseys for the first time this season and reminded people of battles past, like Lemieux vs. Bure, or Jagr vs. Mogilny. They held a pregame ceremony to honour Tyler Myers’ 1000 NHL games.

But the main course was always going to be the emergence of Elias Pettersson. It had to be, after all the different opinions being tossed around after he and J.T. Miller had a little tussle at practice earlier in the week. Oh the humanity!!

You could ask just about anyone in Vancouver for their opinion on what’s been wrong with Pettersson, and you’ll likely get a million different variants of answers. But the only answer that mattered was always going to be his own. Real toughness isn’t measured by how much you can bench press or how hard a hit you can throw (at least that’s what my mum tells me); it’s measured by how you handle adversity. And tonight, Elias Pettersson showed exactly how he handles it; by silencing the doubters with his first goal of the season.

Maybe he’s finally feeling 100% healthy again. Maybe he stopped listening to what people are saying about him through the grapevine. Or maybe he took CA alumni Grainne’s advice and listened all the way through Brat by Charlie XCX.

No matter what the solution was, he’s finally finding it. And maybe that’ll mean this storyline is finally ending so a better one can start. And we saw plenty of those good stories in this game, including a first NHL goal, some unsung heroes living up their billing, and a team effort that helped put their initial start to the season at home far in the rearview mirror.

Buckle up, we’ve got a lot of GIF money to make today.

Best 1000 Rounds of Chaos

Before we can drop the puck, we had a celebration to attend.

Seven Canucks before Tyler Myers have reached 1000 games while playing for Vancouver. But none of them get to say they were the tallest except him.

Making it past the 1000 game threshold in the NHL truly takes a mixture of skill and luck. It wasn’t long ago that Myers seemed like the obvious weak link on a blue line of red flags behind Quinn Hughes. At one point, there was an alternate universe where Myers and the Canucks continue to struggle, miss the playoffs in 2023-24 and he exits to little fanfare after his initial five-year contract expired. Instead, he’s (somewhat unknowingly) redefined himself across the last 360+ games in Vancouver.

He’s more than just a tall defender who’s prone to a goofy play here or there. He’s the Chaos Giraffe, and he’s our Chaos Giraffe.

Tyler Myers recieves his silver stick from Patrik Allvin, right before Quinn Hughes walks over with mini silver sticks for the kids!! Adorable! #Canucks pic.twitter.com/K9s6BB1YB7

— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) October 27, 2024

So cheers to you Tyler Myers, and never forget: we all know you should be a forward.

Best Good Sign

Miller beats Sid clean on opening draw.

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) October 27, 2024

Best Energizer Bunnies

Hoggy and Garland power

— Liv ✨️🎷🐗 (@HuggyxHoggy) October 27, 2024

Pregame festivities are awesome, but hockey players are nothing if not creatures of habit. That 10-15 minute delay can take all the carefully timed skate tying and stick taping momentum away, so if Rick Tocchet wants to get the upper hand early, he’ll need to send out a line that could give the building a jolt.

So it’s no surprise that the second trio over the boards was Elias Pettersson and the Energizer Bunnies, and with a faceoff in front of the Penguins’ blue line they knew the assignment.

Pettersson wins the faceoff, and Höglander whips the puck from around Bryan Rust right behind the net. Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic collects it behind the net for his defenders, which usually snufs out any extended zone time, right?

WRONG. That’s just what Conor Garland wants the Penguins to think, as he goes right after Matt Grzelcyk and forces him to make a much quicker attempt at getting the puck out. Former Canuck Anthony Beauvillier tries to help his teammate with a no-look chip through Tyler Myers legs, but EP40 is there to smack the puck right back into the corner. Garland retrieves it, draws Grzelcyk out of the corner and drops it to a now open Höglander.

Höglander and Pettersson go to work, putting a passing play together behind the net and giving Carson Soucy a lane to float a puck to the front of the net and look for a deflection. Soucy’s shot lands in the mess of Penguins skates guarding the net, but Beauvillier forgets which team he’s currently employed by and sets up Garland for a chance that he just can’t enough mustard on.

If this is the type of pressure the Canucks have in store for the rest of the period, this will be a walk in the park. (Narrator’s voice: it was not the type of pressure the Canucks had in store.)

Best Home Ice Advantage

Michael Bunting in the box 2 minutes into a game. Likely place for him to be ❤️

— arielle (@ellycelly) October 27, 2024

After Michael Bunting took an early roughing penalty, the Canucks power play had a hero arrive. Unfortunately, it was’nt any of the skaters.

With power play 1 looking especially anemic, Lars Eller found the time and space deep in his own zone for a stretch pass to Kris Letang, all while Drew O’Connor got enough distance from both Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller as the last Canucks back.

Letang fed O’Connor the breakaway pass just out of Hughes’ reach, but the Canucks got a friendly bounce from their own rink as the puck jumped on O’Connor’s stick right as he was trying to deke to Lankinen’s blocker side.

Not exactly the best omen when the opposing PK gets the only scoring chance of your man advantage, but luckily the notoriously bad Rogers Arena ice was working in their favour for once.

Best Shades of… Something

Embarrassing effort against a team on the second half of a back-to-back

— Hans (@S7Dsn) October 27, 2024

We don’t have to mince words here, the Canucks just looked bad out of the chute today. Beyond the Energizers’ chance in the first couple minutes, it looked like the Penguins had pulled a Freaky Friday and given all their exhaustion from Friday’s 4-0 rinsing at the hands of the Oilers to the rested opponents.

Even the chances the Canucks were getting didn’t end up looking all that dangerous. When the third line got a breakout opportunity off the speed of Teddy Blueger and Keifer Sherwood catching the Penguins on a line change, the shot from a trailing Danton Heinen was knocked harmlessly out of play by Ryan Graves’ stick.

20 seconds later, Sherwood and Heinen connected to find Vinny Desharnais for a chance from the blue line, but Desharnais ended up putting his low slapper cleanly into Nedeljkovic’s right pad.

Even though it didn’t amount to anything Heinen deserves a lot of credit for the open space Desharnais had here, holding the puck just long enough to freeze the Pens defenders before passing off to open up the middle of the ice. Heinen’s clearly watched the tape of Mario Lemieux’s no-pass pass to Paul Kariya in the 2002 Olympic gold medal game.

But the Canucks struggles on the breakout overall were costing them; here the Penguins had the extra step twice shut down two separate zone exit attempts, one by Jake DeBrusk and one by Brock Boeser.

Again, one of these teams had faced a blistering 50 shots on goal 24 hours ago, and it’s not the one struggling to get any momentum going.

Best DeProblem

While all the attention has been on Pettersson’s no goals, the zero next to Jake DeBrusk’s goal tally has been flying under the radar. For all the excitement surrounding his signing in free agency, his four assists feel less than ideal so far.

But DeBrusk’s first play of the game was nearly the shot in the arm the Canucks were looking for. DeBrusk reads Drew O’Connor’s cross ice pass attempt for Crosby near the blue line and turns it back the other way for a 3-on-1. But with Grzelcyk on top of him as the only defender back, DeBrusk’s pass attempt to a streaking Brock Boeser sailed too far out of his reach.

While it’s true that both Boeser and Miller had a little more room, DeBrusk was plenty close enough to the net to take it himself, and would’ve even been better off shooting the puck into Nedeljkovic’s pad hoping for a rebound to Boeser. Not even getting a shot on goal on that great a scoring opportunity is the kind of moment that could come back to haunt you later.

Best Toffoli’d

Stupid sexy Beauvi

— Anna Forsyth (@aforsyth03) October 27, 2024

Anthony Beauvillier’s revenge goal. #Canucks

— Grady Sas (@GradySas) October 27, 2024

Like a came back to haunt them 25 seconds later.

Right after the Miller line gets off the Penguins enter the Canucks zone, Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin draw all five Canucks below the circles to give Marcus “offbrand” Pettersson the space to step into a one timer. NotPetey gets just enough air on it for the guy wearing #72 to deflect the shot over Kevin Lankinen’s shoulder.

Wait, who’s wearing that jersey?

Oh. Oh, no.

Look, there are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and former Vancouver Canucks exacting revenge on their old teammates. If you didn’t see Anthony Beauvillier scoring his first point in seven games against the team who once considered him the cornerstone piece of the Bo Horvat trade, you must be new here.

Beauvillier certainly knew the history on his side, putting a little extra oomph into his fist pump celly for the crowd.

Best Giraffe gonna Chaos

Myers penalty on Myers night 💯💯

— Liv ✨️🎷🐗 (@HuggyxHoggy) October 27, 2024

An evening celebrating the career of Tyler Myers wouldn’t be complete without him taking a penalty at an inconvenient time. And right on cue, seconds after the opening goal, Tyler Minors tried to lift Beauvillier’s stick and instead catches him right in the face.

The Canucks, having already bought him a Hawaiian vacation and a golf trip, said “what’s one more gift?” and killed off Myers’ penalty with relative ease. That was thanks in no small part to Conor Garland breaking up zone entries, who’s making himself right at home as a disruptor on the PK.

It’s amazing that he hasn’t been playing here regularly the whole time. It’s like finding a key under the mat in front of Scrooge McDuck’s money pit.

Best Chip on the Shoulder

Every game I’ve seen Sprong play he’s had at least one holy shit moment.

I know the defence is bad, but god damn I love those moments. #Canucks

— Sheldon (@SheldonGLee1) October 27, 2024

Daniel Sprong had one goal in mind tonight, and that was to prove why he’s the wrong forward to have sitting in the press box. And with the Canucks desparate for any flash of offence, his time was now.

After Filip Hronek feeds a long lead pass to Arshdeep Bains entering the zone along the board, Sprong goes hard to the front of the net and is in position to deflect Bains’ perfect centering pass on goal.

Nedeljkovic was equal to the task on his third shot faced, but the seeds of scoring were being planted.

And not to fast forward briefly, but Sprong’s efforts tonight didn’t go unnoticed.

Heavy praise post game for Daniel Sprong from #Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet.

“I thought he was a star tonight… he did the little things that he needed to do, and that Bains goal, that’s pretty special what he did.”

— David Quadrelli (@QuadrelliD) October 27, 2024

Best Almost TSN Turning Point

Turnovers aren’t real they can’t hurt your feelings just close your eyes haha

— arielle (@ellycelly) October 27, 2024

You gotta score on a double minor, man

— Andy Cole (@AndyCole1984) October 27, 2024

The Sprong chance seemed to give his team a lift, and the Canucks started to turn the tide late in the first with their first real bouts of sustained pressure. The sudden desparation caused Michael Bunting to get into the Halloween spirit too early, catching J.T. Miller with a high stick like Jason Vohorees swinging a machete.

Only Miller wasn’t hiding a horror movie blood pack, and the Canucks were going to get finish out the period on a four minute power play.

To call this power play a missed opportunity would be an understatement. While the effort was a thousand percent more dangerous than their first man advantage, it was still wasn’t the scoring chance bonanza that it should’ve been. The best example of what went wrong was the first set play for a Brock Boeser one timer; everything fell into place, but Boeser didn’t pick it up in the right spot and his shot sailed wide left.

When PP1 set up again a minute later, Garland’s shot was swatted away in front of the net, then Hughes’ leaned into one from distance that Nedeljkovic blockered right to the front of the net. Boeser was in prime position for the rebound, but he skied it the way Freddie Freeman would on a pitch from Nestor Cortes.

The rest of the power play looked the way Sportsnet’s audio sounded for large chunks of the night; static and playing on different frequencies. Under different circumstances, this could’ve easily ended up being the difference maker in another lost chance at two points.

But that’s why – and this is true – there’s more than one period in a game.

Best Kevin giveth, Kevin taketh, Kevin giveth back

Kevin is trying!

— Anna Forsyth (@aforsyth03) October 27, 2024

#Canucks' second pair has been outscored 6-1 at 5v5 this season

— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) October 27, 2024

The second period started with a bang, except it was the bad kind that gives you a dizzing spell of tinnitus.

With Bunting’s full double minor killed off, the Penguins caught the Canucks flat footed 30 seconds in as he left the box. Bunting distracted Hronek and J.T. Miller long enough to find Bryan Rust wide open, but Kevin Lankinen shut the door with his standard assertive slide across.

The Penguins spent the next two minutes dictating the pace of play, barely letting the Canucks even get a sniff of possession before they caught Lankinen on a crucial error.

There’s no book out on Lankinen in the same glaring way there has been for Arturs Silovs, but Canucks opponents have been utilizing a specific tactic against the big Finn. For those of you who were around for the 2011 Stanley Cup Final (and I’m so sorry to bring it up), you might remember the Canucks routinely using a bank shot off the back boards, all to take advantage of a one aggressive goalie who shant be named here. That play is most synonamous in our hearts with Maxim Lapierre’s third period winner in Game 5, and how – fun fact – absolutely nothing of note happened after it.

Lankinen has a similar approach to stopping the puck, positioning himself far out of the paint and using his length to make up the difference on rebounds. Of course, Lankinen doesn’t need illegal pads to make his saves like a certain other goalie, but that’s not relevant right now.

What is relevant is that Lankinen’s tendancy to over challenge on some shots has led a few teams to try and draw him out of the net, far enough so that someone on the other side can get an open look when the puck deflects to them.

And that’s exactly what happened when the Penguins re-entered the zone and Beauvillier shot the puck towards the back wall. Lankinen got caught a little too far from his right post, and as he was sliding back Bryan Rust was already retrieving the puck and heading for the left. Lankinen made a valiant effort to correct mid-course, but Rust had just enough room to tuck the puck in between Lankinen’s pad and the post.

With the way Lankinen’s been playing, he’s more than entitled to a mistake here or there. Heck, he even immediately made up for it when the Canucks gave up a 3-on-2 and he was forced to make this five alarm stop on Kris Letang.

But the way things were unfolding, it looked like that two goal cushion could be enough to salt the game away.

Unless the hockey gods had something a little more fun up their sleeve.

Best HE’S BAAAAACK

Thanks Petey, knew you still had the touch! #Canucks pic.twitter.com/0kf5SRBgbi

— 44 (@canuckinsanity) October 27, 2024

Tonight was going to be the night. Tonight had to be the night.

After all the takes. All the rumours about his health or social media usage. All the people questioning his character and committment. You just knew that tonight had to be Elias Pettersson’s night.

And there was only one way Petey was ever going to score his first goal of the season, and first even strength goal since March 5: in gorgeous fashion.

This play doesn’t even start without Tyler Myers intercepting a Penguins clearing attempt off an attacking zone faceoff. With Höglander creating his trademark havoc in front of Nedeljkovic’s net and drawing four(!) Penguins to his vicinity as Garland carries the puck behind the net, Petey is free to glide to the left faceoff dot undetected. Garland immediately spots him with all the room he could ever need.

EP40 takes the pass, takes one step into the shot and places it perfectly off the right post and into the net.

As always, John Shorthouse had the exact right words to say. “How do you spell relief?!”

All I know is that it looks something like this.

Best Ronning to Momesso

Sherwood hitting everything including the back of the net

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) October 27, 2024

🚨CANUCKS SECOND PERIOD SICKO MODE🚨

— sarah (@sleeplesshockey) October 27, 2024

With Petey’s slump in the rearview mirror, a weight seemed to collectively come off the entire Canucks bench. Suddenly everybody wanted a turn getting in on the action, and the game was about to be flipped upside down.

First up to bat was the third line. On the immediate next shift Danton Heinen knocks Bryan Rust off the puck at the blue line, and Kiefer Sherwood turns on the jets to push the puck forward to Teddy Blueger for a 2-on-1 chance. Blueger patiently waits for Kris Letang to make a move towards him before sending the pass across to Sherwood, who rips the puck past a helpless Nedeljkovic to tie the game in 43 seconds.

For Sherwood to go from a ridiculous 12 hit night against the Blackhawks on Tuesday to helping erase a 2-goal defecit tonight, I hope he’s already planning a spot in his house for his Unsung Hero Award display.

Best ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!

JT MILLER HOLY FUCK pic.twitter.com/TBSRXYYoAb

— grace 🧸😔 (@nhltwts) October 27, 2024

THREE GOALS IN 65 SECONDS FOR THE CANUCKS LETS GO BOYS

— Coco (@AllLoveCoco) October 27, 2024

Meanwhile the first line, watching all the fun the second and third line were having from the bench, said “Hey what about us?? We can score too!!”

And once again, on the very next shift, the Penguins’ defence completely breaks down and Boeser flings a breakaway pass to a wide open J.T. Miller at the red line. Erik Karlsson catches up to Miller just as he lets the shot go, but a completely rattled Nedeljkovic bobbles the puck off his glove and tries to swat it to the corner with his stick. Instead the puck goes off Karlsson and Miller colliding at the top of the crease and rolls under Nedeljkovic as he falls backwards, sending Rogers Arena into an absolute frenzy.

Miller couldn’t let Petey have the spotlight for even one night, huh? (I’m kidding, I promise.)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a thousand more times: follow up your rebounds, kids. You never know what kind of bounce you might get.

Best SURREY’S VERY OWN

he’s scored his first NHL goal for the canucks at home 😢 pic.twitter.com/N6oFVKfXUJ

— z (@unserioushockey) October 27, 2024

All 4 goals came from all 4 lines. Absolutely insane comeback

— Jez (@Zer0PucksGiven) October 27, 2024

Just when you thought this game couldn’t get any better, the Bains Train arrived on the platform at Goal Station.

The Canucks were getting ansty having not scored a single goal in five whole minutes, and there was one line left who hadn’t hit the scoresheet yet.

The Penguins attempts to wrestle back momentum were immediately snuffed out by Erik Brännström, as he plastered Michael Bunting to the boards behind the Canucks net with all the strength of a bull. Bunting’s desparate attempt to get the puck out of harm’s way ends up on the stick of Daniel Sprong, who was off to the races.

If Sprong was already playing with something to prove, he was about to walk the walk in the absolute best way. Sprong evades a former Norris winner in Erik Karlsson like he does it every night in his sleep before throwing the shot low into Nedeljkovic’s pad. Ned kicks the puck right out into the slot where Arshdeep Bains, the hometown kid, is waiting to whack it in for his first NHL goal.

Bains’ goal is more than just the result of a great breakout. It’s the culmination of effort from one of the hardest working players the game has seen. Bains fought tooth and nail as an undrafted overrager in junior just to get a chance at the NHL, and now he’s just the fourth player of Punjabi descent to score an NHL goal. And best of all, he got to do it for his childhood team in front of his home crowd, who gave him a standing ovation in return.

After the game, Bains said the puck from his first goal will be going right to his dad.

How can you not be romantic about hockey?

Surrey’s own Arshdeep Bains scores his first NHL goal, extending the Canucks' lead to 4-2!

🎙️- @MantarBhandal & @HarpPandher #LetsGoPens | #Canucks | @OMNITelevision pic.twitter.com/qNG03xxl0b

— Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi (@HkyNightPunjabi) October 27, 2024

Best Part of a Brälannced Breakfast

#Canucks are crushing it with Erik Brännström on the ice so far tonight:

Shots: 11-4

Scoring chances: 9-2

Goals: 2-0

— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) October 27, 2024

Branny on the PK 👀👀👀#Canucks

— Abu Am’mar (@taizzzz5) October 27, 2024

If you’ve been waiting for the bottom to fall out for Erik Brännström, I’m sorry to tell you that he’s only getting better and better every game.

Brännström’s not only making better plays defensively as he goes, but he’s also showing more confidence to call his own number at the other end. He’d end up getting two shots on goal on this shift late in the second period, starting with this give and go between he and Vinny Desharnais that he ripped into Nedeljkovic’s pad.

Then after a Kiefer Sherwood shot sailed around the boards, Brännström caught it and fired quick enough that Nedeljkovic was forced to steer out of play.

Brännström is rounding out into a 200 foot game player very nicely, and everything about his play of late screams bonafide NHLer in the making.

Best Garbage Time

The Canucks’ second period was about as dominant an effort as they’ve put together at any point in the last two years. And the Penguins’ structure had collapsed in such complete fashion that they seemed to feel the page on their era of dominance turning mid-game.

As we saw on opening night against the Flames, no lead is safe by a long shot. But the first ten minutes of this third period sure felt like a mere formality from both sides.

The only moment of real emotion came five minutes in, when Nils Höglander used a bit of an underhanded maneuver to twist Bryan Rust around, injuring his leg. Rust hobbled to the bench, took a beat to tear into the refs for not calling a penalty since Höggy got him before the puck arrived, and then was helped down the tunnel to the locker room.

The Penguins began to press again midway through the period, with head coach Mike Sullivan sensing the heat under his chair enough to send Crosby and Malkin out for some shifts together.

Best playing with fire

That’s a terrible call on Sprong. He didn’t hold Letang, he just pushed him down. #Canucks

— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 27, 2024

Poor Daniel Sprong is never allowed to have anything good without something bad to balance it out.

In tonight’s case, that bad was a somewhat light holding call on Ryan Graves.

The Pittsburgh power play couldn’t find their 2016-17 magic, but they came close when Malkin fed Lars Eller a pass through the crease that Lankinen got his stick in the way off.

The Canucks seemed to have avoided the worst the Penguins could throw at them, which means it’s time for us to kick our feet back in confidence and wait for the buzzer to run out the clock.

Best Trilogy of Error

Evgeni Malkin still has those skills.

— Joshua Rey (@JoshuaRey00) October 27, 2024

Gotta stay awake, boys!! Game isn’t over. #Canucks❤️🖤💛

— Becka (@thechewbecka) October 27, 2024

But this wouldn’t be a Canucks game without a ridiculous mistake somewhere, only this time it wasn’t even entirely their fault.

With seven minutes to go, a usually well placed Sidney Crosby was somehow stuck behind the Canucks blue line during a Penguins regroup. In his haste to get back into the play and recieve a deep pass, Crosby clips Desharnais and collides with Hronek, turning all three of them into bowling pins right as Evgeni Malkin was streaking through the neutral zone.

Malkin nabs the loose puck for a sudden breakaway, outwaits Lankinen and puts the puck into a yawning cage as he crashes into the post, bringing the Penguins back within one and sacrificing his leg to do so.

There’s a lot of goals the Canucks have allowed that you can chalk up to a defensive breakdown so far, and there’ll be plenty more in the future. But honestly, this one probably deserves a mulligan. How often do both your defenders get tripped over on a play that no official deems worthy of a penalty?

Best Moo Deng impression

Alex Nedeljkovic represents the ‘short kings’ of the NHL goalie guild, standing at a petite 6-foot-0. What Ned lacks in size compared to his counterparts, he makes up for with his speed, positioning and willingness to play the puck.

And much like how a pygmy hippo bites its owner’s knee when it hasn’t gotten its lettuce or drink from the water hose, Nedeljkovic bit the referee’s metaphorical ankles by throwing the net off the pegs after a collision caused the padding to tip the net on an angle.

Call it a play that should’ve been called for unsportsmanlike conduct, call it a hacky way for the author to fit in a Moo Deng reference. Either way, it would be the last whistle of the game as the Canucks iced the final 2:30 away without letting the Penguins get more than a single shot on Lankinen.

The vibes are anything but demure and mindful in Pittsburgh right now, but with all the storylines the Canucks put to bed today, things are feeling immaculate.

Best Jersey Botches

Ok @LachInTheCrease get this in the article. Game worn Dana Murzyn jersey sighting pic.twitter.com/4D44UuIh77

— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) October 27, 2024

Any sighting of the Salmon Skate is worth posting, especially when its Dana Murzyn. The guts required to wear this to a Kraken/Hurricanes game is off the charts as well.

Mike Santorelli was the glue that held the Tortorella Canucks together. If it wasn’t for a shoulder injury that ended his season, he was going to lead that team to playoff glory. He’s still one of my absolute favourite Canucks’ one hit wonders. Wearing this on the day a different BC boy gets his first NHL goal was some incredible foresight too.

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