Canucks: 3 takeaways from 5-4 win vs. Golden Knights
The Vancouver Canucks managed to come away with two points in a thrilling battle against the Vegas Golden Knights. Here’s what we learned.
Just one week ago, the Vegas Golden Knights were a point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference standings, barely hanging onto the second wild card spot.
Fast forward seven days, and the Golden Knights were now seven points up on the Canucks heading into Thursday night’s tilt — sitting second in the Pacific Division while Vancouver was stuck on the outside looking in.
Coming off of a three-game losing skid, and an overwhelming amount of criticism from fans and media alike, Vancouver knew that moral victories were simply not going to be enough. They needed to find a way to grab two points, by any means necessary.
And that wouldn’t come easy against a Vegas team that was 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, and riding a three-game winning streak — which included a 6-3 walloping of the Canucks this past Sunday. It was a game that encapsulated the Vancouver”s recent nagging defensive struggles, as they were outshot 46-29 and thoroughly dominated overall.
Thursday night’s game, however, was slightly dissimilar. It was full of physical play, controversial reffing, and phenomenal goaltending — with a dash of overtime magic sprinkled on top. In the end, Canucks fans could go home somewhat content as their team pulled out the 5-4 victory in exciting fashion. Here are my three main takeaways.
Canucks come hot out of the gate
There is no doubt that Sunday night’s loss was still sitting fresh in the back of players’ minds. So it was great to see them start the game fast-paced and energetic. There was a sense of urgency and desperation oozing from the team, as losing a fourth-straight game and falling even farther out of the playoff picture would have been a major cause for concern.
The Canucks displayed a high compete-level in the first 10 minutes of the game, relentlessly hounding on pucks and playing noticeably aggressive on the forecheck, which directly lead to forward Antoine Roussel‘s fourth goal of the season 2:49 into the first period. The feisty mustache-less Frenchman banged in a loose puck that was sitting in the crease, after his linemate Adam Gaudette out-hustled a defender to the puck and threw it towards the net.
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Tanner Pearson scored just as a power play was expiring to make it 2-0 five minutes later, and all of a sudden the Canucks had scored the first two goals in a game for the first time since Dec. 7. Although this lead wouldn’t hold up — and the Canucks got generally outplayed in the first period — beginning the game strong was an important part of their play that had been lacking over these past tweo weeks. Starting off on the right foot in Thursday night’s game was crucial to their eventual win.
Leivo leaves the game
Although the Canucks scraped out a win, there was a big loss within it. In the second period, forward Josh Leivo was crushed into the boards at the blue line by Golden Knights defenceman Nick Holden as the puck bounced up the boards.
A scrum ensued, and Leivo laid on the ice in apparent pain. Much to the dismay of the Canucks’ players, coaches, and pretty much everyone in the arena, the game continued on afterwards with no penalty called.
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Leivo left the game, clearly clutching his left leg in serious discomfort, and slammed his stick against the boards in outrage as he skated off the ice. Sure enough, Holden ended up scoring moments later on a point shot that found its way through a sea of Canuck and Golden Knight bodies. Move over, Mike Matheson. You’ve got company.
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It’s truly an unfortunate turn of events for a player that was consistently making a positive impact at both ends of the ice for the Canucks. The 26-year-old, who is a vital piece to this teams’ middle-six forward group, has seven goals and 19 points in 36 games so far this season. Post-game, head coach Travis Green did not have an update on Leivo’s condition, but didn’t think it was going to be encouraging.
One can only wonder if justice could have been served on Leivo’s behalf if a player like Micheal Ferland was in the lineup — a guy who was brought here to Vancouver this past summer to provide scoring depth, –but also provide an element of grit and toughness if the opposition deserved to face consequences for a reckless play.
Markstrom standing tall once again
The Canucks managed to score five goals for the 14th time this season — and Elias Pettersson and Chris Tanev were anointed first and third star, respectively –but that doesn’t mean that the goaltender didn’t play a monumental role in Thursday night’s win. Jacob Markstrom had yet another stellar performance that can be added to his collection of stellar performances this season.
The Swedish goaltender went into his sixth straight start — the most consecutive starts he’s played all season — and looked remarkably unphased, turning away 39 of the 43 shots he faced, many of which were high danger opportunities. In the third period alone, he stopped 18 shots.
The Canucks may have won the game, but the Golden Knights carried a majority of play and had an abundance of quality scoring chances. They led in CF% and xGF% in all three periods by a significant margin according to Natural Stat Trik.
Their top lines were dangerous and came alarmingly close to changing the fate of the game had it not been for the 6-foot-6 goaltender. Markstrom’s best and most important save of the night came with a little over 2 minutes remaining when he robbed Paul Stastny on a cross-crease attempt after the Golden Knights had clear momentum following the 4-4 tying goal.
That blocker save should not, and will not be understated in the context of the score, time remaining, and the overall feeling of panic that has plagued the Canucks so often when trying to close out a game.
The best part is that the goaltender was rewarded for his valiant efforts with an overtime goal from defenceman Chris Tanev, who demonstrated some rarely showcased handles, tucking the puck past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury on the forehand to end a night of fun and enjoyable hockey.
Conclusion
Overall, the Canucks played a well-rounded game, and most importantly, secured the win. Their four core forwards of Pettersson, Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, and Bo Horvat all had their fingerprints on the scoresheet — Petersson and Boeser with two points — while Miller and Horvat each recorded one.
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After a whirlwind of days filled with Twitter wars, trending hashtags and a growing frustration amongt the fanbase, it feels like an injection of positivity was much needed. The Canucks will face the Sidney Crosby-less Pittsburgh Penguins at Rogers Arena in the third game of their five-game homestand Saturday night.