Vancouver Canucks Defeat NY Islanders: 5 Thoughts
By David Joun
4. Kids settling in nicely
Horvat had his streak snapped at six games. He still looked dangerous, though, and had two hits. McCann stepped in admirably into the Captain’s slot and looked dangerous, too, and recorded one assist. McCann’s performance should be especially noted after Tavares went after him, and not Alex Biega, who had originally hit Tavares hard. Anyhow, we saw McCann’s edge flare once again, like in the Anaheim Ducks game a few weeks ago.
McCann on Tavares: “I was trying to jump up into the play and felt a stick wrapping around my sensitive area. I didn’t think much of it."
— Ben Kuzma 🇺🇦 (@benkuzma) January 18, 2016
Emerson Etem, I thought, was showing promise of being our go-to third line checking winger. He can keep pucks pinned in the offensive zone, and looked very good alongside Alex Burrows. Etem also recorded two hits. Funny how he had 14+ minutes while Dorsett and Prust had just nine minutes of ice time each. Better than Jake Virtanen I guess, who was scratched.
Related: (Video) Reaction as Ben Hutton scores First Career NHL Goal
Save that puck for Ben Hutton! Congrats on goal number one. #NHLFirstshttps://t.co/2Ps1jNzFXb
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2016
But the man of the match goes to none other than Mr. Ben Hutton who recorded his first ever NHL goal, his 11th point on the season. At least the NHL recognized him for it. Wonder if the Sedins will ever get a milestone goal tweeted out by the NHL. We shall see. Hutton is currently 5th in NHL rookie scoring by a defenceman with 1 goal and 10 assists in 39 games. He was credited with two takeaways on the game.
Don’t stop smilin’ Ben. You will need it next year, when the whole of Vancouver starts frowning at you for messing up a break-out pass. Cherish the rookie season.
Next: 5. Vrbata still going strong