The Vancouver Canucks are keeping it interesting for these final few games of the year.
The team was set to wrap up their six-game road trip on Saturday afternoon, facing off against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers for the last time this season.
In all honesty, not many people pegged the Canucks to come away with a victory.
Over the past two contests, the team had been outscored by a margin of 9-1, with most of the players just counting down the days until the offseason, and all signs were pointing to another addition to the losses column.
But, lo and behold, the Canucks were able to find a way to secure two points in a somewhat convincing fashion, defeating the Oilers by a score of 4-1.
Should we be surprised? Not necessarily.
Despite sitting near the bottom of the standings, the Canucks haven’t been that bad as of late. They entered Saturday’s matinee contest with a 2-3 record over their past five games, with two of those wins coming against playoff-bound teams.
Plus, this wouldn’t be the first time the Canucks decide to go on a hot streak after being mathematically eliminated from the postseason, so these too-little-too-late victories might as well be tradition for this city.
Listen. If you’re looking long-term for this team, like most fans are at this point in the season, then no. Now’s definitely not the time to be winning hockey games.
But, at the end of the day, the players are also still professional athletes who hate to lose, and that will go a long way in the final few games, no matter their injuries or fatigue.
And finally, if nothing has landed so far with those who are reading, then at least we can all take comfort in the fact that the Canucks won a hockey game in May. It’s the little things, folks.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at two takeaways from last night’s win!