Impressive pushback
If there’s one positive to be taken away from last night’s game, it’s that the Canucks displayed an impressive level of pushback after trailing in the game.
Before the match, Vancouver had only won two out of 16 games in games in which they gave up the first goal, with Friday night’s win being one of those victories. Although they failed to win last night, it was still encouraging to see the team tie up the game and take the lead multiple times after trailing by a goal.
Going into both the second and third period, the Canucks were down by a goal but tied things up just 22 seconds into each frame. First, it was Virtanen who put Vancouver on the board to start the second.
Miller sets up Virtanen and we're tied at 1️⃣❗️ pic.twitter.com/skqOJ8z1aY
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 21, 2021
Then, Bo Horvat did the same in the third, tying things up at three goals apiece.
22 seconds into the 3rd period and Bo Horvat tips Hughes's point shot by Price to tie the game at 3! #Canucks pic.twitter.com/HBuHnFuTFh
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) March 21, 2021
Unfortunately, the Canucks weren’t able to pull off a win even with their impressive pushback, but this is still an encouraging sign given that the team seemed to check out of games earlier in the season right after giving up the first goal.
Other notes
- Brock Boeser continued his strong season by unloading an absolute rocket on the power play, beating Carey Price for his 16th goal of the season. This ties his total from all of last year, and he did it in 21 fewer games.
- Tyler Motte also scored last night, and it was nice to see him get on the board after having such a strong start to the season. This was only his third game back after missing over a month with an injury, so hopefully he can continue his career year.
- The two teams had one of the more entertaining shootouts of the season, which lasted for multiple rounds before Tatar beat Holtby and Nils Hoglander failed to score on Price. Although the Canucks lost the game, I still had a blast from start to finish, especially during the shootout.
The Canucks will return home to host Winnipeg on Monday night, and puck drops at 7 PM Pacific Time. Thatcher Demko will likely get the start as Vancouver looks to get back in the win column.