Vancouver Canucks’ Bacon Saved by Miller, Granlund
By Jeff Godley
The Vancouver Canucks’ goaltender pulled off a bonafide miracle, carrying his team to victory despite being outshot 46-13.
The Vancouver Canucks proved tonight that it’s not how you play the game — it’s whether you win.
By the games end the shot clock read 46-13 for the Calgary Flames. It didn’t matter one bit. Despite being outplayed handily, the Canucks walked away victorious.
The Flames got on the board first, and did so on their first shot. Michael Frolik took a pass in the slot from Mikael Backlund, and quickly put it home.
Michael Chaput answered with his first goal as a Vancouver Canuck:
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/817576050053943297
Soon after that, Loui Eriksson pulled the Canucks ahead with his ninth of the season, a floater that fooled goaltender Brian Elliott:
The Flames outshot the Canucks 12-6 in the opening frame.
More from The Canuck Way
- Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
- What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
- Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
- Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
- 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg
And yet, by shot totals, that was Vancouver’s best period. The Flames went on to outshoot them 12-4 in the second period, and then a staggering 23-3 in the third.
But tonight was Miller time.
Ryan Miller stopped 34 of those 35 shots in the final two periods. He has been in goal for five of the six games on the Canucks’ current winning streak.
Remember when we all laughed at Jim Benning for declaring Miller their number one goaltender before the season?
How about before that, when we all roasted the general manager for trading talented prospect Hunter Shinkaruk for the lower-risk, lower-reward Markus Granlund?
Well, Granlund score twice tonight, and added an assist on Eriksson’s goal.
The Canucks didn’t look like a team that had won five straight games tonight. Vancouver was outworked, outplayed, outshot. Somehow, it didn’t matter, and they made it six in a row.
Final Score:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Canucks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Flames | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Canucks Player(s) of the Game:
The Hero:
30. A performance for the ages. There is no logical reason why the Canucks should have won this game. Miller’s heroic 44-save effort stole a sixth straight victory from the jaws of certain defeat.. G. Vancouver Canucks. RYAN MILLER
Honorable Mention:
60. After going pointless in his last six games, the Finnish winger exploded for two goals and an assist against the team that traded him away. So far, it looks like the Canucks won the Hunter Shinkaruk trade, hands down.. C. Vancouver Canucks. MARKUS GRANLUND
These two teams will jump on a plane and fly to Calgary for an encore performance tomorrow night.
Next: Tryamkin an Important Player
The Vancouver Canucks will hope for a better effort, but they’d settle for the same result.