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Three takeaways from entertaining Canucks 4-3 shootout win over Jets

By Joshua Rey |
Dec 10, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson (40) scores on Winnipeg Jets goalie Eric Comrie (1) during the shootout in the overtime period at Rogers Arena. Vancouver wins 4-3 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 10, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson (40) scores on Winnipeg Jets goalie Eric Comrie (1) during the shootout in the overtime period at Rogers Arena. Vancouver wins 4-3 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
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It was a game full of bounces, big plays, chaos, and entertainment. The Vancouver Canucks defeated the visiting Winnipeg Jets 4-3 via the shootout and have now won three straight games.

Travis Hamonic left Wednesday’s game against the Boston Bruins with an injury. He will be out two to three weeks with a lower-body injury. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is dealing with an undisclosed injury and is expected to be back next week.

As a result, Brad Hunt suited up.

The Canucks also remain undefeated since making significant changes to the organization and bringing Bruce Boudreau as the head coach.

There were plenty of high-danger chances from both teams. There were lots of back and forth action, some hits, and overall, it was a really fun hockey game to watch.

The overtime was chaotic and there were great chances at both ends but for the second straight game, the Canucks had to decide in a shootout. Thatcher Demko was perfect in the shootout and Elias Pettersson scored the only Vancouver goal in the shootout which resembled Peter Forsberg’s shootout goal against Canada in the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.

Hopefully, his confidence will start to rise after that.

Apparently, Pettersson has done the move in the shootout before. He did it against Mackenzie Blackwood of the New Jersey Devils on March 15, 2019.

“They can’t all be Picasso’s,” said Boudreau on his team’s performance. “We didn’t have our best game out there. What can you say about the goalie, he’s not bad. You get greedy and you want to sweep the week. We’re so far back that you have to put a string like this to get back in it.”

Here are three takeaways from the Canucks entertaining win.

Dec 10, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Motte (64) and forward Nils Hoglander (21) and forward Elias Pettersson (40) and forward Conor Garland (8) celebrate Hoglander’s first goal against the Winnipeg Jets in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 10, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Motte (64) and forward Nils Hoglander (21) and forward Elias Pettersson (40) and forward Conor Garland (8) celebrate Hoglander’s first goal against the Winnipeg Jets in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports /

#1 Nils Höglander leads the offence

Nils Höglander’s play has been pretty good all season. However, the offence has been missing. Before Friday night, he hadn’t scored a goal in 11 games. That last goal came against the Anaheim Ducks on November 14. Höglander also only had one point in his last 10 games and that was an assist in the game against the Boston Bruins on November 28.

Höglander ended his offensive drought against the Jets with two goals and both of them came in the first period.

The first was a beauty. Despite stumbling, he manages to control the puck and get the backhand over Eric Comrie.

The second came in the final minute of the period during a chaotic sequence. Tyler Myers gave the puck away to Blake Wheeler who was stopped by Demko. He also stopped Kyle Connor and the Canucks went back the other way and Höglander’s shot went off Comrie’s glove and trickled into the net.

The 20-year-old wasn’t only scoring, he threw the body around too. Höglander’s only hit of the night was this big one on Josh Morrissey.

Höglander continued with his strong play by winning battles for the puck, showing off his energy, and creating more scoring chances. (Just don’t look at his Corsi.)

“I’ve said hi to him,” said Boudreau on Höglander.  “I want to get to know him. He’s a very quiet guy. But when it’s on his stick he knows what to do with it. That’s the mark of a potentially good scorer.”

#2 The Tucker Poolman- Tyler Myers pairing should never happen again

Wyatt Arndt of The Athletic (AKA The Stanchion) pens Myers as an “agent of chaos” or a “chaos giraffe.” Myers lived up to the nicknames on Friday.

There was that brutal turnover that eventually led to Demko’s saves and Höglander’s goal which was a clear example of him being an agent of chaos.

Myers also was letting the Jets get easy chances and wasn’t that good in his own zone. However, he did make a great play in overtime stopping a Jets two-on-one.

He was paired with Tucker Poolman and that pairing should probably never happen. Poolman, like Myers, made some sloppy turnovers. Poolman wasn’t good on the breakout and he made some poor decisions and was easily getting beat by the Jets players

Myers was tied with Quinn Hughes with the most scoring chances against with 13 per NaturalStatTrick. The Canucks gave up 9 SCA when Poolman was on the ice.

It was a rough night for the pairing of the former Jets as they both were struggling in their end and losing the board battles and letting the Jets get high danger chances.

The pairing (along with the forwards) were caught puck watching and let Mark Scheifele wide open.

The Poolman-Myers pairing was its own horror movie and shouldn’t have a sequel.

Dec 10, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko (35) makes a save on Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers (27) in the overtime period at Rogers Arena. Vancouver wins 4-3 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 10, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko (35) makes a save on Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers (27) in the overtime period at Rogers Arena. Vancouver wins 4-3 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports /

#3 Thatcher Demko was brilliant again

It isn’t a post-game article from The Canuck Way without mentioning Demko. Once again, he was very good.

The Canucks once again wouldn’t have won the game without him. Demko made some highlight-reel saves which included robbing Wheeler with the glove.

He made a huge breakaway stop on Nikolaj Ehlers in overtime.

He was also perfect in the shootout stopping all three Jets attempts and making 34 saves on 37 shots. Demko is starting to become one of the best goalies in the NHL with his performances and without a doubt is the Canucks MVP.

“It’s pretty instinctual at the end of the day,” said Demko. “I find for me, the best chance is to make a read and be competitive.”

Like Grammarly, saving me from typos and grammar mistakes in my articles, Demko was once again there to save the day for the Canucks.

Other notes

  • Conor Garland scored on the breakaway in the second. That move was dirtier than the inside of the Sarlacc Pit. He had a 59.26% Corsi for against Winnipeg.
  •  Pettersson slowly seems to be getting better. He hit the crossbar with his hard slap shot. He also needs to shoot more as he was hesitant to shoot on the power play in overtime.
  • Vasily Podkolzin also had a strong game with his net-front presence and drive to the net.

Next. Five general manager candidates for the Canucks. dark

The Canucks homestand continues as the Carolina Hurricanes come to town on Sunday. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM.

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