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The Stanchies: The Canucks technically played a game of hockey in 2-1 loss to Golden Knights
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Apr 8, 2026, 02:36 EDTUpdated: Apr 8, 2026, 03:00 EDT
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If you thought a game which featured only 11 shots total from the Vancouver Canucks was a bit on the tedious side, well, do I have news for you: you’re absolutely correct, good call.
It wasn’t a night to remember for the Canucks, as they fell 2-1 to the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, failing to even play the role of playoff spoiler. While the game was a low-scoring affair, there was never a moment when you felt that Vancouver might pull this one off. Of course, winning means nothing at this point, but there is still something enjoyable about seeing a non-playoff team make the elite teams sweat. Never underestimate the joy a home crowd can have at another team’s lack of success.
Alas, the Canucks went gently into that night, neither raging nor apparently fussed about any sort of dying of light. Sure, they showed up and had a good cardio session, but aside from the newly minted Teddy Blueger and Max Sasson dynamic duo storyline that has appeared as of late, this game felt remarkably like the players are hoping this season ends as quickly as the fans do.
Unfortunately, the fans are the ones in the position of having paid to watch this, while the players are in the enviable position of generating an incredible amount of money to manage eleven whole shots in an NHL game.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game and all that, but watching the Canucks, hat in hand, tell season-ticket holders that prices need to go up (for the exciting future ahead, I assume), has never felt more tone deaf. If ever there was a “the beatings will continue until the morale increases” moment from the owner, it would be right now.
Think about it, the Canucks have one last home game remaining, which means at best, AT BEST, they can finish the season with nine wins on home ice. Yet somehow ticket prices have gone up. Is there a losing tax? Is this a thing now? Has Crazy P demanded new money for a golden drum so he can scream at you even louder while the team is getting dummied 6-0?
Again, if anyone ever says the fans or media are too harsh on this ownership/management, I would point to this season as proof that people aren’t nearly hard enough.
Nothing will change, mind you. That would require self-reflection from ownership, a moment to pause and consider their role in everything surrounding the team, something that doesn’t appear to be a strength of theirs.
No, no, as Principal Skinner said, it is the children fans who are wrong, so we shall continue on this journey of tedious hockey and just sort of pray luck overrides mistakes at one point so we can enjoy another second-round playoff exit that the team tries to squeeze the juice until the end of time.
I am being told I am being a bit pessimistic about all of this, so we shall instead ramp up the positivity for this game, describing in great detail how a team on pace for just four shots on the night managed to dig deep, summon their courage, and end the night with double digits.
Let’s do this.
Best did you say “shots” or “nots”?
The first period from this game is not one I would recommend to be saved in a time capsule for future generations to know what hockey was like back in 2026. If that were to ever happen, I could only imagine the confused and frightened looks on their faces as old people tried to convince them that yes, people paid to watch this. It would most likely lead to a more general conversation about bored and ignored kinks that I just don’t think they would be ready for.
Regardless, we have a job to do here at CanucksArmy, so let’s do our best to discuss the opening frame in a positive light.
The first real action of the game occurred when Nikita Tolopilo attempted a tried and true road hockey method of simply dropping your goalie stick to try and make a save:
You may wonder why you would drop a piece of your goalie gear to make a save, and it’s because then you get to dryly chuckle to yourself, “Heh, didn’t even need my stick for that one,” just loudly enough for Nic Dowd to hear. It’s important to make sure you deliver it dryly and almost as if you were truly just talking to yourself, because that will ensure it does the maximum damage to Dowd’s psyche.
You see, if you shouted at Dowd, “Dude, I didn’t even need my stick, you suuuuuck” before making a gratuitous gesture to your genitals, that allows Dowd to brush it off as mere playground trash talk. He would respond with something about “Check the standings, buds,” and then Nikita could respond with “Jim will always be known as the better Dowd,” and it would quickly end there.
By muttering to yourself, “wow, I didn’t even need my stick” with equal parts amazement and equal parts amusement, it doesn’t attack Nic directly. By hearing it in passing, it will be as if Nic Dowd stumbled upon a conversation he wasn’t meant to know about, meaning the authenticity of the statement will land harder.
Nic will wonder to himself, “yeah, why didn’t he need his stick to stop me?” before stewing about it on the bench all game long, wondering if maybe the game has passed him by.
With that being said, let’s check in on Brock Boeser randomly taking out former Canuck Ben Hutton:
I am truly enjoying Brock Boeser’s transformation into a grizzled vet, a man who has become a master of board play.
Amazing tip passes off of outlet passes around the boards? Brock is your guy.
Casually skating through the area and smashing Ben Hutton into the glass? Boeser is your guy.
Need help destroying a ring that rules them all? I assume Brock can get it done.
Now, the Canucks almost got their first shot on net when who else but Drew O’Connor attempted to generate an end-to-end rush:
We’re friends, right? I think we can all agree this might not have been the greatest season of hockey you’ve watched in your life.
That being said, I will hand out kudos to the consistency of DOC to just bust his ass every single night, even when it’s clear Vancouver is not going to win.
Down 8-1, Drew is going to be the guy trying to skate the puck out of his own zone to try and beat five guys and get a shot on net. It’s just a nice reprieve from some of the veterans, where it felt like they would check out on the night if their lemon-scented warm towels weren’t to their liking at the pre-game dinner.
As for Vegas, they are no longer the fearsome foe they once were when an entire league showed their intelligence by gifting them an ungodly amount of good players at the expansion draft, but they can still defeat you by wearing you down. Mark Stone, in particular, is a player who can skate around three miles per hour if the wind is at his back, but is also someone who requires a team of Avengers to try and pry the puck off of him.
So it was no shock when Stone was out there in the crease, digging away for the puck until Fil Hronek politely asked him to leave:
Rasmus Andersson then sent in a shot on net that Brandon Saad deflected just wide of Tolopilo:
For as tedious as Vancouver played on this night, I will say Vegas wasn’t too far behind in terms of wondering why they hate fans who enjoy hockey. Maybe it’s the new coach, John Tortorella, putting his love of the grind into the team, or maybe it’s a team playing so cautiously, trying to pick up points to secure a playoff spot, that it created this offbeat affair.
Best breakthrough
Vittorio Mancini finally broke the (shot) shutout when he landed a wrist shot from the point on net, but only after first hitting the post:
This was then quickly followed up by Linus Karlsson throwing a wrister on net a minute later, bringing the grand total to two shots through one period.
I refuse to show the highlight of the second shot because even I have my limits on how I make my GIF money.
Best second period blues
The second period is when Vancouver usually logs out of chat without saying goodbye, and early on, it was following the same script.
As Mike points out, Vittorio Mancini has such a tantalizing tool set that you can see why NHL teams want to roll the dice on him. Good size and good speed can go a long way with goodwill in the NHL, but you do eventually have to put it together. And it’s not like Mancini is alone in that regard on Vancouver, as aside from Fil the Pill, nobody has looked good on the back end. Even Marcus Pettersson, a mainstay veteran defender in this league, has looked like the product of a movie company trying to cash in on the surprising success of Freakier Friday with how he’s played in his own end this season.
And early in the second, Mancini gets burned by a high spiral pass from Ivan Barbashev, playing high and tight before he realizes the threat. The end result? Colton Sissons skates right around him, forcing Tolopilo to have to make a clutch save:
I will say that one of the best things Hronek does is soft interference, in which you just sort of, accidentally, on purpose, maybe you hold a guy up for a second or two. That’s the sort of play Mancini needs to make here, as it doesn’t tend to get called for interference. Will it on occasion? Sure, it happened at the end of the game to Rasmus Andersson. But soft picking is a way of life right now in the NHL, so you need to learn your subtle art of “hahah whoops, eat sh!t buddy, sorry about that” interference.
Vegas would continue to threaten the Canucks with scoring a goal, as next, Mark Stone would set up Mitch Marner for a shot between the two faceoff dots:
Sissons would then show his face once more, this time pinging the post behind Tolopilo just seconds after leaving the penalty box:
Despite the loss, this was one of the better outings from Tolopilo this year. On a night in which his team didn’t deserve to be in such a close contest, Nikita was the only reason why the Canucks had a chance at a win.
Best question
We’re back at the “Why is he broken” stage of Elias Pettersson, as the lack of shots and goals begins to pile up. Now at 10 games without lighting the lamp, Elias remains the biggest question mark in terms of “is he going to be a part of the solution?” for this team.
And on this night, we just saw more of the same, where it just looks like a guy who can do everything on the ice aside from make aggressive moves towards the net. You want nice dangles? Heck yeah, he’s got you covered. You want him to then drive the puck hard to the net to follow that up? Computer says no:
It’s not egregious stuff either, like you can kind of get behind him trying to find a dude trailing into the zone with speed there. But you also just want to see him take that puck and drive to the net, even if it just ends up with him flinging a backhand on net for a rebound. It’s like he’s forgotten how to shield the puck from people and is perpetually afraid that people will connect the dots and figure out he’s a crime fighter in his off time.
But again, the guy can make really good plays, that’s the maddening part. As long as it doesn’t involve the act of shooting and/or scoring, this guy can produce for you.
You want him to lunge and keep a clearing attempt from exiting the zone on the power play? No problem:
But shooting, it just seems like a distant memory from when he entered the league, and laser-beamed Mike Smith to death.
We got to see a flash of that player when he one-timed a pass on the power play, but alas, it went wide:
It was yet another night of Bart getting the dud, sadly.
Best that’s my boy
One of the rare highlights of the season for me has been watching Max Sasson carve out an NHL job with the Canucks. Dennis Quaid has taught me the joys of watching an older rookie make it in the bigs, so I will not squander this.
Now, it’s just an NHL fact of life that the majority of these players will have a short career window, so you just sort of have to enjoy it while it lasts. And seeing Sasson use his speed and shot to earn a shot next year is an easy story to get behind. The fact that Teddy Blueger and Sasson have been, oddly, two of the best Canucks players down the stretch has just been an added bonus. If they don’t get their own TV show on Disney+ in the offseason, I will be severely disappointed.
And speaking of older rookies, Linus Karlsson made a terrific play on the puck near the boards to poke it free to Teddy Blueger, who would find Max Sasson on the wing:
That’s a shot that Hart should have stopped, but also extremely well placed by Sasson. Max just sort of goes full Fat Joe and leans back and then shoots back against the grain, and it worked.
Best and it’s gone
Vegas would tie the game up rather quickly, however, with Colton Sissons once again getting involved when he initiated a board battle that led to Vegas cycling the puck until Brayden McNabb snapped home a wrist shot just behind the faceoff circle:
The play sort of breaks down when Curtis Douglas jumps up to double-team Sissons, which gives enough time and space for Saad to open himself up for the outlet pass, which just sort of leads to Vancouver chasing the puck around the zone.
Again, not an egregious error, as we have seen far worse breakdowns from the Canucks this season. At least they were reasonably in the general area of the puck on this goal, which feels like a nice improvement. And McNabb’s shot was something I am sure Tolopilo wants back as well, it’s not like the Canucks gave up a high danger scoring chance on the play, it was a pretty innocent looking play if we’re being honest.
But the Canucks chasing the play has been a constant theme this season, and if you end up doing it more often than not, you usually end up paying for it.
Best last second push
Believe it or not, the Canucks were almost heading into the third period with only five shots, were it not for an act of heroism from Elias Pettersson and Drew O’Connor that resulted in not only two shots on net, but also a “how in the **** did that not go in??” moment for EP40:
As with most things in life, this play started with Drew O’Connor rushing the puck into the offensive zone, but don’t sleep on that cruise missile pass from Fil Hronek to set this in motion.
And as with most things in life, Drew didn’t score on his shot, but god damn it, you appreciate his moxie on the play regardless.
And as with most things in life, Elias Pettersson didn’t score, and you’re not sure why this happened or how we got here.
I also feel like if you don’t score on that chance, you’re not winning the game. Clearly, the Hockey Gods have different plans for you at this point.
Best losing his grip
Pavel Dorofeyev tested Tolopilo with a shot right in the crease near the start of the third period after Ivan Barbashev found him all alone with the Canucks goalie and nary an escort in sight:
Could this game have been 6-1 without Tolopilo in net? Sources say yes. I’d give that a solid (E4) on the rumour rankings.
Best did Ser Douglas the Tall score?
Just keep our big boy in the lineup to see if he can score his first NHL career goal, that’s all I ask. We have nothing left to live watch for:
Not his greatest chance, but damn it, in a game with only 11 shots, this counts as a top-three play of the night.
Best Cole train
Cole Smith would score the final goal of the night with under eight minutes left in the third, after Liam Öhgren was stripped of the puck trying to leave his zone:
There is something so callously cruel about the way Cole robbed Liam just mere feet from his zone. Cruel Cole didn’t have a care in the world; however, when he played a little game of give-and-go with Nic Dowd before firing the puck through Tolopilo.
It was the second goal of the night where you found yourself thinking Nikita probably should have had that, but in an evening in which he played lights out aside from that, it’s hard to get too riled up over it.
Besides, what does it matter when people like Cruel Cole are allowed to steal pucks from innocent men just trying to go about their business?
Best question of the day
Well, before we begin, here was the first shot of the third period, with exactly six minutes left in the game, in the form of a one-timer from Aatu Raty:
A fine offering if ever there was one, and I can confirm that is indeed a shot on net.
The Canucks tried to generate more, of course, but you either had EP40 being shut down after dangling his way into the offensive zone:
Or you had Fil Hronek coming in with speed only to go full Mason Raymond and miss high and wide:
Were it not for a late penalty from the Knights, I do truly believe this game would have ended at nine shots on the night for Vancouver.
Best finish it off
Staring single digits in the face, the Canucks didn’t blink, however, as that late power play led to a Hronek power play shot.
And then Jake DeBrusk smashing a rebound on net off of another Hronek shot attempt:
The Jake chance was what I assume the long high danger chance of the period for Vancouver, as they finished with just four on the night. Vegas had 14 high-danger chances when all was said and done, which seems to go hand in hand with, you know, generating a lot more shots on net.
And thus ended what was one of the most tedious games of the season. Congratulations, you did it. You’re almost at the finish line.
Yay.
Best jersey Botch
Fun fact: Tom Sestito scored 42 goals to lead his team in the OHL in 2006-07. Just 30 goals behind league leader John Tavares, but tied with Steven Stamkos.
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