The Vancouver Canucks have had an up-and-down start to the 2024-25 season, and injuries have played their own roles in that. Just one game after a gutsy win against the Ottawa Senators, the Canucks traveled down to Boston and took it to the Boston Bruins, posting a 2-0 shutout in TD Garden on Tuesday night.
Star winger Brock Boeser made his return to the lineup, featuring on a line with Teddy Blueger and Danton Heinen. The 27-year-old had a ho-hum return to the ice, taking slashing and interference penalties and recording zero shots on goal in 17:11 of ice time, which included 2:57 on the power play.
Depth continued to be the story of the Canucks' successes. Conor Garland earned the primary assist on Jake DeBrusk's early power play goal in the first period and would later finish the game off, scoring an empty-net goal with 13 seconds left.
Canucks' depth proving key during crucial stretch
Away from the scoresheet, a surprise name made an impact at the other end of the ice on Tuesday night. Defenseman Noah Juulsen, who had been splitting third-pair defense duties with Vincent Desharnais, ended up playing 19:37 of ice time, including a team-leading 3:13 on the penalty kill. Juulsen finished the night third among Canucks defensemen in ice time, trailing only Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek.
Notably, three Canucks forwards played fewer than 10 minutes on the evening. Nils Hoglander and Arshdeep Bains each played only seven minutes, while Aatu Raty played 9:29. Also of note is the fact that Raty won the second-most faceoffs against the Bruins and took the most faceoffs against the Bruins.
With Kiefer Sherwood jumping up and sticking on the first line alongside Elias Pettersson, the Canucks are getting meaningful contributions from everyone. Dakota Joshua recently returned, as did Boeser. Hopefully, J.T. Miller will complete the trifecta soon and re-join the Canucks at full strength and with a clear mind.
Indeed, it is not perfect at the times, but the Canucks are building momentum at a crucial time in their season. Kevin Lankinen's 32-save shutout in the Bruins' barn is the icing on the cake. For one night, at least.