Things were not looking great for the Vancouver Canucks, who were already without Derek Forbort, after losing top defenseman Filip Hronek to injury last week. The Canucks were going to be forced to give prominent roles to Noah Juulsen and Vincent Desharnais, both career third-pair players. So far, the early returns have been good.
Stepping up in the absence of Hronek, Juulsen played 17:03 for the Canucks, including 3:40 on the penalty kill. Juulsen's penalty kill time was second on the Canucks only to Tyler Myers, and his overall ice time trailed Myers, Carson Soucy, and captain Quinn Hughes, who cemented his status as a franchise legend in Sunday's win.
And while Juulsen notably did not record any points, penalty minutes, shots on goal, or plus-minus ratings, he contributed to the Canucks' hard-fought victory in other ways. Namely, sacrificing body parts to block shots.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet, who was a meat-and-potatoes guy during his playing days, recognized the rugged defender for his efforts to spur his team on to a 5-4 overtime victory.
"I look at it like, it's easy to say 'Jake was unreal, three goals. This guy scores, this guy makes a great assist'. Like, there's more to these moments," Tocchet said of Juulsen and the Canucks. "Then Juulsen blocks three shots. A couple of guys with a good stick, where if their stick is not in the lane, it's in the net. These are the moments I look at, pressure moments."
The moment Tocchet is referring to is the one where Juulsen blocked three Red Wings shots in a single penalty kill shift.
"I look at the little things. When you accumulate all the little things, that's a good thing," Tocchet concluded.
Juulsen and the Canucks helped starting goaltender Kevin Lankinen advance to a perfect 10-0-0 on the road to start the 2024-25 season, and they will be back on the ice on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. road matchup with the Minnesota Wild.