Canucks Recap: 3 stars of the past week (Feb 12th – 19th)

It’s been a rollercoaster week for the Vancouver Canucks.

After putting up six consecutive losses to start the month of February, the team desperately needed to break their miserable slump. They had been badly outscored by a margin of 27-11 over that two-week span, and their winning percentage was starting to slip into Red Wing rebuild territory.

Player morale was at an all-time low, management and coaches were fearful for their jobs, and fans were starting to sift through their calendars to see when Ottawa would be coming back to town.

In other words, the team had hit rock bottom, and they desperately needed a saving grace.

Enter… Francesco Aquilini?

Hours before puck-drop last Saturday, the owner dropped a series of tweets, fully supporting the work and decisions of his front office and coaching staff, all while trying to extinguish the fierce, ever-growing flames that were slowly engulfing the city.

Okay, yes. It would be quite the stretch to say that Aquilini’s brash sentiments propelled this team back into the win column. It was merely a well-timed PR stunt to quiet the reporters and to deflate the heated arguments on Canucks Twitter, and even the players admitted that they were unaware of Aquilini’s online messages until after Saturday’s victory against the Flames.

Still, it was still a pretty compelling storyline for Canucks nation as they approached the quarter mark of their season, one that spread throughout the city much like a certain young Swede’s Spotify playlists.

And if the team is able to rise from the ashes and make some sort of splash in the Scotia North division moving forward, it’ll definitely be one of the focal points for the organization’s 2020-21 campaign.

So what exactly did the Canucks do to get back into the win column? Did the pent-up frustration finally boil over and erupt in a volcanic fashion? Or perhaps they discovered a good luck charm by swapping out their finest suits and ties for wrinkled plaid shirts and scuffed work boots?

We’ll never know the answers to these questions, so it’s all purely speculation right now. The bottom line was that the Canucks needed to break free from their losing ways ASAP, and they were, fortunately, able to do so in tremendous fashion this past week.

Games played:

• Calgary Flames (1) @ Vancouver Canucks (3)
• Calgary Flames (4) @ Vancouver Canucks (3) – OT
• Vancouver Canucks (5) @ Calgary Flames (1)
• Winnipeg Jets (2) @ Vancouver Canucks (0)

Canucks record: (8-12-1) 6th in Scotia North Division

The team closed out the remaining three games of their mini-series against the Flames by collecting five out of a possible six points, and by outscoring their opponents by an aggregate of 11-6. More importantly, they were finally able to put pucks past Jacob Markstrom, who had previously stymied their offence earlier in January.

They were unfortunately blanked by the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night, but every team runs into a hot goalie from time to time, and it was great to see that the Canucks still applied consistent pressure throughout the game, particularly in the third period, when trying to claw back in.

It wasn’t exactly the ideal way to wrap up the week, but the Canucks were finally starting to move past “moral victory status” with more confidence and hockey IQ, and they had finally found the ladder that could get them out of the hole that they had dug themselves in at the beginning of the season.

Will that ladder be tall enough for the team to see daylight once again before the sun sets on the season? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, let’s once again take a look at The Canuck Way’s three stars of the week:

2. Nils Höglander

The praise continues to pour in for Nils Höglander.

Aside from Boeser, the 20-year-old rookie has been the team’s most consistent forward for the first quarter of the season. His tenacity, speed and energy is on full display every time he steps over the boards, and he has brought a dynamically offensive punch to the team’s formerly-defensive second line.

He registered the first multi-point performance of his career on Wednesday night, notching two assists, and is currently tied for second in rookie scoring. He also leads all rookies with 44 shots taken.

Of course, it’s not all about the scoresheet for Höglander. We all know that the kid can dazzle us with the puck, but it’s his ability without it that makes him a favourite amongst fans, coaches and management.

For starters, we’ve yet to see Höglander back down from an opponent, no matter their size, toughness or amount of games played in the league. He will challenge anyone to a gritty puck battle along the boards, and he often comes out on top. It’s hard to believe that Höglander is only 5’9” and 185lb, because he often plays like he’s a 6’6” veteran forward with years of experience under his belt.

Höglander has also garnered the attention and respect of Green, and this is reflected in the Swedish left winger’s overall ice time. He is averaging just over 15 minutes per game this season, with his numbers creeping closer to the 20-minute mark over the past few outings. He has become a permanent fixture on the second line, and the trio is being more frequently deployed when the team needs a high-energy, puck-controlling shift in the opponent’s end.

Höglander continues to showcase his strong and speedy 200-foot game, night in and night out, and it’s landing him amongst some of the league’s superstars.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Höglander is currently tied for second in takeaways with 17, sitting ahead of defensive specialists like Leon Draisaitl, Aleksander Barkov and Mark Stone. He’s been able to transform these turnovers into high-danger scoring chances as a result, and it was only a matter of time before some of them would lead to goals, much like this beauty from Jordie Benn to open up the scoring on Wednesday night.

And it’s not like this feat is going unnoticed.

Teams are starting to target the “Pepper Pot” as part of their gameplay strategies, hoping that they can throw him off of his game in order to quiet the rest of the Canucks’ top six forward group. How do we know this? He currently leads the entire league in hits taken with 43. Not too shabby for the youngster.

If Höglander keeps up this gritty, quick and entertaining style of play, the Canucks should continue to out chance, outplay and outscore their opponents every time he’s on the ice.

He is driving the Canucks’ forwards to new heights, so don’t be surprised if the “little engine that could” continues to rack up our weekly honours.

3. Tyler Myers

It would be an understatement to say that Tyler Myers has had a rough outing since he signed with the Canucks organization last summer.

Often sharing the city’s whipping boy duties with Jake Virtanen, Myers has been repeatedly criticized for his defensive inconsistencies, poor position play in the defensive zone and a colossal amount of trips to the penalty box, all of which were on full display last season.

These problems haven’t disappeared overnight, by any means, and it seemed as if he picked up right where he left off when the 2020-21 campaign began.

He has the overall skill of a third-pairing defenceman, with the contract and salary of a first-pairing defenceman, and management will probably be regretting this signing until the very last day.

Despite all of these flaws and concerns, Myers is still one of the better puck-moving and play-making blueliners on the roster, and he put his full offensive talent on display this past week.

Over the past four games, Myers registered one goal, three assists, 10 shots and a plus-two rating. He played over 22 minutes of ice time during each of those contests, only taking one minor penalty during that span, and has been a solid addition to the second powerplay unit (when they actually get powerplay time).

Myers was also able to use his 6’8”, 229lb frame to its full effectiveness on Friday night.

After Höglander was ruthlessly pummelled by Derek Forbort near the end of the third period, Myers jumped into the scrum without hesitation, even landing some decent punches to stick up for the rookie.

It’s always great to see teammates looking out for one another, especially when the weight class is beyond unequal, and it’s almost guaranteed that Myers will be front and centre if the bad blood spills over into Sunday night’s rematch.

Unlike Höglander, there is a very high chance that Myers won’t find himself on this list again any time soon. But it’s always good to recognize and reward players when they positively contribute to their team’s success, and Myers did just that over these past few games.

Plus, we’ll take any opportunity to look again at this unreal game-winning goal, as well as this even more unreal stat:

https://twitter.com/ChrisFaber39/status/1360827678140424193?s=20

These belong in your personal Hall of Fame, Tyler!

Honourable Mention #1: Olli Juolevi

It’s been a tough journey to the NHL for Olli Juolevi, but it looks like he is finally here to stay.

The 22-year-old rookie has looked comfortable with Myers on the third pairing and is thriving in his role as the steady, stay-at-home defenceman in that duo. Some fans might still be disappointed that Juolevi hasn’t put up the numbers that many would expect of a first-round blueliner, but that shouldn’t be expected of him, especially with players like Hughes and Nate Schmidt in the line-up.

Over the past few games, Juolevi has been one of the more consistent, physical blueliners on the team, and he is now averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time. There’s no question that Juolevi has solidified his place on the Canucks’ back end over players like Jalen Chatfield and Brogan Rafferty, and if he continues to play this way, he might even land a spot as a top-four defenceman at some point this season.

Honourable Mention #2: Thatcher Demko

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again.

Goaltending has not been the issue for the Canucks this season, and Thatcher Demko continues to put up big, timely saves when the team needs him most.

Overall, the Canucks have shown improvements in different facets of their game over the four games, but are still surrendering 30+ shots each night and are still struggling to put together full 60-minute outings.

Whether they’re trying to climb back into a game, or they’re trying to protect a lead late in the third period, Demko has come up clutch during crucial moments, and he is a big reason that the Canucks were able to claim five points this past week.

Hopefully, the players in front of him can tighten up so he doesn’t have to do his best Markstrom impression on a nightly basis.

Upcoming games:

• Sunday, February 21st – Winnipeg Jets @ Vancouver Canucks (7:00 pm PST)
• Tuesday, February 23rd – Edmonton Oilers @ Vancouver Canucks (7:00 pm PST)
• Thursday, February 25th – Edmonton Oilers @ Vancouver Canucks (7:00 pm PST)

Who do you think played well during the past four games? Make sure to drop a comment below!