1. The offence comes to life with different goal scorers
Goals have been hard to get for the Canucks this season. They currently rank 23rd in the NHL in goals for and 26th in goals per game.
Fortunately, the Canucks managed to score six against the Senators and they came from different players and players not particularly known for scoring goals.
Tanner Pearson got the first goal after a nice setup by Conor Garland who did his trademark spins around Victor Mete.
After going six straight games without a goal, Pearson has two goals in three games.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1466208316774928387
Former Canuck Adam Gaudette scored the first Senators goal in his first game as a Sen because of course. Good for you, if you bet money on him scoring.
Later, Gaudette turned the puck over and Tyler Motte got his second of the season. Maybe Gaudette is working as the Canucks double agent.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1466221980345147401
Luke Schenn got his first as a Canuck and it was a beauty. He looked like a power forward driving to the net. That wasn’t even the best Vancouver goal of the night. More on that later.
“Usually I’m checking to see whose shin pad it went off of before it goes in,” said Schenn.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1466230226992705538
The captain even got on the scoreboard with this quick shot that beat Filip Gustavsson.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1466236407383482372
Even though it was against the last-place Senators, it was good to see the Canucks light up the lamp and see different players score. They are going to need all the goals they can get if they want any hope of turning this season around.
2. Power play strikes twice
The Canucks power play has struggled all season but they are slowly improving with the man advantage. At the time of this writing, Vancouver’s power play sits 20th in the NHL. It’s a slight improvement from where it was a week ago.
There were shots and plenty of movement from the man advantage which have been lacking for the majority of the season. The Canucks power play went two for six in Ottawa.
We haven’t discussed the rest of the goals so let’s do it here.
Alex Chiasson was signed to help the power play with his net-front presence. He hasn’t been effective throughout the season but he was on Wednesday night.
With Chiasson screening, J.T. Miller took a quick snap shot and Gustavsson didn’t get all of it. Chiasson was there to bury the loose puck.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1466238344837447681
The former Senator is tied in the team lead for power play goals with Elias Pettersson. They both have three.
Miller got the Canucks second power play and you are definitely going to want to watch this more than once. He turned on the Jets and went by three Senators and they are probably going to have nightmares about it tonight.
Miller just taking on everyone. pic.twitter.com/a4hMJTs2AL
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 2, 2021
It was better than watching and a predictable and stale power play that’s for sure.