Vancouver Canucks Tie Game Twice, but Leave Boston Without Point

Horvat, Burrows and Granlund scored for the Vancouver Canucks, but the Bruins broke a third period tie with two minutes left to deny them any points.

The Vancouver Canucks goaltender rotation remains a mystery.

After Jacob Markstrom shook off the rust in his first start in several weeks, Willie Desjardins went back to Ryan Miller, who rewarded him with a shutout against Columbus.

With the Canucks playing on back-to-back nights, most expected Markstrom to start this afternoon, with Miller starting against the Buffalo Sabres. Instead, it was Miller leading Vancouver against the Bruins.

So, who plays tomorrow against Buffalo? Will the coach force Miller to watch against his former club, or will he play the 36-year-old on consecutive nights? Neither choice seems appealing, which is why the choice to start Miller against the Boston Bruins is confusing.

In the end, Miller could not follow up his shutout performance with a win against the Bruins.

Final Score:

Recap:

As they have done in all three games so far on this road trip, Vancouver opened the scoring. Bo Horvat netted his 100th career NHL point, and 16th goal of this season:

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/830483151088594944

The lead was short-lived, however. Kevan Miller and Frank Vatrano both scored in the first period to give the Bruins the lead:

Vatrano’s goal came on the power play, after Luca Sbisa threw the puck in front of his own goal. The Bruins jumped on the giveaway to take the lead.

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Boston outshot Vancouver 16-8 in the opening frame. But in the second, the visitors took over the game, firing 15 shots on Anton Khudobin, giving up just three the other way.

Points have been hard to come by for the Bruins when they play their backup goaltender. Tuukka Rask has started 45 games this season, to just eight for Khudobin. Entering this game, the Bruins had only one a single game without Rask in net.

However, despite being under siege in the second, Khudobin held Vancouver at bay. His best save came when he robbed Horvat of a second goal, with a left pad save on the goal line.

He nearly preserved the Bruins’ lead into the third period, but Horvat and his linemates came up with a late-period surge. Alexandre Burrows tied the game with 0.6 seconds left on the clock:

Ties, Damned Ties, and Statistics

Once again, Boston pulled ahead. After another giveaway from a Canucks defenseman — this time Ben Hutton — Colin Miller fired a shot from the point over the shoulder of Ryan Miller. Hutton compounded his mistake on the giveaway by screening his goaltender, who could not find the puck:

Vancouver’s power play has been hot in February, and that continued in this game. The second unit cashed in, and Markus Granlund scored:

Granlund is now tied for second on the Canucks with 14 goals. It’s looking more and more like Jannik Hansen is playing his final season in Vancouver. With the expansion draft upcoming, Vancouver can only protect one of Baertschi, Granlund and Hansen. The two younger players have 27 goals between them, making them the two favorites.

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There’s little doubt that Hansen would be snapped up by the Vegas Golden Knights if he were exposed. So there may not be no alternative but to trade him at the deadline to avoid losing him for nothing.

In the meantime, though, Hansen remains one of the few Canucks left over from the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. Then, as now, his team was unable to win in Boston.

This time, it was David Pastrnak who delivered the killing blow, with just two minutes left in the third period:

Willie Desjardins soon pulled Miller for an extra skater. Though Horvat, Hansen and Burrows had each scored two points, the coach left them on the bench. Brandon Sutter skated alongside Granlund and the Sedins to try to tie the game.

Next: Horvat Scores 100 Points in Boston

Though they came close — Henrik Sedin hit the post in the dying seconds — they could not salvage a point. Boston wins their second straight game since Claude Julien was fired.

The Vancouver Canucks fall to 1-2-0 on this road trip, despite playing one of their better road games this season. No time for regret, though, as they must head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres tomorrow evening.