The Vancouver Canucks did not even need to play a game for them to be the biggest winners coming out of Thursday and Friday night.
After a set of back-to-back games against the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames – splitting their results with a 4-2 loss to the Canadiens and a 4-3 win over the Flames – the Canucks had two days of rest before another set of back-to-backs against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Utah Hockey Club.
During their off days, all three of the teams they are competing against (Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and Utah Hockey Club) played games and picked up a combined zero points.
On Thursday, the Blues faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jordan Binnington allowed the first shot off the stick of Ryan Graves to sneak past him. That was Graves’s first goal since January 20 of the 2023-2024 season. Despite a third period push with goals by Dylan Holloway and Alexey Toropchenko, the Blues would drop this contest 5-3.
On Friday, both the Flames and Hockey Club played.
The Flames faced off against the storming Colorado Avalanche. Colorado had won six of their previous seven games coming into this matchup. The Avalanche got out to an early lead off the stick of newly acquired defenceman Ryan Lindgren. The Flames weren’t able to answer offensively until the third period and lost the game 4-2.
The Canucks got some help from their developing rival, the Seattle Kraken, on Friday against the Hockey Club. Eeli Tolvanen wasted no time giving the Kraken the lead, scoring 51 seconds into the game. Utah fought back and had the lead for most of the second period before Brandon Montour evened the game. Seattle added a pair of goals in the third to defeat the Hockey Club 4-2.
After these results, here are the updated Western Conference Wild Card standings as of Saturday, March 15:
The Canucks remain tied with the Flames in points, but with the loss to the Avalanche, they dropped their game-in-hand. Calgary still has the tie-breaker with one more regulation win (24) than Vancouver (23). However, the Canucks have the edge on the Flames in the second tie-breaker in regulation and overtime wins with 28 to their 27.
The Blues and Hockey Club remain two points back of the Canucks, having both played one more game.
On Saturday night, the Canucks take on the 31st-ranked Chicago Blackhawks and have the opportunity to regain the final playoff spot over the Flames and further the gap between the Blues and the Hockey Club. And on Sunday, the Canucks can further their lead with another all-important four-point game against the Hockey Club.
