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The Stanchies: Conor Garland feeds Stars first loss of the season
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Photo credit: © Chris Jones-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Oct 17, 2025, 01:28 EDTUpdated: Oct 17, 2025, 01:48 EDT
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They had us in the first half, I’m not gonna lie.
Through one period, the Dallas Stars led your Vancouver Canucks to the tune of 2-0. Which isn’t a terrible score. We’ve certainly seen worse in our times here. 2-0 is but a mere flesh wound around these parts, no worse than having a spirited debate on the bus about why they didn’t extend the Skytrain all the way to UBC.
But it was the way the game was playing out that was the issue. It felt a lot like the dark parts of last season, to be honest. A team that seemingly took pride in finding various ways to not score any goals, and a team that defensively looked about as solid as the logic behind Grandpa telling you rum in your coffee doesn’t count as day drinking.
Now, I will admit, I have given myself a 20-game minimum before I make any grand sweeping statements about this team. But I won’t lie, I was tempted to write an article about Adam Foote not being ready and being in over his head, or Elias Pettersson needing to take up a different sport, or ‘Quinn Hughes: Why does he hate Vancouver so much?’ article after the first period.
Luckily, self-restraint won the day, and after a quick swig of coffee, I settled myself down and watched what the Canucks do so often when they’re in trouble: Turn to Conor Garland.
Yes, Thatcher Demko was once again that top-level talent we have come to expect from him. He has played so well that I haven’t once had to fully figure out a word that rhymes with popliteus (syphilis was the closest I got).
Quinn Hughes played 25+ of sublime hockey, punctuating the game with the cleanest empty net goal you will ever see, so he deserves plenty of accolades.
But it was ol’ reliable Corolla Garland that stood atop the mountain of impressive performances on the night, helping the Canucks to a 5-3 victory over the Stars.
Now, he only had a goal and an assist against Dallas, but he was instrumental in this victory. Whether it was his endless motor that helped seal the game by helping to draw a penalty, or the multiple offensive chances he generated, or the fact Elias Pettersson had the best game of his season playing with Garland, or the fact the power play looked as fast and efficient as we’ve seen it in years, you have several valid options as to why he was the player of the game.
Could we be cynical and wonder if Elias Pettersson NEEDS Garland to play at a top level? NO! We will not do that now, good sirs and madams; we will save that for after a dreary loss.
Nay, instead, we shall celebrate a game that was actually entertaining to watch! A game in which more than two goals were scored! A game in which somehow Evander Kane played like absolute dog water in the first period, only to start the turnaround with a Josh Allen of a lob pass that led to the team’s first goal of the night!
After last year, we deserve to enjoy random nights like this.
Let’s dive into this and make some gif money.
Best what time was the game again?
Thatcher Demko was aware that the Dallas Stars are in a different time zone than Vancouver, but I’m not quite sure his teammates did.
As mentioned earlier, the Canucks in the first period were bad. Like, real bad. The kind of bad where, if it were at a friend’s house and it used the bathroom, it would awkwardly stand outside the door after using it just to give people a heads-up about what they’re getting into. It would mumble an apology and talk about how “it must have been that breakfast sushi, brother” before going silent and praying for a timely death.
But as we’ve talked about before, when Thatcher Demko is locked in, he just looks bored in net. Minimal movement and energy is used in these games, to the point that Carl Andre would be proud to sculpt it.
So even when Adam “Bert and” Erne gets a shot in the slot and Justin Hryckowian jumps all over the rebound, Demko looks nonplussed:
Fun fact, ‘nonplussed’ in fact means perplexed, but because we’ve incorrectly used it to mean unimpressed for so long, we kind of just go with that definition.
Okay, so maybe not a fun fact, but it’s still a fact, damn it.
Oh, don’t you dare act nonplussed with me.
Best tip and ring
Elias Pettersson, the man who sold the world, opened the scoring in this game for the Dallas Stars:
That’s just bad luck right there, but when you have people calling you “11.6” out of spite, I can tell you they aren’t going to react to this goal lightly. Now, I don’t know what it’s like to be mocked for making too much money, as someone screaming “Hey minimum wage, check the return bin and let me know if that copy of Waiting came back in yet.” hits differently. But I imagine someone sneering “11.6” doesn’t feel great, even if they assure you that you can use all your money to wipe away your tears.
And to be fair, if this game had ended in abject failure and the Stars won 3-0 or whatever, then yes, this would probably be a big talking point. I would listen politely to your thesis on Elias Pettersson and bbno$ swapping bodies in a Freaky Friday type situation a couple of years ago and give it some credence.
But as it stands now, this is but a mere footnote in a game that was full of much more interesting things to talk about.
Best kind of gross
If there is one thing I know about Rick Tocchet, it’s that he hated himself a fly by. So while he may have quit on Vancouver moved to Philly, I would imagine he would be screaming about the defence Filip Chytil put on display here:
Chytil sort of skates by Thomas Hartley and then releases him, which gives him time and space when he gets the puck back on the point. Brock Boeser then reacts to this by sliding up to try and block Hartley’s shot, which then frees up Jason Robertson down low. They went from man-to-man coverage to Jason Robertson open all alone in front of Thatcher Demko in under five seconds.
And that’s kind of how the first period felt, like the Canucks were chasing the game. And when you chase the game, you blow coverage, and when you blow coverage, all of a sudden sports writers are writing jerky things about your lack of defensive hockey, and now everyone is mad.
In the end, Thatcher Demko made a save that looked ridiculously easy, utilizing the resigned energy of a drive-through worker at Wendy’s taking a drunk order at 2 am, but the entire period just felt like the Canucks couldn’t figure their sh!t out.
Best the kids are our future
Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson and Arshdeep Bains were indeed their best line in the first period, both from the eye test and the underlying numbers. And while their best offensive chance was Max Sasson whacking at a Chaos grenade, it was the start of tilting the ice ever so gently in Vancouver’s direction:
Again, not much there, I get it. If that was your lone shot in your beer league game you’d probably have a buddy tell you that you were really close to scoring, even though you both know that’s not true.
The point is, it did start a push back of sorts from Vancouver.
Was it an impressive push back? Of course not. But at least Elias Pettersson got a shot on net?
Nothing wrong with doming the keeper to let them know. Casey DeSmith is the enemy now and he needs to understand that.
The best chance for the Canucks was probably Jake DeBrusk finally discovering there’s a turbo button in the game, as he generated a breakaway out of pure spite and willpower, with Brock Boeser almost slamming in the rebound:
And then you had Marcus Pettersson dropping the ultimate veteran move of recognizing “oh sh!t, I am not that guy, pal” when he saw a 50/50 loose puck.
What does he do instead of pinching up for the puck? He backs off and plays solid defence on Tyler Seguin, shutting him down easily:
We saw OEL attempt this during his time with Vancouver, but he tended to back up on 90/10 pucks as well, so it just made for sort of a weird vibe? Like you want to support him for realizing he doesn’t have the speed, but when he’s already skating back to his own end when his team has the puck, that mirrors my beer league strategies a little too much for comfort.
But overall? The Canucks had stopped the bleeding to an extent. Well, at least they stopped the bleeding anytime Evander Kane wasn’t on the ice.
The problem is, they still weren’t scoring any goals, which leads right into…
Best strategic limitations
With the Canucks on the penalty kill, Mikko Rantanen scored on the rush quicker than he was taken off of Amazon FaceOff:
This is probably the worst goal Thatcher Demko has let in on the season, and I don’t mean that in a “Oh my god, that reminded me of Dan Cloutier, that’s the worst goal he’s ever let in” kind of way, I mean it in the that’s the worst goal he’s let in, which is pretty damn good because he didn’t do anything too terrible there. Perfect shot from Mikko, plus Demko being a bit too deep in his crease, meant that the Dallas Stars were up 2-0. Certainly not Demko’s fault, as the score could have been far worse had he not been playing so well.
A good summary of how this first period went is this clip of Chytil ending the period:
Turns over the puck with a bad pass, then proceeds to get beaten cleanly at the blue line, all leading to one final shot for the Stars.
It was an ugly period and you can see why people were perhaps nervous about the outcome of this game fresh off the heels of the previous two losses.
Best shot and chaser
That seems bad. Is it bad? It feels bad.
Best it was actually bad
Best slow ships sink lips or something
The Canucks, perhaps inspired by a rousing speech from a fellow teammate during the intermission, or perhaps they just had some delicious orange slices, came out looking like a much better team for the rest of the game.
They didn’t make it easy, mind you, as “hypothetical goals” were scored just as often as the real ones.
Your first fake goal was when Elias Pettersson made an absolutely sublime between-the-legs pass to Conor Garland, who took a shot that was about a centimetre away from EP40 banging it over the goal line:
Now, Elias Pettersson had a really good game, he did. He, in fact, was second amongst forwards in ice time, coming in just a handful of seconds behind Garland at 20:33.
And that pass? Henrik Sedin would give that chef’s kiss emoji. In another world, Elias Pettersson probably ends this night with three points.
But I still want to see him shoot more. We still need that killer instinct from him. That shot that made Mike Smith flail to the ground like he’d been shot, scared of how someone so young could have so much power.
EP40 ended up only registering the one shot on the night, and it’s just something I think the team needs to see more of from him.
Best forget defense, let’s just offense
Evander Kane, at times, felt like he was just there at the construction site because Tony Soprano was worried the feds were looking into the union jobs a little too closely. He just didn’t seem engaged, is what I’m saying.
To his credit, he had a much stronger finish to the game compared to the start. He drew several penalties, he stopped bleeding offensive chances against, and he also dropped this beauty of a lob pass everyone in beer league has attempted but never pulled off:
He got a bit of a lucky bounce, but sometimes you have to be lucky to be good. The important thing is Chytil took control of that puck and absolutely cleaned DeSmith out of all of his money, giving a little dingle dangle, what’s your angle to the former Canucks netminder.
This goal was important because it was one of the five goals the Canucks used to defeat the Dallas Stars.
The more you know.
Best puck movement
The Canucks power play has not been great over the last year? If it were a friend, it would be lower on my list of people I would invite over to a BBQ, is all I am saying. I’d probably run through the rolodex of third cousins I haven’t seen in eight years before I turned to the Canucks power play.
But on this night? It looked good. Slick puck movement leading to dangerous shots, ending with a ton of zone time and a tired opponent stuck on the ice? That’s what leads to you going 2/3 with the extra man on the night.
And while Garland certainly looked fantastic on the power play, it was the entire unit that kind of came together to give themselves a chance on the power play.
Initially, it only led to missed nets:
Again, I wish EP40 would shoot more, but he’s fully in Hank mode, I guess. But it did lead to Brock Boeser almost tipping a puck in behind DeSmith, and DeBrusk followed that up, just missing a shot wide from the slot.
They were getting chances, though, they were looking more dangerous than an emotional collapse after seeing Sandy, that girl you spent the summer with at the beach, almost ruin your cool factor in front of your friends by showing that you actually have feelings.
All of which led to Brock Boeser tipping in a Quinn Hughes shot to tie the game up for Vancouver:
Quinn Hughes, as he does so well, skates himself into an open shooting lane, which lets him throw the puck on net for Boeser to tip pass DeSmith.
This goal was also important because it was one of the five goals the Canucks used to outpace the Stars.
Best Sasson Season
I very much understood Braeden Cootes getting the start on the team to begin the season, as I am a fan of meritocracy. I got it, I understood it, I felt it in my thalamus.
But I also felt that it was only a matter of time before Max Sasson was back with the team, as I truly think he’s NHL-ready. I don’t mean to say he’s a stud or that he’s going to dominate the league, but I do think he can be a valuable bottom-six player for the Canucks over the next several seasons.
And the main reason for that? That smile, that damn smile.
And speed, sorry yes, his speed:
Max breaks up the ice the second he sees Tyler Myers heading to retrieve it with all that time and space on his hands. And if there is one thing you don’t have to tell the Chaos Giraffe twice, it’s “Hey, why not try this random bank pass?”
A few seconds later, and The Assasson is racing in all alone on DeSmith, giving him the ol’ fackle fickle, how’s my pickle.
3-2 good guys.
Best technically not goals but spiritually they were
So the game is 3-2, and it could very easily slip away from Vancouver —we all know that. Conor Garland knows that too, which is why he decides to single-handedly score a goal to give his team the two-goal cushion.
At first, he tries a little bit of Hobbit trickery by banking the puck in off the back of DeSmith:
DeSmith feels something funny happening in his pants; he panics and clutches at his bottom, and he manages to keep the puck out of his net.
Garland then says, “Fine, I won’t back it in off of you, I’ll just do the Alex Burrows wraparound and tuck it in the open net.”:
Unfortunately, he forgot the part where Burrows leapt forward to give himself enough of an angle to push the puck over the goal line, and instead the puck goes post to post and refuses to enter the net.
So now Garland has had enough of this garbage, no more trickery, no more magic; instead, he’s going to make the pick six and take the ball all the way into the house himself:
That is about as nice a goal as you will see this season. Dude looks like a preseason Daniel Sprong out there.
First off, kudos to Elias Pettersson for his pursuit of the puck. That hurries Colin Blackwell into making the hurried pass that Garland intercepts. I know this veers a little close to “little things” praise, but EP40 will be fine if he continues to play like this and/or gets to keep playing with Garland.
Secondly, kudos to Conor Garland for taking Alex Petrovic for a walk and leaving him with an existential crisis about life choices that led him to this moment. Petrovic is 100% going to be the last guy out of the showers, as he’s going to be in there for a long time thinking about that goal.
Thirdly, kudos to Evander Kane for shoving a despondent Petrovic out of the way to get to the goal celebration. Every little bit of self-esteem you can destroy in an opponent is a step closer to victory.
Best about-face
Best Band of shot blocking Brothers
With the Canucks up a couple of goals, they settled into defending said lead through timely Demko saves and Hronek shot blocks:
As well as giggling while Jason Robertson hit the crossbar:
You might notice a lack of scoreboard in the clips and that’s because yes, as you’ve always feared, Sportsnet hates you. And will charge you extra for said hatred.
Despite such negative energy, the Canucks were doing a decent job of defending the lead.
Best keep on pucking
The Canucks didn’t score on this power play, but again, it’s worth noting the puck movement and shot selection:
It wasn’t stagnant; there was good shot selection, there was solid east/west puck movement, and there was no coach asking after the game why nobody was doing what he asked. It was just a really solid night of hockey.
And it wasn’t just the power play; the Canucks were strong on the puck after the first period. They forced the Dallas Stars into turnovers, they won puck battles, all of which led to more moments where Quinn Hughes could try and score on slick backhanders:
Best rule of thumb
If you’re winning a hockey game, it’s always a good idea to be annoying. Not annoying enough to get a penalty, but be annoying enough like Aatu Räty to get in Rantanen’s way for no good reason:
That’s some Jarkko Ruutu level of trolling right there, and I am here for it.
Best you have my sword
With the Canucks trying to close out the game, who was out there blocking shots and tipping pucks over the net?
Elias Pettersson and Tyler Myers:
That’s a fantastic block from EP40, so yeah, put that up there with the “little things” and we will talk about it later. Preferably after a loss, so we can all argue about it.
But for now, let’s just bask in the shot block and give credit to Tyler Myers for keeping his inner Chaos Giraffe at bay while closing out this game.
Best he in fact did not
Well, almost.
Tyler Myers got a penalty for interference on Rantanen on this play:
And while I don’t doubt that the Stars superstar sold that for all he was worth, it was also a very highly visible amount of soft interference from Tyler Myers, something he does an incredible amount of during games. So you kind of live by the interference die by the interference with the Chaos Giraffe, all of which led to a Wyatt Johnston goal on the ensuing power play:
It’s not often you get two power play goals off the rush, but that’s where we found ourselves on this one. It’s a nice play from Seguin and Johnston, and if there were any criticism to hand out, I would say Hronek probably went all in on that body check a little too much, as it took him out of the play afterwards. If I think Noah Juulsen would be proudly watching you throw a hit, that’s when I’m going to wonder if you chased a hit a little too much.
Best always be Conor
So with the game on the line and the home team riding that sweet, sweet momentum, how do you close out a game?
You put out Corolla Garland, ol’ reliable:
Garland beats two Dallas Stars players to that puck and feeds Evander Kane in front, who gets taken down and draws a penalty. This happens because Garland’s motor just doesn’t quit, because Toyota makes a good product.
This play basically ended the game, as the Dallas Stars momentum was now gone. Fans were booing, players were sad, all of which led to the greatest empty net goal of the season:
This is amazing for a couple of reasons?
The first is that it’s just an amazing shot. That’s Steph Curry dropping back and draining a half-court three right there. Just lines it up and hits it right in the centre of the net, and skates off like he has to go finish his homework. No excitement, just resignation of the next task at hand.
The second is that Casey DeSmith, a man who played with Quinn Hughes during his Norris-winning campaign, sees that Quinn has the puck and is like, “yeah, now’s the time to go to the bench for the extra man.”
Don’t get me wrong, it makes for an amazing visual. DeSmith just sort of casually skates off in the background while Hughes lines up his shot. But it does make me question his decision-making on the night?
Of all the players you might cheat out of your net when your team doesn’t have possession of the puck, Quinn Hughes is the last player to try that on.
And that was the ball game. Canucks win and are 2-2 on the season, which feels calm and normal and not the end of the world like a 1-3 record would. I don’t make the rules; I just follow them, my friends.
Next game is Friday against Chicago, so we shall see which team shows up for that one, I guess?
Best tone setting
Not enough friends go to games as a line, and it shows.
Best eyes emoji
Peter Baugh
Peter Baugh
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J.T. Miller on feeling pressure during the top-6 scoring rut: “That’s the easy thing to do, and if you’re mentally weak you’re going to go off the rails. … We’re gonna be mentally tough in here and keep pounding pucks at the net and outplaying the team we’re playing against.”

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