Canucks: 3 takeaways from exciting 6-3 win over Dallas

Powerplay finally breaks through

It was a tale of two stories for Vancouver’s special teams on Sunday night.

Heading into the contest, it was no surprise that both the powerplay and penalty kill were the two main factors that were sinking this team at home.

Over the past five games, the Canucks had only managed to score one powerplay goal, way back in their home-opener against the Minnesota Wild. As we all know, it went straight downhill from there, with the team going 0/17 over the next four contests, including a combined eleven missed opportunities against New York and Nashville.

As a result, head coach Travis Green decided to turn back to his top guns on the first unit, reuniting Horvat, J.T Miller, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes on Sunday night.

And it definitely paid off.

The man advantage was able to deliver in a huge way, notching three tallies on six chances. None of these goals were just luck, either.

For the first time in a long time, the powerplay didn’t have difficulty carrying the puck through the neutral zone, and were able to quickly set up in the offensive zone as a result. The primary unit also made sure that they weren’t stagnant with the puck, constantly moving and cycling in the corners before getting pucks on net as often as they could.

This was particularly evident on Miller’s second goal of the game.

The play starts with Hughes, who sends a pass to Pettersson on his right. As soon as Pettersson receives the pass, he quickly hits Miller coming out from behind the net before immediately moving to the crease to screen Khudobin. This allows Miller enough time to move to the flank, pass the puck back to Hughes and then set up for the one-timer, which he eventually blasts past the Stars’ netminder.

Same could be said for Vancouver’s first powerplay goal of the game.

In this play, Horvat is able to cleanly win the faceoff and get the puck to Boeser on the flank. Boeser immediately cycles the puck back up to Hughes at the point, and then moves to the front of the net to allow Miller to take over his position. As a result, Dallas’s penalty killers weren’t able to achieve proper coverage, allowing Miller to walk in and pick his spot with a slick wrister.

Miller recorded his team-leading 13th and 14th points of the year, while Hughes finished the night with three primary powerplay assists.

Sunday’s man advantage dominance was also wake-up call for Pettersson, who recorded one goal and two assists, including this absolute dart from the blueline.

It wasn’t Pettersson’s strongest outing in the end, with the Swedish centre still creating turnovers and mishandling the puck in the neutral zone, but fans, medias and coaches alike are hoping that Sunday’s performance can catapult EP40 out of his early season funk once and for all.

Podkolzin continues to impress

There may have been some hesitation at the beginning of the season, but there’s officially no doubt that Vasily Podkolzin belongs in the NHL.

The former 2019 first round selection suited up for his sixth consecutive game on Sunday night, resuming his usual position as a third-line winger alongside Jason Dickinson and Conor Garland. Like many of his teammates, Podkolzin hasn’t had too much consistency when it comes to linemates, but that hasn’t seemed to phase the kid.

Podkolzin once again showcased his impressive size and speed, looking to make an impact every time he hit the ice. There was a small moment of panic from the fanbase in the second period, as the Podkolzin was on the wrong end of a knee-on-knee from Radek Faksa, but fortunately he remained on the bench. Podkolzin was able to draw a penalty on the sequence, which eventually led to Pettersson’s powerplay tally.

Podkolzin also made sure to exact his own revenge shortly after.

After Dallas fumbled the puck near Vancouver’s blueline, Horvat was able to spring Garland and Podkolzin on a 2-on-1 the other way. The two forwards charged towards Khudobin, with Garland eventually feeding Podkolzin with a tasty no-look dish before the Russian rookie absolutely rocketed the puck top-shelf.

Podkolzin finished the contest with one goal, one hit and three SOG. He also recorded a career-high ice time of 14:29, including just over 30 seconds on the man advantage.

Podkolzin still has a long ways to go if he wants to enter the Calder conversation but, at this point, the team is more than happy to see him succeed and develop at this current pace.

Other notes:

• Thatcher Demko continues to be Vancouver’s best player, night in and night out. The team was finally able to provide some offensive support for Demko, but they still kept their netminder on his toes throughout the contest. Despite holding the lead, Demko still had to be sharp on multiple occasions in the latter half of the game, once again keeping his team in the battle. Demko stopped 25 of 28 shots faced on Sunday night, including yet another highlight-reel, save-of-the-year candidate on Jamie Benn, bringing his overall record to 5-4-1 with a .918 SV% and 2.59 GAA.

• Despite their strong powerplay performances, Vancouver’s other end of the special teams department still wasn’t able to hold up their end of the bargain on Sunday night. The penalty kill continued to struggle, once again surrendering two goals for the fourth straight contest. Yes, it didn’t sting as much this time, given that the powerplay is slowly starting to click, but it should still be an area of concern for the team moving forward, especially with Tyler Motte, Brandon Sutter and Matthew Highmore still sidelined. At the end of the day, the Canucks won’t be able to outrun their penalty kill woes, especially if their man advantage dries up again, so Green and his coaching staff will need to figure out what exactly is going on with his shorthanded squads.

The Canucks will round out their homestand on Tuesday night, taking on Ryan Getzlaf and the Anaheim Ducks. Puck drop is set for 7pm PST.

What were your thoughts from Sunday night’s victory against Dallas? Make sure to drop a comment below!