Canucks: 3 takeaways from exciting 5-2 win over Seattle

Höglander, Podkolzin lead the bottom-six charge

During the post-game media availability on Thursday night following the team’s 2-1 shootout loss in LA, Boudreau stressed the fact that he needs to see more from his younger, bottom-six forwards.

Vasily Podkolzin and Nils Höglander heard their coach loud and clear heading into 2022.

Given Dickinson’s absence from the roster, Podkolzin and Höglander found themselves playing together for the first time all season, flanking the red-hot J.T. Miller on the first line.

The trio performed well together on their opening shifts, utilizing their quick feet and strong board presence to suffocate the Kraken every time they had the puck. This was extremely evident on the first goal of the game, where Höglander and Miller provided a strong forecheck behind the net, which led to a Seattle turnover that landed on the stick of Podkolzin.

Like we’ve seen before, the Russian rookie didn’t hesitate to fire the puck on net, blasting a wicked wrister past Grubauer for his seventh goal of the year.

Höglander’s dominance continued on in the first period, with the Swedish sophomore also finding a way to contribute offensively. After the first powerplay unit struck out, Höglander was able to showcase his slick mitts to double up his team’s lead with just a few seconds remaining on the man advantage.

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Fortunately for the team, Höglander and Podkolzin weren’t the only bottom-six forwards who listened to Boudreau’s message.

Similar to his top two lines, Boudreau also had to make big changes on the third and fourth lines, promoting Tyler Motte and Matthew Highmore to play alongside Bo Horvat to start the game, while moving Brad Hunt from the blueline to suit up next to Juho Lammikko and Alex Chiasson.

The Hunt experiment didn’t last too long, forcing Boudreau to utilize Highmore and Motte more frequently. The duo was up for the task, with both forwards logging just over 15 minutes of ice time as a result. More importantly, Highmore and Motte were able to provide some hard-working, bottom-six productivity, something this organization has desperately been lacking over the past few years.

The pair helped restore Vancouver’s two-goal lead early in the final frame, thanks to an intelligent board play from Lammikko against Will Borgen and yet another forced Kraken turnover that found its way onto Motte’s stick. Highmore registered the primary assist, while Lammikko was able to notch his third point with his new club.