Out on bail, fresh out of jail, California dreamin’
As soon as Quinn Hughes stepped on the scene, he hearin’ hoochies screamin’
Fiendin’ for goals and the plays of the night, the life of a Hart winning player.
Yes, it was all California love for the Vancouver Canucks who went 3-0 on their road trip, who left the most impressive win for last.
We talked about how the Canucks needed to find some consistency in their game before this road trip, and that a 2-1 record was the bare minimum needed for people to breathe a little easier about the future of this club.
But if we’re being honest, beating the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks was nice, but the true test was always going to be the LA Kings. Not only because LA has always been a hard out for the Canucks over the last few seasons, but also because this year they’ve been one of the best teams in the West.
I mean no offence to Luke Kunin, of course, because anytime you can beat a team he’s on, that’s its own special sort of victory. But the LA Kings are a different beast than the Sharks, made all the more exciting by the fact they are no longer trying to win every single game 1-0.
If you watched the game Thursday night, it felt more like something you’d see near the end of the season, with teams jostling for playoff position and not an early game in November. It was a gritty game from both teams, one that saw the Canucks lose Brock Boeser in the first period on an egregious headshot from Tanner Jeannot, which just made their victory all the more impressive.
And it wasn’t just Quinn Hughes in this game*; it was everyone throughout the lineup stepping up and protecting the GOTI, giving the Canucks another Rick Tocchet style victory as this team shrugs off the cloak of the lazy summer October hockey.
*Please note that when I said it wasn’t just Quinn Hughes, I still have to acknowledge that he’s a human cheat code, and I am approaching the point where if he ends up being an alien from another planet, I would just nod my head with easy acceptance. It would be like someone telling me it’s wet outside due to the rain, and I would kind of stare at them, wondering why we even needed to acknowledge that. Clearly Quinn Hughes was an alien experiment and is the start of a Marvel-like universe, we’re just here for the ride.
All of which is to say that Quinn Hughes once again played out of his goddamn mind, but it was nice to see his teammates all raise their game as well. It’s like when your friend uses both arms to slightly help move the couch you’re lifting, it’s nice to see that extra effort from all involved.
The result of going undefeated on this road trip is the Canucks look more like their old selves right now, which is good timing because Game Eight against the Edmonton Oilers looms on Saturday.
And as we all know, whoever wins game eight gets a redo of last year’s playoff results.
Or so I have been told.
Let’s rock out some gifs.
Best Spoiler Alert
Half of these cards just put a bunch of charts and graphs, and I just nod my head and happily go, “Sounds about right,” when it lines up with the ol’ eye test.
Quinn Hughes looked like he kicked the shit out of the LA Kings, so this chart appears to be in order.
Best it’s the little things
Elias Pettersson ended the game with no points, but he did play 20 minutes of ice time and was generally very good in his own zone. And to honour the Kings of old who once played hockey so boring and tedious I actually pondered popping on the Antiques Roadshow’s Greatest Hits, here is the smart hockey IQ of Elias on display:
Moving his feet and blocking passing lanes, generally knowing where the other guy is going to pass it before he does, that’s the Elias that gets the heart rate moving. If you can’t score you can at least make sure the other guy isn’t either, and that’s sort of where we are with EP40 at the moment.
Offensively, he also was pretty solid, but I think we’ve heard enough “Look, he made a pass in the offensive zone!” babying that we can just sort of ride this one out, acknowledging he was perfectly cromulent in this game but that his contract demands more than that.
Best tradition
Despite it being a very good game for the Canucks, they still made sure to let the other team score first. Polite Canadian visitors and all that:
Yes, that was Vinny Desharnais attempting the long bank pass off the boards, only to see it get picked off and brought back into the Canucks zone. The Canucks have really leaned heavily on this as a breakout strategy this season to try and get in behind the defence with that stretch pass. And when it works, it’s a very quick way to transition into the offensive zone. The issue is some defencemen are better at this play than others, so you’re allowed to ponder if Desharnais is going to be a comfortable fit in the bottom pairing as the season wears on.
Also, the worst defensive pairing for the Canucks on the night was indeed Desharnais and Erik Brännström, which isn’t mind-blowing, considering bottom pairings are your last pairing for a reason. But yes, when I watch Desharnais, I appreciate that he can make things go boom, but I do worry about him being exposed in a tight-checking affair where quick decision-making and puck movement can be king.
But we are getting very far ahead of ourselves, so let’s bring it back to the goal in question, and I have to admit there is a bit of bad luck involved here. That puck sort of bounces out of the board scrum towards the Canucks blue line, allowing Quinton Byfield to skate right on by the Canucks defence. I haven’t seen a Vinnie caught that flat-footed since he drank too much and ended up in bed with Snookie, am I right? Huh? Right?
I’m so sorry.
The point is, both Kiefer Sherwood and Vincent Desharnais get caught watching the puck, which allows Byfield to race right by them and score on a tidy bit of business. Honestly, give credit to Byfield because that’s a move Elias has been trying all season long to pull off, and he managed to make it look easy.
Also, beating Kevin is no easy feat, so yeah, damn it, you know what? Quinton Byfield, take a bow; that was a highly skilled goal. Good on you. Sometimes, that just happens in the NHL.
Best reaction shot
Kiefer reacting like he just got an alert that Nina Myers was spotted in the area.
Best Hughes your daddy
Quinn Hughes is playing on a whole ‘nother level this season, which is pretty incredible considering he won the Norris trophy last year. So who else but Quinn Hughes to set up the first good scoring chance for the Canucks:
His edge work and ability to change direction and shift speeds while also seemingly knowing where every single player is on the ice at all times is quite frankly disgusting. It sickens me to see someone that much better at hockey than myself to such a large degree. Obviously, every NHL player would beat the living piss out of me in a game of one versus one, but at least I feel like I could slash one of them on the hands really hard. Like sure, JT Miller is gonna sh*t-kick me to the tune of 100-0, but at least I feel fairly confident I could stick him in the groin really hard at one point.
With Quinn Hughes, I’d be afraid to do much of anything other than soil myself and hope the Zamboni takes me away during half time. I don’t know how you defend him. I don’t know how you hype yourself up to take him on. I feel like playing him is basically just praying your shift ends as quickly as possible so he becomes someone else’s problem.
And Vladislav Gavrikov tries his best there. He sits back and gives plenty of space to Quinn to try and limit his ability to dangle right by him. He even tries to close down the passing lane at the last second. But it doesn’t matter because Quinn still makes the perfect pass to Jake DeBrusk.
We kind of half-joked about Quinn being in the running for the Hart trophy last season, but we are no longer laughing and are starting to become very serious about this.
Best pig man cometh
Nils Höglander got two minutes for tripping Anze Kopitar on this play:
I feel like Anze went full Fat Joe on this play more than anything, but sure, it looked bad enough that I can see why they gave two minutes to Nils.
Besides, you don’t have to worry too much about penalties when Kevin Lankinen is in net because power plays are merely a spotlight for Kevin to shine in. He made four stops on this powerplay, including this one:
We’re at the point where it honestly looks like Kevin is bored in net and/or feels bad for the other team, so he lets them get a free look in the slot. Dude is going full Luca Sbisa just so he can hit his Time Cop pose and make a save, yet somehow makes under a million dollars.
Contract of the season, folks.
The best chance on this powerplay was actually from the Canucks side of things, after JT Miller caused a turnover and turned it into a two-on-one with EP40:
They are the Odd Couple in all facets of life, but for some reason, these two just click on the penalty kill. It feels like at least once a game they generate an odd-man rush while killing off a penalty.
Also kudos to Elias for not trying to force feed that puck back through to JT Miller, and I say that without any snark. I know it’s easy to pile on Elias, and I have been critical of his play this season quite a bit, but I firmly believe he will find his way back into being a top-line player. Despite TikTok telling me he’s cooked in a variety of ways.
His shot is weak? Cooked.
His skating is off? Cooked.
Tying his skates weird? Absolutely cooked. Career over.
I just think he’s going to figure this out, you know?
Worst garbage in the league
The worst part of the game? When Tanner Jeannot absolutely blindsided Brock Boeser for no reason:
Look, I get it; hockey is a rough sport. It’s also a fast one, where what seems like eons up in the booth is, in fact, half a second in real-time.
But this wasn’t a play where two guys were battling for the puck. It wasn’t a situation where Brock should have been on guard about being hit. This was a play where Brock had passed off the puck, and Tanner does a fly-by headshot.
You can watch the replay and Tanner lines this hit up from the blue line. He makes a beeline right for Brock and as he’s passing by just leans his shoulder right into Brock’s face.
It’s a pathetic hit, honestly. It’s the hit of a coward. Jeannot is the guy who drives a giant truck so he can drive like an a**hole, not because he actually needs a truck for work.
Boeser would not return to the game, and Jeannot got a match penalty, but there has to be more. They have to suspend Jeannot for multiple games because the league cannot allow this type of hit to happen in today’s game. This isn’t Gordie Howe’s league anymore, where he’s winking at Wayne Gretzky and leaning over the bench to elbow an unsuspecting player in the face.
You can’t try and sell a league to fans where the star players can be taken out with cheap shots like this. Little Jimmy didn’t bring his Brock Boeser jersey to the game just to be told, “Sorry, Brock got hurt,” but Tanner Jeannot’s two-point season has been a real barn burner, so do you want his autograph instead? Oh we do apologize, sometimes Tanner spells his own name wrong, words are hard for him.
Absolutely mindless, gutless play from the Kings forward.
The end results was a five minute power play for the Canucks, in which Quinn Hughes and Conor Garland attempted to make sweet, sweet love on the ice:
Hughes plays hockey like it’s basketball or football, he truly does. I’m at the point where I just assume he’s going to do a backward hurdle over someone to make a play. His ability to change directions like this just opens up so much room for his linemates as defence breakdown trying to keep up with Quinn. Watch the two Kings players who end up defending Quinn Hughes, as they tag him as the most dangerous threat on the ice. And they’re not wrong! It’s just Quinn uses that to find JT Miller behind the net, who then finds Garland.
And when you’re Corolla Garland, you know the safest and most reliable places to park your car is right in front of the net.
They didn’t score on this play, but it’s just a great example of how even if you know double-teaming Quinn can lead to trouble, it’s still a better option than not double-teaming him. That’s how he tilts the ice so hard for Vancouver.
Best Corolla action
Garland finally got the Canucks on board after he urged Darcy Kuemper to score on himself:
I imagine an impassioned Jane Austen-esque speech was given by Garland, imploring Kuemper to put the puck in his own net. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a puck must be in want of a goal sort of deal.
Speaking of Quinn Hughes being a difference maker, it’s kind of wild how much Garland’s stock has risen. When he joined the team, Jim Benning was HYPED about the acquisition, but that kind of got lost in all the losing. Then Garland got to the point where he was like, “Yo, you ok if I ask for a trade from this team? This kind of sucks,” and the Canucks were all like, “Sure? Go for it? Let us know what you can get for yourself on Craigslist?” only to turn around a couple years later and he’s gone from King of the Elite Third Line to, “Integral part of the top six and Captain of the Elias Pettersson Rehab Project.”
Even the Canucks struggling power play has led to Rick Tocchet just slapping some Garland duct tape on it and hoping it can fix it.
And when you watch him play, he does a lot of the same principles Quinn Hughes does. Smart puck management and fantastic control of said puck, which also leads to lots of room for his linemates. Garland also has a motor that never quits, which isn’t surprising for Corolla, which is why he earns Selke votes. Watch him play and you will rarely, if ever, see him quit on a play. He’s always chasing down the puck.
This is why I think Kuemper put the puck in his own net. He knew Garland wasn’t going to quit on it, so he’d rather be the one in control. Sometimes, you just have to disconnect when someone is using the execution animation on you in Warzone. Don’t give them that satisfaction.
Fun fact: Conor Garland led all Canucks forwards with 22:43 of ice time. Pretty easy to see that Rick Tocchet trusts Corolla implicitly, especially with that deployment in a game like this.
Best are you sure about that?
One of the more amusing penalties on the night was when Jake DeBrusk slowly backed up into Kuemper, slowly touched Darcy Kuemper, slowly stopped moving, only to see Kuemper flail back like Mike Smith in his prime:
The only thing missing from going full Mike Smith is Darcy forgot to shake his mask off. It always looks far more dramatic when the mask goes flying through the air as you topple to the ground.
Best life finds a way
Tyler Myers had a perfectly reasonable game, but I still got a chuckle out of the Chaos Giraffe peaking out from around the corner at the start of the second period. Somehow, it just feels right that Tyler Myers attempted a rush, only to be shut down, only to see the puck still somehow bounce and find its way on net:
Let this be a warning to all goalies: always be prepared to make a save when CG57 is on the ice, no matter what.
Also be prepared to not to have to make a save when he’s on the ice. If he gets a breakaway, the odds are high that he will dump it into the corner before screaming and jumping through the glass behind the net.
Nobody knows why or how. We just accept it.
Best bargain bin shopping
Speaking of great value, Kiefer Sherwood has been everything the Canucks asked of him and more. It hasn’t just been the physical play; he’s also formed the next big third line in the league with Danton and Teddy KGB. Their ability to play defensive hockey and tire the other team out was a key factor in this road trip.
A great example of this is this chip along the boards where Kiefer hunts down the puck and turns it into a shot on net:
Moving his feet, skating hard to the puck, this guy bleeds Rick Tocchet hockey. It would have been real easy to let the Kings re-group with the puck in their own zone, but instead, he just sticks to his check and ends up stealing the puck.
There are no easy shifts with him on the ice. He truly is the guy you roll your eyes at when you have to play because you know he’s just going to be so goddamn annoying to play against.
Best video on demand
I highly recommend you just watch the video of the shift because it’s a long one, and a gif won’t do it justice.
Remember that Elias Pettersson shift where the Canucks got the last minute goal against the Sharks? It was a nice shift, it was. The line played well and managed to secure two points; it deserved all of the praise it garnered.
But Quinn Hughes, man, his shift hits on a different level. That, THAT was a Hart-worthy shift. That’s a shift where you just feel bad for the other team because what were they gonna do? It was inevitable Quinn was going to make something happen. He’s the Mad Titan, the Thanos of the NHL. When Quinn Hughes grips his glove, people disappear, that’s just how it works. Mr. Stark, Darcy doesn’t feel so good. Boom. Gone.
And much like I said in the opener, his teammates stepped up as well. For all of the amazing work Quinn did on this shift, his teammates also played it fantastic. I think this game was the best JT Miller has looked in terms of being involved in the offensive zone. And that finish from Jake that deserves another angle:
You can see Darcy reach back with his glove, and he knows he’s hooped. Like he just sort of flails his glove in the general direction of the puck but he already knows from the broken ankles that he made a huge mistake. Absolutely filthy goal from Jake.
Louie DeBrusk could never!
Best and the Oscar goes to
I don’t think other teams like Kiefer:
Now, look, was the a bit of a sell job from Kiefer? Of course. He earned that embellishment penalty.
But that was no flop, sir. That was an honorable fl0p. He drops to a knee and leans his head back to scream in anguish, BUT HE KEEPS SKATING. He still remembers his defensive responsibilities. He doesn’t fall to the ice pretending his leg has been cut off at the knee, he instead briefly stumbles to a knee, before proceeding with life and making sure he is still involved with the play.
That’s how a real man dives.
Best everyone hates Fil
Filip Hronek got called for tripping on this play, and yeah, I can see why he was a bit unhappy with it:
I can also see officials calling that because anytime a stick is around someone’s skate and that player falls down, they tend to call it.
If anything else, it did set up Hronek for the reaction of the season when he got called for a penalty later in the second period:
Not since Jeff Paterson dared to ask him a simple question have we seen the glare of disapproval from Hronek like that.
But even with Fil in the box, that just meant it was Kevin time, as Anze Kopitar found out:
Kevin doesn’t even bobble the puck or make it seem like there’s a chance at a rebound. I wish my energy bill was as efficient as this guy. It’s still a bit incredible that the Canucks are getting top 5 goaltending out of Kevin. I also wonder why Nashville let Sherwood and Kevin go. I also wonder if Lime will be as popular here as it is in Seattle. I just have so many questions.
And while I ponder those questions, here is another save from Kevin:
This is also a good example of the Canucks protecting the GOTI, as the entire penalty-killing unit collapses on that point shot and takes away the net on the rebound. And in the middle of that pile? Elias Pettersson.
He will turn it around. His game is coming together.
Best hungry hungry hippos
This was no normal November game, as this was a tight game with big hits:
First Vinny lays out the boom boom, then Sherwood finishes his check to hand out a smaller version of the boom boom.
Final tally of the night?
Sherwood led both teams with seven hits.
Sherwood remains the king of the boom boom.
Best he’s not wrong
We’ve talked about it here last game, and Daniel is right. Having Dakota Joshua come back is 100% a champagne problem because you can put him on your fourth line to ease him in, and then you can drop him on that second line with EP and Garland.
Or if the new third-line hotness suddenly dries up, knowing you can fall back on the Garland/Blueger/Dakota line if need be is a pretty damn nice insurance policy.
Basically, with the play of the third line and with Joshua almost back, it gives the Canucks all sorts of interesting forward combinations they can try and use.
As I said, this might be the deepest forward group this team has had in a long time.
Best all the small things
EP40 sneaking pucks out of scrums and taking it to the net is when I know he’s feeling it:
Even him just finding a way to get the puck on net is what causes the puck to bounce out in front for Garland to get a good look at the net. He likes to vulture in these situations, and that’s something Brock Boeser is really good at. Watching a scrum battle and then darting in and trying to snake the puck out while everyone is flat-footed.
Best Quinn-tessential hockey
If Quinn Hughes ever gets hurt, just shut down the season.
The Hart Trophy argument is going to be based on a lot of stats like these. The difference between the Canucks with and without Quinn Hughes on the ice is absolutely ludicrous. As ludicrous a display as Arsenal always trying to walk it into the net.
Best keep those stats coming
After every period there are always a bunch of stats that showcase how nutty Quinn Hughes is.
“There are 47% less passes attempted with Quinn Hughes on the ice, and the level of methane from nervous farts reaches levels that scientists have labelled ‘not dangerous, but a bit worrying.'”
Best get ready for this
Please keep Akil Thomas in your thoughts tonight:
That’s straight up Steph Curry. I’m sorry, but that’s basketball on ice.
I have no idea how he’s doing this, or how any of this is possible, but I am blown away by this. I actually had to take a moment away from my desk after seeing this. I started shaking my head and just asking out loud to nobody in particular, “How? How the hell?”
He’s out here doing crossovers at the point before stepping back and firing in the three ball.
Poor Akil Thomas is just happy to still be alive at this point. He’s relieved his broken ankles will heal one day.
That is without a doubt my favorite goal of the year from the Canucks. Just the sheer audacity of Quinn to basically shrug his shoulders and end it a couple of minutes into the third.
The only thing missing was him making the “go to sleep” gesture.
But damn it, Quinn is too humble for that. Instead he looks like he’s in pain that he had to score at someone’s expense. It physically pains him to beat another team.
Best protecting the GOTI
And yeah, Phonetic Jeremy is right. The Canucks sort of set up shop and let the Kings try and attack them but denied them the GOTI. They gave them the outsides but took away the middle of the ice.
You want to attack with a hard rush? Conor Garland will out-skate you and take that pass attempt in the middle:
You want to try and establish a forecheck? Pig man gonna stop you in your tracks in a board battle, allowing Jake to feed Nils for an offensive counter-attack:
That elite third line the Canucks have? Yeah it shuts down games with the best of them. Here, Danton wins a board battle and gets the puck to Jack Bauer who quickly finds Teddy KGB on the counter-rush:
This was an efficient game from the Canucks, and was very much a business-like approach. It wasn’t sloppy hockey and holding on for dear life, it was a team in complete control of their two goal lead.
Best lucky shot
That being said, the Kings did get a second goal to make things closer than it should have been:
That’s an oddity for Kevin to lose track of the puck here, but I think it was the quick release of Vladislav Gavrikov that caught him a bit, and just the fact it was Gavrikov. Who expects him to be dialing it in from that distance?
But again, even on that shot, that’s from the outside. The Canucks collapsed a bit on that play; I assume the GOTI lifestyle kicked in, and the main thought was defending the slot, but nine times out of 10, Kevin stops that.
Best oh captain my captain
How locked in was Quinn Hughes? He was taking care of his own sh*t when Brandt Clarke took a few too many liberties with his face:
Quinn straight up jumped up and went for the high head lock and I am here for it.
Feisty Quinn is a fun Quinn.
Best finish them!
Who else but Jimothy Timothy to shut this game down?
What was even more amusing than this goal was Tyler Myers trying to score on the empty net afterwards as well, but missing twice. He wanted it so bad, but because chaos, he wasn’t allowed to score. He needs to try and not score, and then he would have scored.
And that was the ball game. Perfect road trip from the Canucks, and a team that looks like it has finally got it dialed in.
Saturday should be a hell of a game.
The biggest Game Eight since 2011.
Let’s.
Effing.
Go.
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