J.T. Miller ends it in overtime
J.T. Miller has filled Pettersson’s centre position quite seamlessly since his injury took him out of the lineup, and Travis Green has had to put more responsibility directly on the shoulders of the American. But that’s okay. Miller wants to be the guy, he wants to be the man. And last night, he was.
Logging nearly three more minutes of ice time than any other forward on the Canucks (23:30), Miller was the driving force of Vancouver’s offence. As the Canucks slowly started to give up their two-goal lead, Green did not hesitate to increase Miller’s ice time. And for good reason. The two-way player snatched up two points for his team with the game-winning shot.
Just over a minute and a half into the extra frame, Quinn Hughes corralled the puck before feeding a fresh and rested Miller who had just leaped over the bench to join the play. Rushing through the middle, Miller stepped over the blueline, split the defence, and went backhand forehand to beat a down and out Joey Daccord.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1371638947105804291
Jayce Hawryluk scores his first goal against his former team
Other than the thrilling overtime dagger, the Canucks played a relatively boring game. They had two ugly grinder-type goals in front of a busy net, but for Jayce Hawryluk, it just felt good to score his first goal of the season and his first goal against his former club.
“It’s nice to see the puck go in. My line played really well and we generated a lot of chances. It feels good to get it against a former team,” said Hawryluk in the post-game presser.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1371608226970488834
Hawryluk’s game had a little bit of everything. He was a plus 2 on the night, he registered 10:38 in ice time, he put one shot on goal, he had one trip to the penalty box and he finished the game with one hit.
Conclusion
The Canucks will have to play better when these two teams face off again on Wednesday. Having now won five of their last six games, Vancouver improves their record to 14-16-2, just two wins away from breaking even.
The playoffs are becoming a small glimmer in the distance. But that glimmer shines just a little bit brighter today. Tune in to Sportsnet at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time to catch the Canucks next game, and don’t forget to jump onto The Canuck Way for the post-game report!