Canucks comeback to win 3-2 in Overtime in final home game of the year

It was Fan Appreciation Night at Rogers Arena and the Vancouver Canucks sent the fans home happy in their final home game of the season. They were down after two periods but came back to win 3-2 in overtime over the playoff-bound Los Angeles Kings.

For the second straight game, the Canucks wore the flying skate jerseys which are popular among the fans. Thanks to Thursday night’s victory, the Canucks are 3-0 when wearing the flying skate jerseys this season. Perhaps they should wear them more often next season.

The Kings were wearing their retro jerseys with their Chrome helmets that you either love or hate. I actually think they look nice. They are much better than the gold helmets the Vegas Golden Knights wear.

Of course, Vancouver didn’t have anything to play for other than pride. They were eliminated from playoff contention with the Dallas Stars getting a point against the Golden Knights on Tuesday night despite them beating the Seattle Kraken.

The Kings on the other hand were playing their final game of the season and they will face the Edmonton Oilers in round one of the playoffs. It will be their first playoff appearance since 2018.

It was also announced on Thursday that Dustin Brown will be retiring at the end of the season. The game in Vancouver was his final regular season game. He received a standing ovation from the crowd in the first period and handshakes and hugs from both teams after the game.

Brown will conclude an 18-year career in which he played 1,296 games (including Thursday.) and captained the Kings to two Stanley Cups. (2012 and 2014.) He was given the “C” on his jersey once again by the Kings.

Enough about the Kings. The Canucks also announced their team awards on Thursday night. Zaahid Lalani and I have written articles about the four awards fans voted for.

The Fred J. Hume Award for Unsung Hero went to Luke Schenn. The Walter (Babe) Pratt Trophy for Best Defenceman went to Quinn Hughes which is no surprise. J.T. Miller won Pavel Bure Award for Most Exciting Player which I think is the right choice. Thatcher Demko won the Cyclone Taylor Trophy for Most Valuable Player which I also think is the right choice. I voted for Tanner Pearson for the Unsung Hero award but I totally understand why Schenn won it and he 100% deserves it. I went 3/4. Not bad.

What is worth mentioning is that Brandon Sutter won the Daniel and Henrik Sedin Award for Community Leadership. Sutter set up the “Sutter Squad” ticket program which helps families at Canuck Place Children’s Hospice to attend Canucks games. Sutter was also a supporter of the Special Olympics. It was well deserved for him.

Sadly, Sutter has been sidelined for the entire season due to the long-term effects of COVID-19. Here’s hoping that he steps on the ice again next season.

Thoughts on the game

Ok, onto the game thoughts.

The Kings were on a mission to start the game. But Spencer Martin was up for the task. As John Garret said on the broadcast shortly before puck drop, Martin has not looked nervous and has looked very calm and poised in goal in all the games he has played for the Canucks. Garret was right as Martin did not look nervous at all on Thursday night.

The Kings were firing all sorts of shots on Martin and got five high danger scoring chances in the first according to NaturalStatTrick.

There was a high sticking penalty from Tyler Myers as he got his stick in Quinton Byfield’s face. Before that, Myers coughed up the puck at the blue line. Pretty rough sequence for him.

There was also a silly too many men on the ice penalty. Too many men penalties really can make you feel silly indeed.

The Canucks did not have much going in terms of offence in the first period.

In the second, there wasn’t a whole lot either but there was some pressure near the end of the period. But the Kings got two on the board thanks to Gabriel Vilardi and Adrian Kempe.

Martin continued to make good saves including one which caused his stick to go flying.

Just like their second half of the season, the Canucks did not quit.

They came out by taking lots of shots on Cal Peterson. They got on the board on the power play with a nice tic-tac-toe play from Miller to Elias Pettersson to Quinn Hughes. With the second assist, Miller has 98 points on the season. He still has one more game to reach 100. Pettersson also has a new career high in points with 67 thanks to his assist. I would have said you were crazy if you told me Pettersson would get a new career high in points back in January.

The Canucks were breaking out of their own zone very quickly and moving the puck well. Martin stayed solid and they did get a good job of stopping the Kings’ zone entries. Vasily Podkolzin also got some good chances and he had a good game in which he displayed his hunger for the net.

The game was tied when Alex Chiasson buried his Hughes’ rebound past Peterson but not before Hughes made a nice spin move at the blue line. I see he is learning from Conor Garland.

In overtime, Martin continued to make his case for being the Canucks backup goalie next season. While the Canucks were letting the Kings get by them too easily, Martin made some incredible saves on Blake Lizotte and Andreas Athanasiou. He also got some puck luck as Kempe hit the post.

Boeser ended the game with 29.7 seconds in overtime after his first shot was blocked by Jordan Spence. That’s 23 goals on the year for Boeser.

It was a game where the Vancouver started sluggish and dull but they made it up with an exciting finish. It was a fitting final home game of the season for them. The Canucks were the Call the Ambulance but not for me meme in this game.