With the way the Canucks offense has looked this season, I’d excuse you if you needed several moments to absorb the 6-2 box score Vancouver was sporting in their victory over Chicago Saturday night. The majority of the games this year have been a healthy appetite of point shots, praying Quinn Hughes does something cool, flailing at rebounds, praying Quinn Hughes does something cool, hoping maybe the other team puts it in their own net, and of course, praying Quinn Hughes does something cool.
So color me shocked on a night in which the Vancouver Canucks not only won by a score of 6-2, but some of the goals in this game? Downright pretty. Not just “cute in the right lighting” but downright beautiful goals. Some of them even involved multiple passes before the puck went in. Heck, some of those passes were of the East to West variety, something I thought had been banned along with dancing and high top sneakers in the year 2024.
And you know what? Quinn Hughes ALSO DID SOMETHING COOL.
Apparently you can have it all in life?
Now, we won’t get ahead of ourselves of course. It was, after all, just a victory over the lowly Chicago Blackhawks. I am not sure I have ever seen a team with puck management skills this poor since I wondered why Enrico Ciccone was playing 20+ minutes in a game back in 1997. And watching Connor Bedard’s spirit slowly leave his body as the game progressed only hammered home how badly this night was going for the visitors. I am sure he had set his bar low for this contest and had “at least score a single goal on my hometown ice” as his one task he was going to try and complete, but when you have Nils Aman finishing off a no-look backhand pass from Kiefer Sherwood I think you understand that tonight is not your night.
But there is something to be said that Vancouver was able to score goals like they had just booted up WWF: No Mercy and were spamming finishers with their buddies, with nary a care in the world. It’s abundantly clear when you score six goals in fifteen shots that the PDO mobile is on your side for the night, but again, it was how the Canucks were scoring these goals that was so impressive. It wasn’t just throwing in wrist shots from the point, this was a team stepping on the head of the snake and chopping it off with determination and confidence. It was the kind of performance that not only the fan base has been searching for for months, but one that Rick Tocchet has practically been begging to see from his team.
And I can’t be sure, but at one point during this game, I might have seen a hint of swagger from the team? Possibly? Maybe? It’s been so long since I’ve seen swagger around here that I almost forgot what it looked like.
At the end of the day, the win is all that matters, which is why we always trot out that cliche of it doesn’t matter how you do it, just as long as you do it.
But for a team that needs to get on a roll to make the playoffs, for a team whose entire identity has essentially been Charlie Brown trying to kick a football all season long, a win that actually inspires a bit of confidence, a bit of swagger? That might just be the secret ingredient that helps get them to the post-season.
Let’s break down a night full of goals, shall we?
Best slow start
I am going to be straight with you, the first ten minutes of this game? Nigh unwatchable. It wasn’t low event hockey, it was no event hockey.
But the good news is there were almost next to no whistles. If it’s going to be tedious hockey, at least it went fast. No offsides, no icings, just straight up “let’s enter the zone and whoops, passed it right back out again” strategies at play:
I knew Chicago was bad, but this might have been the worst team I have seen this season in terms of handling the puck, retaining possession of the puck, or doing anything remotely positive with the puck. If you ever wanted a game in which you could think to yourself “hey maybe I could have made the NHL after all”, then the Blackhawks had you covered.
As for Vancouver’s side in all of this, their third shot was a Vittorio Mancini slapshot, and since I am now legally obligated to show every shot he takes as his official band wagon captain, here it is in all its glory:
Fun fact, the NHL didn’t count that as a shot on net. Why you ask? Because of bees, maybe? I’m not quite sure, actually. All I know is our beautiful boy was robbed of a shot on net and I will not rest until this travesty of justice is rectified. It also feels extra important for a team that struggles mightily to get shots on net at the best of times. We simply cannot afford to be giving away shot counts like this in this economy.
Now, for the majority of the first period, you had that sneaking suspicion you’ve had many times this year where you start to worry the Canucks are going to lose a very winnable game. You start to mentally prepare yourself for the impending loss as you watch the low shot volume and the inability to generate dangerous looks on net. You can almost hear Rick Tocchet whispering in your ear “gotta move your feet” or “that’s something we might need to practice” as the game progresses.
But on this night, for whatever reason, this game went banana cakes near the end of the first period.
Best Arty Party Desarty
It’s supposed to be a rhyme, you see. “Desart” is supposed to be “dessert”, and at parties sometimes people eat them, and you know what, let’s get to Arturs Silovs best save of the game already:
I cannot stress enough how important this save was from Silovs. Ignore the fact it was Ilya Mikheyev shooting the puck, and just focus on the fact that the Canucks currently have the confidence of Bob Ross being asked to paint “something fun, maybe something with laser guns”; it won’t take much for them to revert back to doing what they know.
So if Chicago scores here, maybe there is a universe in which the Canucks aren’t happy little trees, and instead they just dump and chase all night long, ending the night with a spirited 4-2 loss.
But not on this night, oh no. On this night, Silovs made the timely save, giving the Canucks a victory in one of those “key moments” Rick Tocchet is fond of mentioning.
On this night, there was no Temptation Island. There was no man running down the beach screaming “por qué” at the top of his lungs.
On this night, there was only one man, and his name was Arturs. And he knew exactly what he wanted. And it was a committed, loving relationship with a win in the NHL.
Best I am the captain now
Man Quinn Hughes looking so determined out there! That's a great captain!!! #canucks
— Breakin' Brad(@bradtuzzi99) March 16, 2025
Remember that “sit back and hope Quinn Hughes does something cool” strategy I mentioned earlier? Well, Quinn Hughes unleashed it near the end of the period.
First he gave Chicago a preview of what was to come when he danced around the Blackhawks zone for shits and giggles:
Like a scene straight out of Novacaine, Foligno somehow soldiered on, despite suffering two broken ankles by the hands of Quinn Hughes.
All of which led right into the first goal of the night from the Canucks, which was generated off of a board battle in which Tyler Bertuzzi made the cardinal sin of giving Hughes and inch of time and space:
You can see the panic on Bertuzzi as he realizes the pass from Fil Hronek has beaten him to Quinn Hughes, as his cartoon running on ice effect kicks into full gear as he attempts to chase down Hughes. Louis Crevier and Alec Martinez hold onto their guys and let things play out as they may, because hey, chasing down Quinn Hughes doesn’t seem like a fun thing to do in life, which gives the Canucks Captain enough room to pick his spot and score the first goal of the game.
It was the kind of goal that made you go “Yeah, you know what, maybe Quinn Hughes DOES make the Canucks a better hockey team.”
Best ultimate combo
So how do you follow up that delightful goal from your captain?
Why with a goal from the resident Chaos Giraffe, of course:
Your eyes do not deceive you, that was indeed a rush goal from your Vancouver Canucks.
Now again, I must reiterate just how bad the Chicago Blackhawks are at the game of hockey. The amount of time and space they gave up to Vancouver bordered on illegal. Vancouver isn’t the fastest team in the league, I think it’s safe to say that, but somehow they’re out here making Teddy Blueger, Kiefer Sherwood, and Tyler Myers look like Team Canada got together for a quick game of puck and stick.
Give credit to Vancouver though, because they applied pressure on Chicago, which forced them into making bad turnovers like the one at the start of this goal. Myers and Sherwood essentially bully Frank Nazar in front of his locker, demand his lunch money, and then sit back as Frank panics and dumps the puck back into Vancouver’s zone. The problem is his closest teammate near the boards is Colton Dach, and he clearly has zero interest in skating on this shift, so he just watches Teddy Blueger skate towards the puck. You could almost see him calling out encouraging words to Teddy as he wished him well on his travels.
As Blueger skates with the puck, Frank, now having been attacked by a wild Giraffe, legit peaces out of the situation and literally puts his back on the glass as if to say “not my problem”, giving a free passing lane to Teddy KGB. Teddy happily takes it, sends it up to Kiefer, and now we hit the third mistake Chicago makes on this goal, which is backing off like OEL in his prime with the Canucks, giving up time and space that Sherwood happily skates into. Kiefer pushes Artyom Levshunov and Alex Vlasic back on their heels, to which they seem all too happy to do, as if to say “what are the odds Tyler Myers scores on a shot in this situation.”
Well, you know what they say, you can bake a cake with a chaotic giraffe, but you can never marry one, and Chicago found this out the hard way as Tyler Myers quickly makes it 2-0 for the good guys.
All in all, it was a pretty terrible sequence of hockey from Chicago. Just a complete lack of effort on their part leading to the Canucks making them pay for it on the scoreboard.
Again, I am happy the Canucks finally scored a lot of goals, and they did a lot of things right on this night, but oh my goodness, Chicago, what is you doing out there baby.
Best quickie before dinner
Best floundering
Chicago tried their best, I think, to score on an early power play in the second period. They had to have been, right? They were getting pucks into the slot, they were at least aware that’s a good place for the puck to be.
The problem is when the puck got there, they just couldn’t do much with it. Like, they got Ryan Dontao the puck in a good spot, it’s just he ended up biffing the shot, and it ended up with Tyler Myers going for his second of the night:
Again, Chicago understands getting the puck towards the slot. And hell, Jason Dickinson briefly pushed aside his desire to murder his fellow man and instead chose to do a nice dangle at the blue line, beating Jake DeBrusk and giving him time to find Landon Slaggert in front of the net:
But unfortunately the pass was behind Slaggert, and because the puck isn’t a human being, Dickinson couldn’t later get revenge on it by ramming it’s head from behind into the glass. Nothing was working for Chicago.
Best let’s get dirty
The Canucks, stuck at eight shots on the night halfway through the game, suddenly decided now was a nice time to bust out a goal off of the rush:
“How did this goal happen Uncle Wyatt?”
Well sit down kids and let me tell you.
This time it was a failed dump in from Joe Veleno, continuing the fun Blackhawks roster game of “is that a player name or a clothing brand for President’s Choice”? Joe fails to get the puck in deep but his line decides hey, it’s the thought that counts, so they all go for a line change.
During said line change, Marcus Pettersson finds Nils Höglander with the pass, and he sends a pass into a hard skating Garland, who then completes the give and go with Pius Suter for the goal. It’s the kind of goal we haven’t seen a lot around these parts lately, as it was done with equal parts speed, precision and skill. It was just weird to see a guy complete a give and go and then do some nice in close dangles to score a slick goal versus watching Derek Forbort bomb in a wrist shot on an unscreened goalie, you know?
The best part is even with the shitty line change, Foligno probably had time to get back into the play to help out, but he weirdly takes an outside route behind Suter and then just watches as the goal is scored. I have never seen a man that can match my beer league energy of jumping on the ice just to be scored on quite like Foligno did on this goal. Just incredible.
And since it was Corolla that scored, you just knew Garland had a goal celebration all lined up for the moment:
I’m still not sure how he got his leg that high, and yes, I saw that slight wobble at the end, but damn it, he still stuck the landing. Just incredible Mary Katherine Gallagher stuff from Garland on the night.
Best go for broke
I have to agree with Ryan, when you’re up 3-0, and you already have a goal on the night, you need to shoot in this spot Tyler:
Wind up for the bar down clapper, throw it on net off your backhand, go between your legs if you want, just make sure you’re the one taking the shot there big fella. Ride that chaotic wave when it’s going your direction, damn it.
Best from bad to worse
Sitting back after the 3-0 goal. Come on boys!! Pressure!! #Canucks get a 4th!
— just a guy.(@jaycee24_) March 16, 2025
Let’s check back in with our buddy Frank Nazar. Last we saw him he was helping the Canucks score their first goal of the night, but you know what, he’s a plucky kid. So when Bedard is trying to sauce a pass across the ice to Connor Murphy, to hell with that! Bat down that puck and take it yourself. Enter the zone with speed and skate towards the net, and then…fall down for no reason whatsoever:
This was a really bad night for Frank guys. Like, I know he’s trying his hardest, but the dude was getting checked to the ice by ghosts at this point.
Best shoot your shot
Silovs Kryptonite is a shot from the point through traffic #canucks
— Rutherford's – "Embrace the Hard"
Vlasic got the Sharks back on the board when Silovs old friend “shots from the point” came back to haunt him:
Now, Silovs has let in worse point shots in his life, and he will let in plenty more before all is said and done. So this wasn’t the worst of the bunch by any stretch of the imagination. Having Tyler Myers parked in front of you is a tough read for any goalie to track a puck through.
But I also feel like Silovs sometimes plays like he’s a 5″9 goalie from the 80’s with the way he lowers himself to the ice and makes himself so small. I have to remind myself that he’s 6″3 at times. I don’t love him getting so low and peaking around the legs like that to track the puck, but I am also someone who is deeply in love with Bubble Demko just standing up ramrod straight and taking up the entire net and letting the pucks just hit him.
This was also another spot in the game where you wondered “they couldn’t….could they?” as you debated if Chicago could make a spirited comeback based purely off of random point shots.
Best putting your foot on their necks
So how do you stop a team from trying to exploit a possible hole in your goalies software? You simply score two goals on the same shift:
There is something extra deflating about a team scoring a goal, the officials not realizing it, and then the team just continuing to play until they score a second time. This is about as “stop, stop, he’s already dead” as it gets in the NHL, made all the funnier by the fact that of course it’s Nearly Nils who has a goal taken away from him. In a season of snake bites, this is just the latest for Höglander, but ending the night with two apples ain’t a bad consolation prize.
The important thing to take away from this goal is that hint of swagger we talked about, showing up in EP40’s game. I cannot remember the last time I saw him try and dangle the puck in the slot like that and then get a shot off. I have seen him dangle a puck like that and then race towards the boards before pulling up and falling to the ice. I have seen him take a shot in the slot that gets blocked. But this was vintage Elias, the one that can both dangle your players and steal their girl/boy.
That’s superstar shit right there, and that is the “there you are, Peter” Hook moment I have been waiting for all season long. Elias finally ate the god damn imaginary food and got into a fight with it. Ruffio is finally at a loss for words as Elias runs him down at the table. That’s the kind of play this team needs and expects from Elias night in and night out.
Here is another angle of this absolute killer shot from Elias:
Key moment, he stepped up. End of story.
Best sometimes a night in with a good book is better than a party
Wyatt Kaiser got Chicago’s second goal of the night on a shot that I didn’t think was going to go in?
I once thought Jordan Binnington let in a bad goal from that angle and then an NHL goalie yelled at me, so all I will say is I think Silovs would want that one back? Like if I lined up ten goals allowed this year, that would be one of the last ones I would want to take on a date?
Is that gentle enough goalie criticism? I hope so.
Best enforcer on the team
Connor Murphy tried to wrestle with Garland but ran the second Corolla asked him if he wanted to dance:
That’s probably the smartest play a Chicago defenseman made on the night, to be honest.
Best what did I just watch
Oh Frank. I am so so sorry we have to do this.
Ok, so our buddy Frank Nazar. He’s out here, he’s trying to get things done. And sometimes? Sometimes skating with the puck is hard work. It looks so easy when Quinn does it, but sometimes that puck…rolls of your stick for no reason and Nils Aman swoops in to steal it from you:
Like, Frank has no pressure on him whatsoever, so he has plenty of time to skate with the puck, except he stickhandles the puck so hard that it rolls away from him. It was a rough night for our boy Frank.
And look, here’s the thing. Nils Aman is notable in that he is not notable. He exists not to exist. He is a Milford man in every sense of the word. You put him in the lineup when you want absolutely nothing to happen. You just want to blink and not even realize his shift is already done.
But this goal? This was the shift of his career with the Canucks. He swoops in to steal the puck from Frank, and gets the puck in deep to Blueger, who feeds Kiefer Sherwood, who somehow has the wherewithal to think “you know what would be dope? A no-look between the legs pass to Nils Aman.”, WHICH SOMEHOW WORKS. Nils then finishes off the play and scores what I would say is the prettiest goal of the year for the Vancouver Canucks. It’s filthy nonsense.
And you could tell Nils Aman was feeling it because seconds before the goal, he was entering the zone with speed, made a no look pass of his own, that eventually almost ended with a Tyler Myers clap bomb of a goal:
Nils Aman out here running Chicago into the ground. Sherwood making passes like Hank Sedin in his prime. I don’t understand any of this.
Best make them bleed their own blood
The Canucks finished off the night by scoring mere seconds after the Nils Aman goal, and I cannot think of a more “**** you” goal then by scoring seconds after Chicago had to come to terms with that Aman had just done to them:
The good news is that at least Frank wasn’t on the ice for this one?
Chicago was clearly dazed and confused at this point, unsure of where they were or why this was happening to them, so all they could do was watch as Dakota Joshua found Garland in the slot, only to then turn around and see Garland find Suter alone in the slot, ending with another goal.
That weirdest part is that this goal would have normally have been the goal of the night for the Canucks. It involved multiple passes and wasn’t a point shot. That’s the stuff of legends in this season.
EXCEPT BLUEGER, SHERWOOD AND NILS AMAN TOOK THAT TITLE. THIS IS A THING THAT HAPPENED.
Again, absolute lunacy on this night.
Best Ike Clanton strategies
With the game officially out of reach for Chicago, this should have been one of those situations where the game slowly came to a close while the broadcast did its best to show as many shots of Connor Bedard looking sad and confused by life.
Instead, we saw Smash Mouth enthusiast Jason Dickinson run Filip Chytil from behind with an egregious hit, ending the night for the Czech forward. And as Noah points out, it raises serious concerns for a player who has struggled with concussions in his career:
That is about as dirty of a hit as you can land in the NHL, and one that was completely unnecessary. Dickinson had Chytil lined up for what feels like hours, and ran right through him into the glass. The whiplash like effect on Chytil shows how little he was prepared to eat that hit, and him falling back to the ice after trying to get to his feet is a scary optic for a player who has dealt with previous head injuries.
You’ll be pleased to know that Dickinson was immediately ejected from the game and was handed a five minute major for boarding, and who am I kidding, the officials didn’t call a single penalty on the play. Nothing to see here folks, just move along.
Now there are going to be a lot of discussions around a hit like this, as there should be.
One of them will be “well why didn’t the Canucks stand up for themselves?” and I agree, there is something to be said that not only did you not see a single Canuck go after Dickinson after the hit, but nobody helped Chytil as he tried to get back to his feet. Maybe the players didn’t see the hit, maybe they didn’t realize how bad of a hit it was, but the optic of that situation will be up for debate about whether or not the Canucks do enough to “protect their guys”. I’m not a huge “if you hit us, we must fight” guy, but if it’s an illegal hit, or if they are picking on your star players (like teams have clearly done with Quinn Hughes this season), I am very open to having a physical response to that. When asked about the hit after the game by Daniel Wagner, Rick Tocchet seemed almost cautious in his response, however:
“That’s a touchy one for me…that one there, I don’t know how to answer this. Would I like someone to grab somebody, is that what you’re asking me? I don’t know if that’s today’s game. But we have to have a pack of wolves mentality, and it’s near the end of the game and stuff like that…we’ll talk about that another day.”
Amusingly enough it was Quinn Hughes who probably sent the biggest response by taking out Frank Nazar from behind, and then Derek Forbort following it up with a spirited shoving contest after the next whistle:
The Canucks mobbed Bedard in that scrum to the point that he honestly looked super confused, pleading his innocence in the matter. At one point I almost expected him to say “bro, I’m a Canucks fan, wtf” as he tried to get away from the scrum:
Now, the Canucks might just save this one in the memory banks. There is a chance they take some healthy runs at Chicago next season, or if we’re lucky, the Canucks bring back Vincent Desharnais in his role as the saddest revenge fighter of all time, in which we’re unsure if we should clap or not when the fight is over.
That being said, the officials certainly failed at their jobs by not calling a penalty on the play, which brings up the entire idea of teams having to utilize street justice in the first place. If the officials kick Dickinson out of the game, that at least stems some of the frustration from the Canucks side of things, and now maybe they don’t need to hire Vinny D to come back to the team and…gently lower Dickinson to the ice at a future game.
I will give credit to the officials for one thing, though, as they handed out four 10 minute misconducts after that scrum, one of which was to Conor Garland. I assume they did this because they now know Garland is someone willing to drop the gloves, and they didn’t want to see Corolla teeing off on the Chicago players.
But regardless of the response, I think the hit itself is the main thing to be discussing out of all of this. Getting revenge on Jason Dickinson doesn’t do a whole lot for a team that is looking at a potential playoff berth. And at the end of the day, it was an extremely dangerous hit that injured a top six forward for the Canucks.
Or if you’re Kelly Hrudey, forget the injury, what’s important is that Jason Dickinson is sending a message to management that gosh darn it, he just hates losing so so much, and that they should keep him around next season because losing is for the birds:
It’s not a great sign look Luke Gazdic comes across like the level headed one on the panel. At least Luke went out of his way to drop a few “not to excuse him” lines, whereas Kelly Hrudey was knee deep in “I GET WHERE HE’S COMING FROM, HE MAD ABOUT LOSING” two sentences into his speech. Not only does Hrudey avoid putting blame on Dickinson, he waves away the predatory and reckless hits from Dickinson as nothing more than a guy who almost cares too much.
Getting frustrated with losing? Very much understandable. I don’t know who actually enjoys losing, but sure, maybe there are levels to this.
But excusing a guys behavior because he is showing he won’t stand for losing? That’s absolute batshit lunacy. You can almost see Hrudey’s monocle fall into his cup of tea as he waves away the servant from getting to close to his chair.
The best form of revenge? Beat the team on the scoreboard next time. Or, and here’s a thought, throw a huge, legal bodycheck at the other players in your attempt to avoid being alone with your thoughts as you try and understand your role in a losing season.
It ended up marring what was a very good result for Vancouver, and with no update on the health of Chytil, might have a lasting impact on the Canucks run for the post-season.
Best jersey Botch
I hope his car is still in the parking lot.
Sponsored by bet365
Vancouver Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet met with the media ahead of Sunday nights contest against the with an update on forward Filip Chytil:
Tocchet shared that Chytil would miss tonight’s game against the Utah Hockey Club with a concussion. He mentioned that Chytil is feeling okay but is in concussion protocol.
They will monitor him over the following two days before deciding if he will join the Canucks on their six game road trip against the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets.
Chytil was injured late in the third period of Saturday night’s match against the Chicago Blackhawks. Former Canuck Jason Dickinson blindsided Chytil and crunched him right in the numbers against the boards, whipping his neck back and hitting hit head on the boards.
Former Canuck Jason Dickinson with a blindside hit from behind on Filip Chytil.
Chytil immediately went to the locker room.
: Sportsnet | NHL#Canucks pic.twitter.com/g54DQArmyc
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 16, 2025
The hit left Chytil on the ice for several seconds before he found the strength to get to his knee. He would stumble in an effort to stand up but would ultimately make it to the bench under his own power. Chytil went straight down the bend and to the locker room.
Dickinson was not assessed a penalty, suspension or fine for the incident.
Chytil was the main piece in the return coming back from the Rangers in the JT Miller trade – the Canucks also acquired Victor Mancini and a 2025 top-13 protected first-round pick. He has played 15 games in a Canucks sweater, scoring two goals and four assists for six points with 44 shots on goal and a minus-11 rating in 16:41 minutes of average ice time.
The former first-round pick has dealt with concussions throughout his career. In the 2023-2024 season, Chytil was limited to just 10 games due to a concussion.
This leaves the Canucks with a massive hole down the centre of the ice, with just Elias Pettersson, Pius Suter, Teddy Blueger and Nils Aman as the only four centres on the roster.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki will re-enter the Canucks lineup for another must-win game against the Utah Hockey Club. With a regulation win tonight, the Canucks would put themselves four points up on the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues and six ahead of their opponent tonight.
The Vancouver Canucks just dropped Sunday nights contest 3-1 to the Utah Hockey Club. However, in the post-game media availabilities, Kiefer Sherwood’s comments about Jason Dickinson’s hit that left Filip Chytil with a concussion and out of tonight’s lineup.
“It’s back-to-back games that guys are taking liberties on our guys,” Sherwood said. “[Dickinson] is going to have to answer the bell next year because I know we don’t play them again, but that was a dirty hit. Unneccesary. 6-2. And then he doesn’t have the…whatever… to step on the ice afterwards? [Derek Forbort] asked him. It is what it is. We’ll get him next year.”
Sherwood’s comments are about the hit blindside hit that former Canuck Dickinson threw onto the back of Chytil which whipped his neck back and crunched his head on the board. The centreman stayed down on the ice for several seconds and would fall over in his attempt to get up. Chytil eventually was able to skate off the ice under his own power but would go straight down the tunnel.
Former Canuck Jason Dickinson with a blindside hit from behind on Filip Chytil.
Chytil immediately went to the locker room.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 16, 2025
Dickinson was not assessed a penalty, suspension or fine for this incident. While Chytil is back in the NHL’s concussion protocol. The team plans to evaluate him further within the next 48 hours before deciding if he’ll join the team on the road trip.
Sherwood is currently leading the NHL in hits with 362 – 113 more than second, New York Rangers forward Will Cuylle. The Canuck forward is just 21 hits away from breaking the NHL record for hits in a single season, surpassing his former teammate Jeremy Lauzon, who took the record over last season with 383.
With just 15 games left for Vancouver in the regular season, they are not scheduled to see the Blackhawks again this season. However, these players won’t forget what Dickinson did and will look to even things up in their first opportunity against him next season.
When the Vancouver Canucks bullied the Chicago Blackhawks and took their lunch money, I had to throw in an awful lot of caveats.
“That goal was nice…but it’s against Chicago.”
“That offensive rush was exciting…but let’s not forget who they’re playing against.”
“That dominating win was a lot of fun, but, you know…Chicago.”
It was like encouraging your new puppy to try not to pee inside your house and applauding when they at least kept the accident in the bathroom; it’s progress, but you want to get to a world in which the Canucks aren’t pissing on your floor.
And after that deflating 3-1 loss to the Utah Fundamentalists of Hockey, it truly felt like the Canucks season was right back where it started, with confusion playing the leading role once more as we sat back and wondered where Sam Rockwell’s monologue was taking us.
But fast forward to Tuesday night, and you know what? A 6-2 victory sounds a whole lot more exciting when it’s framed around beating a top team in the league in the form of the Winnipeg Jets.
And not just beating them. They were beating them. You can’t hear the inflection in my voice, but imagine Captain Holt being impressed by the paper you wrote on Dieterich Buxtehude in college.
Yes, Connor Hellebuyck didn’t have his greatest game, but let’s not short the Canucks efforts on this night. They made his life miserable by going against the usual game plan of “point shot and pray” and instead used an exhilarating approach known as “offence off of the rush,” something Google tells me is quite exciting.
And while we laugh/cry about the Canucks parking the bus to defend leads, this was a night in which they parked the bus but kept their hands firmly on their weapons. They didn’t sit back and invite Winnipeg to take turns beating their goalie with socks filled with soap. Instead, they made the Jets pay by counter-attacking them when they over-extended, creating multiple odd-man rushes in the third period to keep the Jets from getting too comfortable on the attack.
Brock Boeser, two goals and an assist.
Quinn Hughes, two assists.
Nils Höglander finally scored a goal.
Linus Karlsson looked like he belonged.
Derek Forbort is a god damn revelation in that bottom pairing.
Tyler Myers glared at a dude.
Kevin Lankinen got his 24th win of the season, an incredible story considering he was a last-second addition to the team.
Not once did Rick Tocchet give his “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed look” at his team, nor did he once mock an official for being so bad at their job that they won’t get to ref a playoff game.
It was one of the best games of the season from the Canucks on a night they desperately needed to win in order to keep pace in the chase for a playoff spot.
Now, we’re no fools around here. We know the Canucks could easily revert back to their middling ways on the upcoming road trip. I don’t think anyone is watching this game and thinking to themselves that the Canucks have unlocked the magic formula to being an elite team. The second you think the Canucks are going to come through for you, that’s when they stab you in the back and proceed to try and fight you in a coliseum to win over the people.
But I do think the fan base will see a team that played some of the best offensive hockey it’s had all year, and they might get a little bit of hope. Hope that this team can maybe find a way to play like that again. Hope that this team can find a way to secure some more wins as they fight for a playoff spot. Hope that we get to see more goals that don’t involve the words, “and they take a wrister from the point, easy save by the goaltender.”
If nothing else, it at least gave us an exciting game of hockey to watch when after enduring a season like this, you’re damn right we’re going to take that and be happy with it.
Let’s see the gifs already.
Best travel the world and the seven seas
Drew O’Connor, summoning his inner Doc Holliday in the first period, got the Canucks first goal on a rush chance created after Lankinen had to make a save after Tyler Myers had his pocket picked behind the net:
What’s notable here is that the Canucks didn’t dump the puck into the corner and then begin the slow process of fighting to get it back for the entire shift just to end it with a solid line change.
No, instead, they kept possession of the puck and got a zone entry. Even odder, they passed the puck and continued to rush to the net. And even odder than that, they passed it again and took a shot that beat a goalie. It truly was the stuff sweet dreams are made of. Who am I to disagree?
And since it feels like the Canucks rarely score goals like this, let’s see it from another angle:
Could Connor have made the save? Sure. I am not going to say it was an elite shot that has Ovechkin looking over his shoulder at Drew O’Connor.
But it was a good shot on net, and it was off of the rush, something fans have been begging for. It’s the kind of shots other teams seemingly produce with ease against the Canucks, while Vancouver tends to sit back with bated breath to see if Victor Mancini’s blast from the point will even be officially recorded as a shot by the NHL.
In short, it was a dangerous look rush pulled off with a bit of skill and a bit of flair, which is the lowest of bars we’ve been begging for from this team for months.
Best big man on campus
Kyle Connor had a chance to tie the game up moments later but was denied by equal parts “KEVIN” and equal parts “Oh Kyle, what are you doing.”:
I don’t think Kyle realized how much time he had with that puck. He had enough time to come to terms with a Thomas Drance goal description before taking that shot, but he hurried it. You can see he doesn’t even look up until he’s shooting the puck, but by then, it’s too late, and he’s already firing it back in Lankinen’s direction.
Which to Kevin’s credit, he made sure to make himself a target to stop the puck. If I was in net, I’d still be hanging out by the post wondering when the shot was going to come through, and then when the puck went in, I would raise my arms like it was my defender’s fault. How can I be expected to make a save in this environment? My flailing arms would imply.
Best it’s worse in 4k
I feel like players from the 90s must be thanking the Gods themselves that Dominik Hasek played in the standard definition era, so they didn’t have to clearly see their souls leave their bodies when he robbed them of sure goals. Players from back then could pretend their weeping on the bench never happened, lost to the pixels of time.
Unfortunately for Jonathan Lekkerimäki, we have crystal clear HD to replay the exact moment Connor Hellebuyck broke his heart:
That’s an incredible save on a play in which Jonathan had every reason to score that goal. Not only did Jonathan lay out his intentions to marry that puck, he even signed a pre-nup for it. Alas, Love might be blind, but Connor is not, as he got just enough of his paddle on the puck to make the save.
Fun fact: Love is Blind has been filmed in 11 different countries, yet not once has a Love is Blind: New Westminster has been brought to the table. The Waves coffee shop in New West deserves a “meeting their friends for the first time” scene before almost getting stabbed at Columbia Station.
Best bold honesty
Cole Perfetti almost tied the game up for the Jets just past the middle of the first period, only to be denied by one Kevin Lankinen:
That was a pretty nifty move from Cole as he not only dangled past two Canucks, but his shot almost beat Kevin as well.
I kind of envision a world where when Perfetti scores, he throws confetti in the air and screams, “PERFETTI!!!” but I’m not sure how to brand confetti so it can be reasonably called Perfetti. Throwing a mixture of confetti and Percocets into the air seems wildly irresponsible but it’s my only idea so far.
Best layers of sadness
I mean usually on a 3 on 2 you wanna take the pass away and clear any rebounds
Instead you get sliced like a hot knife through butter and sniped on with no screen#Canucks
— Rohil Patel (@rohilpatel15) March 19, 2025
The most impressive player from the Winnipeg Jets on the night? Nikolaj Ehlers and it wasn’t even close:
Ehlers left Marcus Pettersson in the past so badly that he needed a DeLorean to get back to the bench and narrowly avoid making out with his Mother in high school.
It’s an incredible goal, where, sure, you can say Kevin could have had that. But damn it, that’s the joy of cutting to the middle of the ice; take enough shots from there, and it’s going to pay off. No offence to a wrister into traffic from the point, but this is the kind of offence that gets results in the NHL.
Ironically enough, this goal was partly a result of the Canucks feeding the puck to the point for a weak wrist shot. With the Canucks trying to layer the slot and take away the goalie’s eyes, it ended up with Vancouver’s forwards caught deep in the offensive zone, allowing Ehlers to get a bit of runway on the play.
Would it have helped if Marcus Pettersson wasn’t trying out as an extra in a race scene out of the next Fast and Furious? Of course. Tokyo drifting isn’t just something one can pick up overnight.
But end of the day that’s just a highly skilled goal from the Jets forward.
Best it feels so good
The Canucks power play showed what Rick Tocchet would call after the game, urgency on the night.
After failing to generate much of anything against Utah, the Canucks managed to score on the power play when they decided that letting Brock Boeser fool around a bit in the bumper spot might have its advantages:
We know Jake DeBrusk has the best net front game on the team, but Brock is also very good in that role. I still fondly remember Brock and Andrei Kuzmenko battling to see who could go full Rocket League and be the last one to tap the puck before it crossed the line.
So, it’s not shocking that having Brock floating near the net can pay off, as he has good hand-eye skills, as shown on this goal. The Canucks puck movement also felt quick and purposeful, compared to “dear god, please don’t give me the puck, what are you doing, how could you do this to me, when can I go for a line change” energy that it sometimes carries.
It was also another game in which Lekkerimäki looked mighty competent at working on the first unit power play. He doesn’t do anything fancy, but he makes quick, confident passes, which is something this team needs to be reminded about at times with the extra man.
Best regroup or reload?
The Canucks third goal on the night was a direct result of the dreaded regroup. Or was it a reload? I’m still not sure:
The endpoint is this entire goal is started due to Brock Boeser intercepting the puck in the neutral zone, and rather than dumping the puck in and chasing it, he slows things down and regroups. In other words, he maintains possession of the puck, which tends to be pretty beneficial to teams wanting to score goals. It felt a lot like an overtime play where if there isn’t an obvious zone entry, then why give up the puck? Just reset and reload.
And that’s exactly what Brock does, he sees his team hasn’t finished its line change yet, so he slows things down, gets the puck back to his defense, and his team reloads and rushes the puck down the ice with speed and support.
The end result was, yeah, that’s a nice goal with a lot of good passing:
In Tocchet’s defence, I think his usage of terms like reload and regroup kind of muddy the waters when it comes to trying to figure out what it is he wants, but he has talked in the past that when you have a rush chance, you need to be all in on it. You have to have everyone supporting it to make it effective, and on this play, this is what the reload allowed to have happen. So I think this is exactly the kind of goal Tocchet would want more of, although I am uncertain if he would have liked Brock not dumping the puck in earlier in the play. Was this an approved reload? Or a disapproved regroup? We need to dive deeper into his vernacular. I need answers.
Either way, this is, again, what fans have been dying for. A team that won’t give up the puck easily and a team that won’t dump and chase at the first sign of resistance.
Best fear
They ended the night with 22 shots, but the Jets also only got 21. So overall, I say that’s a win.
Again, it wasn’t the usual parking of the bus, this team actually looked good defending on the night.
Best keep on keeping on
Up two goals, the Canucks continued looking for offence. At one point, they hemmed the Winnipeg Jets in their zone for almost two minutes, with Myers cutting to the middle of the ice to get a shot off, followed up by Myers charging to the net to get a shot from the slot with Teddy Blueger screening the goalie being the highlights of said pressure:
It was just nice seeing the Canucks trying out this dynamic approach that didn’t have me Googling “How to know when you’re infected with 2003 Minnesota Wild” after the game.
Best of the Jets
The Jets didn’t offer much pushback on the net, aside from Ehlers.
If you like players cutting to the middle of the ice and breaking ankles, then maybe you have Ehlers’s name circled on your UFA target list this off-season.
His latest victim? Nearly Nils trying to defend him on the rush:
Just straight up put Höglander into an EA Sports video game and smashed the deke button to go right around him. You could almost see Wile E. Coyote holding up the “Help me” sign as he ran off a cliff in pursuit of his target.
Best ironic revenge
Hey, if the Canucks were going to score goals off the rush, it’s only fair if the Jets scored using the vaunted GOTI system of grinding out a dump-in and feeding a low-high pass to the blue line and praying for a bounce or two to go your way:
Not a lot of goals are predicated on “And then Luke Schenn takes a shot,” but here we find ourselves.
One of the big issues on this goal is Adam Lowry took the stick of Elias Pettersson and ripped it from his hands, so D-Petey was down a vital instrument. The end result was Elias and Elias finally combining their powers as they attempted to clear the puck from the crease, but instead ended up colliding as the Jets scored.
I thought Elias and Elias might join together to form an even more powerful version of an Elias Pettersson. But apparently, you can add Power Rangers to the list of things that lied to me as a child, Dad.
Still, this is also a good reminder of how offence based around “thoughts and prayers” wrist shots from the point are not something you can rely on to get you more than a couple of goals a game. There is a reason the Canucks hadn’t scored more than three goals in a game in a very long time. It’s just not very efficient offense, as Winnipeg showcased Tuesday night.
Best giving it his all
Hey, the Jets might have lost, but at least they had Ehlers almost beating three Canucks, only to fall to the hands of the post:
Free agency, man. It’s right around the corner. The Canucks can finally right that Jake Virtanen wrong. Just saying.
Best rock out with your Brock out
Now as much as I chastise a low high point shot into traffic, there are levels to this.
Having very little movement and just sort of throwing a puck into stagnant traffic? No good.
Forechecking like a demon and winning multiple battles and then feeding the point before charging the net for the rebound? That’s the good stuff:
Nils Höglander’s efforts must be noted on this play, as he gets on his absolute best horse to chase down this puck on the initial forecheck. Without his tenacity, this isn’t a goal. And the same can be said for Brock, as his work along the end boards to not only win the puck but shield it enough so he can feed Marcus Pettersson at the point is the kind of effort you need in the GOTI system. You also need to go hard to the net like Brock did to tap in those loose rebounds, which is, again, something Tocchet has spoken about after recent losses, instances where his guys just aren’t getting to the loose puck. This is the Brock Boeser the Canucks need more of.
But back to Nils, just how impressive has his play been as of late? He actually got complimented publicly by Rick Tocchet:
This actually happened. This is a real thing that occurred.
Best putting their foot down
#Canucks getting their first look at what it will be like to play against Hellebuyck in the playoffs
— Hughes is the GOAT
And if that wasn’t enough for you, here’s the Canucks scoring a minute later after yet another strong forecheck led to a tap-in in front:
This time, it was Pius Suter and Jake DeBrusk tracking down the puck, leading to Jake finding Sherwood on the wing, who then quickly found Pius in front for the goal.
I feel weird doing recaps about a good offensive game from the Canucks. It feels so strange. So foreign. So…exciting.
That line of Suter, DeBrusk and Sherwood felt very much like a “wtf are you doing bro” line combo, created due to Conor Garland sitting out due to injury, but honestly, I kind of want to see more of it. That’s a nice blend of skill, defensive responsibility and “holy shit, please stop hitting me” that I can get behind.
Best don’t forget Kevin
I will forgive Marcus Pettersson’s failed box out only because it led to this Kevin highlight:
Kevin Lankinen out-dueling Connor Hellebuyck, a first-round preview?
I was sweating when I wrote that. I also nervously laughed a couple of times.
Best give us what we want
There was no parking of the bus in the second period. Instead, there were more shifts where the Jets found themselves stuck in their own zone for minutes at a time.
This time it was Myers taking shots, then Blueger taking shots, then Linus Karlsson digging away at the rebound like, well, I don’t know what exactly, but damn it, he was digging:
Linus Karlsson had his best game with the Vancouver Canucks, I can easily say that. He not only looked stronger on the puck, but we saw some flashes of the skill that he has consistently shown in the AHL this season. I still have no idea what his career trajectory is going to be, but for one night, the kid looked legit.
Best killing in the name of
With the Jets’ lethal power play getting a two-man advantage to end the second period, it might surprise you that the only highlight from that stretch was Kiefer Sherwood trying to go full Tommy Vanek to end the period:
Derek Forbort? Absolute beast of a penalty killer. The dude blocks shots, and his long stick breaks up so many plays in front of his goalie.
I will fully admit, when Derek Forbort struggled early in the season, I was too harsh on him. I didn’t give him time to adjust and find his fit with the team. I remind myself every season to take it game by game and let things develop, but sometimes it’s hard not to get washed away in a season gone wrong.
So, with that being said, I humbly apologize to Derek Forbort, as he has found his niche with the team. Bottom pairing guy who can kill penalties at an elite level. That’s filling the role that Ian Cole used to have, which is something we have seen as a pretty vital cog in the machine for a hockey team.
Best counter all day every day
The entire third period had very little Winnipeg Jets highlights because the Canucks were completely locked in in terms of defending the lead. They took away shooting lanes, they pressured the puck carriers, and, more importantly, the counter attacked Winnipeg every chance they got. The Jets had no chance to get into a rhythm or get any confidence because the second they tried, there was Suter and DeBrusk creating an odd-man rush the other way:
Oh you want to win a board battle? Sorry, Nils Aman is going to chop that puck over to Nearly Nils, setting up a two-on-one in which Höglander literally just points at the night and urges Brock to go for his hatty:
Oh, you thought you could score, but you forgot about the new hotness, aka the Sex Panther line of Sherwood, DeBrusk and Suter? Well, the Jets found out when Sherwood accidentally on purpose knocked down Dylan DeMelo, setting up another odd-man rush with Jake DeBrusk:
Sure, 60% of the time, it works every time, but more importantly, it created doubt in Winnipeg’s minds. It created caution and a little bit of fear.
Oh, you want to try and get within two goals before the five minute mark of the third period? Sorry, Brock Boeser wants to make a brilliant bank pass off the boards to an Elias Pettersson, who blew the zone correctly, generating another two-on-one, this time with Höglander:
It was just great hockey from the Vancouver Canucks; there is no need to describe it any other way.
Best hazing the rookie
About the biggest thing the Jets did in the period was Josh Morrissey running over Jonathan Lekkerimäki:
That’s a good hit, but Lekkerimäki popped right back up like nothing happened.
Best we need more Forbort license plates in the gift shop
Again, I have now reached the point where I am not only ok with Derek Forbort on the ice in the dying minutes of a game defending a lead, but I actively look forward to it:
You know I love me some Chaos Giraffe, but there’s something thrilling about watching a large defenceman seemingly make choices based on logic and deduction rather than the aim for the bushes approach Tyler sometimes takes.
Best Vancouver gonna Vancouver
Losing to Utah just to turn around and beat the Jets by multiple goals is a certified #Canucks moment.
—
The final goal of the game? Soon to be UFA and now 20-goal scorer Pius Suter?
That boy is going to get paid in the off-season.
Best pre-game talking point
Now, earlier in the day, Rick Tocchet spoke on a variety of subjects with Halford and Brough, and as usual, the coach was very open in his discussions surrounding the team. He has that John Tortorella gift of the gab where it makes covering the team far more interesting than the Travis Green stare-downs, where all Green really wanted to do was make sure you knew the opposition has a good team over there and what a tough league this is to win games in.
But with that verbal fun comes the glare of the spotlight, such as the sound byte Tocchet dropped when discussing Elias Pettersson’s game, in which he spoke of re-programming EP40’s alien brain and turning him into a much more North-oriented player. A Winter is Coming style player, if you will, playing with the urgency of someone thinking the White Walkers are just about to stab you at any second. Think sitting down with Nikita Tryamkin and forcing his eyes open to watch hours and hours of Chris Pronger highlights, except now they’re going to do it with Connor McDavid video clips.
Now, I firmly believe Rick Tocchet’s favourite team is the 2012 LA Kings. It was a team that suffocated you to death with its forechecking pressure and essentially made you want to quit the game of hockey if it meant you didn’t have to play that team ever again. It was the kind of game the Canucks played against the Jets, to be honest. Outwork your opponents and capitalize on their mistakes early and often.
The issue this season is that this roster hasn’t shown it can play the style of hockey Rick Tocchet wants out of them consistently, which leaves us with this weird hybrid we see before us: a team grinding out games to secure points, playing some of the most dreadfully boring hockey known to man, leading to random wins over the Jets of all teams, but also some losses where the coach seems at a loss to explain why his team won’t play the game he wants them to.
And it’s not just GOTI system stuff his team doesn’t execute; at times, it’s something as simple as working a power play against a team that pressures the point heavily, much like Utah did against Vancouver in their last game. It doesn’t take a hockey genius to map out the path to trying to beat that: get the puck down low and use the room the team has given you, yet here we are, wondering what happened in that 3-1 loss to Utah.
Because, at times, yes, it feels like this team cannot execute simple hockey strategies. Something as basic as “moving your feet” or “get the puck into the middle of the ice” has apparently baffled the roster for the majority of the season, leading us to a world in which it feels like the team is a bunch of plucky five-year-olds who need to be taught the fundamentals of hockey. Then we have the game tonight where the Canucks are winning battles, creating chances off the rush, and counter-attacking with not just urgency but aplomb. They were counter-attacking with freaking aplomb.
So the age-old question for this team remains: is it the coach, or is it the roster that is to blame for this season’s woes? Tocchet spoke about creating a more dynamic offensive approach after the playoff loss to Edmonton last season, but it hasn’t materialized. Is that a limitation of his coaching, or did he realize his roster “doesn’t have the juice” to play how he wants, so in the meantime, he will grind out a season and see if they can adjust the roster next year? Are the players so focused on sticking to the GOTI system that they are overthinking the basic fundamentals of offensive hockey, or do they need players with the speed and tenacity required from a Tocchet approach?
This is what makes that quote about Elias such a sound byte because it just hammers home how much of a systems coach Rick Tocchet is. If you don’t play the way he wants, you will quickly find yourself traded away; we have seen it happen multiple times under his reign. We can also see from the interview how strictly Rick views his approach to hockey, as that’s a pretty firm statement about not only changing the entire way a former 100-point player plays the game but also about how he doesn’t believe you can win with what he calls a re-grouping style.
Now, that being said, there is only so much you can glean from a short statement like that. For all we know Rick Tocchet cannot stand the plays where a skater enters the zone, and then pulls up and never approaches the center of the ice again. Maybe in his eyes, the re-group style is simply the idea of players not going to the hard areas of the ice, of players standing still and not moving their feet. One would imagine he enjoys how Quinn Hughes plays the game of hockey, and that is a player who certainly re-groups more than anybody on the team, and to great success, but it usually involves him making sure he finds a way to get the puck into dangerous areas.
A game like the one against the Jets is almost a perfect catalyst for trying to figure out where Rick’s coaching desires start and where the player’s skill set begins. At the end of the day, we might have to face the fact it could just be that this team wasn’t built for Rick’s style. And he might also not be able to force them into it either, big win against the Jets notwithstanding.
It honestly feels a bit like a perfect storm with a struggling team, rising ticket prices, the entire Elias/JT divorce playing out, and the high volume of tedious hockey all coming together in the same season. Everyone wants answers, and nobody seems to have any except “well I guess we will see how this season plays out.” which is a tough sell to a market that endured that motto for nine years under Jim Benning.
But a wise man did once say this is a tough league to win in. And heck, they have a great team over there. So maybe that’s all we can do. Maybe this win against the Jets is the spark this team needs to lock into the kind of hockey Rick Tocchet wants out of them.
It feels more fun to believe this is a turning point, so let’s leave it at that until the next loss.
Because honestly? Nobody has the answers yet.
So, I guess we will see how this season plays out?
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One of the bigger surprises at this year’s NHL Trade Deadline was that the Vancouver Canucks did not move off of three of their pending UFAs, Brock Boeser, Pius Suter and Derek Forbort.
While it looked to be the right decision on Tuesday night against the league-leading Winnipeg Jets, as both Boeser and Suter netted a pair of goals each, the best decision may have been to hang onto their 6-foot-4 216-lbs defenceman Forbort.
Forbort hasn’t had an easy first year in Vancouver. After signing a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Canucks on July 1, he played just three games before the loss of his father. Forbort remained out of the lineup for the following five games (12 days) before returning to the team on October 28.
He sat out the following game to get back up to game speed before returning to the Canucks lineup against the San Jose Sharks. Forbort then sustained an injury shortly after his first game back. It was reported that the defenceman got tangled up in practice and would miss the following 17 games.
Once he returned, only an illness kept him out of the lineup for three games. But other than that, he’s been a mainstay in the Canucks lineup night in and night out, playing 37 consecutive games – the only Canuck defenceman to do so since December 19.
We point this out because of the emergence of young defenceman Elias Pettersson and Victor Mancini. While both players are performing well in their short stints and are certainly earning their spot on the blue line, it isn’t coming at the expense of Forbort’s ice time.
Now, this could have been different had Quinn Hughes not missed 14 games over the span. But let’s not discredit Forbort’s play.
The former first-round pick has mostly played on the Canucks bottom-pairing but has provided a nice fill-in option higher in the lineup, playing top-pairing minutes with Filip Hronek when Hughes was out. In the first four-game stint without Hughes, Forbort hit over 20 minutes of ice time in three games. During Hughes’s second lengthy absence, E. Pettersson saw a bump to the top line, while Forbort still managed 17:33 minutes as a bottom-pairing guy – fourth highest on the team.
The Minnesota native is most known for the defensive side of his game. However, he has managed to find the scoresheet with seven points (three more than last season in 35 games), including this beautiful give-and-go with Conor Garland earlier in the month.
Derek Forbort scores his first goal as a Vancouver Canuck!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 10, 2025
But the stay-at-home defenceman excels in his own end, especially on the penalty kill.
Instead of looking at the season as a whole (because of all the things he had to deal with), we will be looking at his impact on the Canucks during the last 37 games, where he’s become a mainstay in the lineup.
During that time, Forbort has logged the most ice time on the penalty kill, playing more than 23:36 more than Tyler Myers, who’s in second, which is expected if he’s played the most games. However, even from a minutes-per-game perspective, Forbort leads the group in average penalty kill ice time per game, logging 2:19 – Marcus Pettersson and Hronek aren’t far behind at 2:13.
To further highlight his contributions on the penalty kill, here is where the Canucks’ penalty kill ranked across the league from the start of the season to December 18 – when Forbort played just five games:
Now, here is where the Canucks’ penalty kill ranks across the league from December 19 to today – with Forbort playing all of the Canucks’ 37 games:
The Canucks went from 80% through the first 31 games to first at 85.3% without Forbort coming out of the lineup.
That is a massive boost with and without one player.
And his numbers are more impressive when looking at what he’s done on the penalty kill since the 4 Nations Face-off.
As The Athletic’s Thomas Drance pointed out yesterday, Forbort has a positive on-ice goal differential on the penalty kill since the 4 Nations break while leading all Canucks defenders in shorthanded time on ice.
Here is the play of Forbort blocking the pass to the bumper as an example of his value down a skater:
And another play where he saved a goal later in the game:
Derek Forbort saves a goal! What a defensive play by #27!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 19, 2025
That span stretches over 13 games, where Forbort has not been on the ice for a goal against on the penalty kill and was on the ice for Dakota Joshua’s shorthanded goal. The Canucks have been shorthanded 33 times since the break, having allowed three goals but none with Forbort on the ice.
Not only that, you have to go back to January 23 (20 games) to find the last game in which Forbort was on the ice for a shorthanded goal against.
Another area in which Forbort has provided value to this blueline isn’t something you can find on a stat sheet.
As a 33-year-old veteran defenceman, Forbort provides leadership and stability to the bottom-pairing with whichever young-in he’s paired with. He has spent time as a safety net for Pettersson or Mancini as they transition to the NHL game while teaching them along the way. Having an experienced defensive defenceman to lean on helps calm the young blueliners’ nerves, which can help their confidence as they develop.
His leadership was recognized by head coach Rick Tocchet when Forbort wore an ‘A’ on March 11 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Forbort is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The Canucks have the deepest blueline in recent memory with Hughes, Hronek, M. Pettersson, Myers, E. Pettersson, Mancini and Forbort, with Tom Willander coming.
It has been reported that if the Canucks did not trade Forbort at the NHL Trade Deadline, they would try to re-sign him. Given the stability he provides on the penalty kill and as a leader on the back end, this looks to be a good veteran fit for years to come and help develop the young defencemen.
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The No. 3 Boston University Terriers saw their Hockey East Championship dreams fall short on Thursday, falling 5-2 to No. 4 UConn in a single-game semifinal at TD Garden.
Fresh off a heart-pounding overtime victory against UMass in the quarterfinals, BU — home to Vancouver Canucks prospects Tom Willander and Aiden Celebrini — looked poised to keep rolling for a chance at a Hockey East Title on Friday.
Despite a promising start, the Terriers stumbled in a lopsided second period, handing UConn the momentum and, ultimately, the win.
BU struck first, burying an early goal to take a 1-0 edge, courtesy of one of our CanucksArymy college free agent targets, Quinn Hutson. But the middle frame flipped the script, where UConn erupted to pot three goals on 13 shot attempts to take a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The Terriers mounted a desperate rally in the third, firing everything they had with a 13-3 shot advantage. But the Huskies stood tall, weathering the storm to seal the deal with a late empty-netter.
Aiden Celebrini found the back of the net in the final seconds with a quick snapshot from the half-wall, but it was a mere footnote, cutting the deficit to just 5-2.
As for Tom Willander, Vancouver’s highly touted defensive prospect, he was on the ice for the empty-net goal but not for either of his opponent’s four even-strength goals. He finished with no shots and a minus-1 in the match.
With the win, UConn advances to Friday’s Hockey East Final, while the Terriers head home to lick their wounds.
The “Willander Watch” is almost on
For Vancouver fans, the focus shifts to Tom Willander, who’s expected to sign a deal with the Canucks following his sophomore season. But if you were expecting a deal to be made tomorrow, you’ll have to wait a little longer.
This loss stings, but BU’s campaign isn’t over. A strong regular season secured their spot in the NCAA National Tournament. They’ll now take a week to reset before the regional round, set for March 28-30, to salvage the lost season within their conference.
If BU bows out in regionals, expect “Wallander watch” to be officially on. But if the Terriers rally, they’re Frozen Four-bound, facing off in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 10 and 12.
Patience Canucks fans. Patience.
In a game that had intense playoff implications written all over it, it’s perhaps fitting that the final result felt like you got to experience the entire Vancouver Canucks regular season in a single night.
You had the high levels of tedious dump-and-chase hockey, where the chasing part felt optional.
You had the gritty GOTI effort of a team defending their ice and doing their best to play low-event hockey.
You want wishful point shots into traffic? Well, put on your fancy shirt because this game has you covered.
You had the thrills of scoring a few goals, only to turn around and watch the lead slip away.
Then you had the last-second goal to tie the game up, putting the Canucks into a position to win, something that they had no business doing.
But then you had your old friend overtime sliding its dagger into the heart of Canucks fans everywhere, bleeding away points as it has all year long, dragging Vancouver closer and closer to missing the playoffs.
At another time, in a different month, the Canucks salvaging a point in a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues would have been met with…well, not excitement, but at least a solid conversation based around the idea that “it could have been worse.” Nothing says “Canucks hockey” quite like explaining away crippling losses with “it could have been worse” while you do your best to forget you ever heard your buddy talk about the Canucks losing one on the road in the 2011 Finals so they could win the Cup on home ice.
At the very least, there would have been a healthy debate about where Brock Boeser’s clutch goal stands amongst wind-up piss missile goals in Canucks history. Still slightly behind “bar down” because Game 8 had more on the line, but it feels like a healthy top-five discussion.
None of that ultimately matters for the team, of course, because the Canucks wound up losing to the Blues. As much as we all enjoyed Matt Cooke’s heroics in 2004, let’s not pretend you’re not always afraid of someone asking, “and then what happened?” when you bring it up.
For Brock Boeser, it’s a huge goal, of course. It’s another clutch moment on his resume as he walks towards free agency, freshly anointed with the banner of “being the Canucks own UFA deadline acquisition”, perhaps the worst PR branding from a team in recent memory. I thought a player coming back from injury being “like trading for a player at the deadline” was the lowest form of branding, yet here we find ourselves at a new low.
But for Brock, there is something to be said about how laughable it all seems that a market couldn’t be created for him at the deadline. That teams didn’t see his almost (at the time) 200 career goals and not think he could add some scoring juice to a team looking to go on a run. I think we can all admit Brock was certainly playing on a cold streak for a while there, but his career resume speaks for itself. It feels silly that during the Great Trade Deadline Wars of 2025 that a) the Canucks couldn’t frame Brock as an elite piece of a puzzle to another team, or b) another team wouldn’t roll the dice on him, or if you’re feeling frisky c) that the Canucks wouldn’t lock up Brock and keep him for themselves.
But while Pius Suter and Brock Boeser continue to raise their asking price in the off-season, it still hasn’t been enough for the Canucks to play consistent hockey. It’s why when the Canucks won two in a row only to fall flat against Utah, only to beat the absolute sh!t out of Winnipeg, only to turn around and scratch and claw out an overtime loss to St. Louis, I don’t think anybody was that surprised.
Sure, part of you wonders if that infamous light switch will ever go off, and maybe the Canucks will go on a bit of a hot streak. I don’t think anyone is silly enough to want to go to Camelot or think the Canucks will bust out a magical march to the Cup Finals, but I do think there was some fun in thinking the Canucks could secure a playoff spot going on a bit of a heater.
Instead, we get to dissect another loss and find ourselves wondering which team will show up Saturday morning against another team fighting for its playoff lives in the form of the New York Rangers. I think a former Canuck plays for them now as well, but I can’t remember.
The point is, I think we’ve all given up on trying to figure this team out. It is what it is at this point: an inconsistent roster that can’t seem to stop the roller coaster it’s on.
Whether that can give us a round or two of playoff fun, well, that’s about the only thing we have left to find out.
CARSON SOUCY! That was the ex-Canuck.
Big revenge game for Carson on Saturday.
I knew there was someone.
Best Lil John tactics
Much like that sobering talk you have with yourself when you hit your 30s, the Canucks came face to face with failing to live up to expectations in the first period. The Canucks were outshot 12-3 in the opening frame, were handily outplayed, and were also routinely beaten by the Blues physically, completing the hat trick of thoughts of “why is this my life”, “how can I make this stop” and “but seriously, we beat the Jets 6-2, what happened?”
That beautiful zone entry game the Canucks used against the Jets on Tuesday? Nowhere to be seen. Most likely in witness protection. Possibly afraid Rick Tocchet was going to murder it for attempting an east/west pass.
In its place was a team that was seemingly afraid of any and all body contact, rushing passes and making it look like just getting to the red line to dump the puck in without icing it was the most heroic sh!t you’ve ever seen. That dramatic friend of yours that can make someone pronounce their name wrong seems like a life-altering moment in their life, one in which life and death were in a precarious battle of chicken in front of them; that’s what the Canucks felt like in the first period. You almost expected one of them to turn around grinning proudly, expecting a trophy because they dumped the puck into the corner for an efficient line change.
What I am saying is it hurt my soul to watch the first twenty minutes of hockey in this game. Not sure if you picked up on that.
The Blues, on the other hand, found ways to enter the zone with possession and shock of shocks and were able to generate scoring chances. I am not sure of the science behind it, but apparently, that helps in hockey.
The only silver lining for Vancouver? Kevin Lankinen. He was the only reason this game remained 0-0 through one period.
But the Blues had their looks on net. First you had Alexey Toropchenko throwing a puck on net that led to Nathan Walker almost cashing in the rebound:
Then you had Jake Neighbors going full Mr. Rogers and walking in and teaching Elias Pettersson a lesson in puck possession, stealing it from the Canucks centre and feeding a smooth pass out to Rob Thomas that Lankinen had to make a big save on:
Then you had Pavel Buchnevich work a give-and-go with Rob Thomas, leading to Lankinen having to make a quick Santana riff of a pad save on a one-timer:
At one point, the Canucks went over 10 minutes without getting a shot on net. Which isn’t that bad I guess, if you consider the quality of shots the Canucks sometimes take. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise that we didn’t have to witness them scrambling to try and get a wrist shot on net from the point.
Best Tim Horton’s special
Despite getting their heads caved in, the Canucks did manage to get a power play against St. Louis.
That was the good news.
The bad news is they only generated one solid look at the net, which was immediately followed up by Hronek taking a penalty to get them off the power play:
This play was notable because it was maybe one of a handful of times the Canucks had a chance at a shot on net that close to Jordan Binnington. In a game where everything was on the line, the Canucks only managed three high-danger chances the entire game, which feels kind of depressing in a game in which they scored three goals.
Best earning his contract
No one but Lankinen showed up for that 1st. A joke of a performance so far for the biggest game of the season. #Canucks
— Mcsuper
Kevin Lankinen continued to hold his team in this game, for those of you who enjoy silver linings, and even got Jordan Kyrou to celebrate a fake goal:
The Blues basically moved the puck around until they could find the guy Jake DeBrusk was covering so they could get a good look on net.
Look, I enjoy Jake. I think he is a good player, but defensively, sometimes he makes me look out my window and wish for rain. He essentially set up shop in the middle of the ice and was like, “Whatever happens happens I guess,” which, on the one hand, I find bold and admirable, but on the other hand, why can’t you defend someone, why do you hate us so much?
Derek Forbort, on the other hand, did a good job securing the stick of Brayden Schenn, Lankinen did a good job making the initial save, and Fil Hronek did a good job of poking the poke away from the empty net.
It’s just, Jake, you could have skated a stride or two. That’s all I’m saying.
Best visual representation of futility
If this was the measles, we’d be delighted at the lack of an outbreak. Alas.
Best statistical representation of futility
The Canucks were .02 away from me legally being allowed to round them down to 0.00 xGF at 5 v 5.
Best we go together like
If Corsi was a heartbeat, then the second period was the only time the Canucks showed signs of life. They scored goals in the third period, mind you, but the second period was the only time it felt like they hemmed St. Louis in their own end for solid stretches of time.
That being said, this game only had three high danger chances. So while getting nine shots in the middle frame was a positive in this game, it’s also a really low bar? It’s kind of like congratulating yourself for making it inside your lobby before you puked? Like yeah, good job, I guess? Maybe it would have been better to throw up outside? I don’t know.
The point is, Hronek passing the puck over to Marcus Pettersson and hoping for the Jake DeBrusk tip was clearly streets ahead of the first period, it’s still not exactly thrilling hockey:
Hey, I like Jake. I think he is the best guy on the team in terms of his blue paint game and being able to get deflections. And that was a great tip! It might have actually scored!
But when you only get 18 shots on net on the night and the majority of your offense is based on grease and luck, well, then you’re one flying car away from being really confused about that the plan was here, exactly.
But at least getting shots on net is better than not, so here’s Hronek firing at the net and missing, and then MP3 taking a shot on net with no traffic:
The Canucks best chance in the second period was probably Drew O’Connor and Linus Karlsson, who, with their power combined become Captain Forecheck. The chance ended up with Linus getting the puck across the crease to Teddy Blueger for what was almost a tap-in:
It did represent a much better effort from Vancouver; I will give them that. They got the shots to 15-11, still in the Blues favour, but at least they were pushing back and earning some offensive zone time. It just didn’t end up generating any goals, which has been a constant for them the last year or so.
Best the other Nearly Nils
It’s when you forget about Nils Aman that’s when he almost kills you:
Again, the offence was generated by Hronek throwing it on net, and this time, Joshua won the puck battle, which resulted in Aman having time to swoop in and get the shot off the crossbar.
Yes, it’s very delightful to see Conor Garland setting a screen.
Best sticking up for MP3
At one point, the Canucks were stuck in their zone for what felt like several hours, with Mp3 ending up taking a 2:56-minute shift. And you bet your ass I made sure I didn’t miss the “f” in shift.
The one good thing about an exhausted MP3? As Grady points out, his stick range allows him to make plays even when exhausted:
Again, I think the Canucks are generally trying their hardest out there. I think they can clearly overthink the game at times, and I think they don’t have enough skill in the lineup, but very rarely do I question their efforts. It feels like their hearts are in the right places.
It’s just, yeah, that whole “can’t generate offence” thing keeps getting in the way.
Best jinx
While I refuse to acknowledge any Bolduc that isn’t Alexandre, I do respect Zac scoring a very Canucks looking goal, aka “taking a shot from the point and praying it goes in”:
It appeared the puck deflected in off of Quinn Hughes, which continues the Canucks tenuous relationship with the Hockey Gods as of late.
I should also note that this was a game in which Quinn Hughes looked exhausted and a shell of his normal self, yet he still played over 30 minutes and was still clearly the Canucks best defenceman. We are spoiled by Quinn Hughes’s normal God Mode, but I do have to point out that, yeah, this was one of those games where he looked mortal. I just wanted to tell him to take a nap at one point and not to worry about us for a bit.
Which again, isn’t an insult, I am not bagging on this man. I am just pointing out the uphill battle this team was facing, as they rely an awful lot on God Mode Hughes to carry them to victory in games like these.
Best shooting your shot
The Canucks tied the game up early into the third period when Kiefer Sherwood took off a well-placed shot from what didn’t feel like a dangerous area but was very much helped by Jake DeBrusk’s blue paint game:
In this case, Jake placed a perfect screen, and Kiefer put his shot in the perfect spot to beat Jordan Binnington. It was also a goal created by quick puck movement, as they zipped the puck around to the point that the Blues were caught chasing, which allowed Sherwood enough time to get the shot off in the first place.
Best Chaotic roller coaster
Strap in for the Tyler Myers ride because it’s a bit of a journey.
First, we had the ups of the Chaos Giraffe, like this shot on a pass from Quinn Hughes that almost beat Binnington but ultimately dribbled wide, aka the blueprint for the later Boeser goal:
Then you had Tyler Myers defending his crease, rushing out to block a Rob Thomas shot attempt on an empty net:
It felt like the stock was rising on the Chaotic Giraffe Bitcoin, and you could feel yourself wondering what magic he had in those hands of his. Only to turn around and watch questionable defensive zone coverage and aim-assisted scoring later in the game.
We shall get to that shortly.
Best betting on yourself
Brock Boeser gave the Canucks their only lead of the night when he scored his third goal in two games, this time off of a beauty of a wrist shot off the rush:
Things to note about this goal:
- It doesn’t happen without the elite defensive instincts of Elias Pettersson. His positioning on the back check allows him to intercept the puck that starts the counterattack.
- Nils Höglander continues to play like a top-six forward. His ability to push the puck with pace has helped this line feel faster than it has any right to be. He also sets up a good screen on the shot from Brock.
- And, of course, the shot itself. Brock is a lethal boy; we all know this. It just felt like he forgot that the last couple of months. Always be shooting, Brock. That was an important comma.
Best well that was fun
Alas, it was but a mere few moments later when Tyler Tucker took a shot off of Brayden Schenn’s faceoff win that led to the Blues second goal:
It also looks like the puck deflected off of Jake DeBrusk here, and to be fair, he can’t help himself. Dude just loves tipping pucks.
Ultimately, it’s hard to criticize this goal past “shoulda won that faceoff,” but at least it wasn’t some generational defensive breakdown that led to the goal? That’s a silver lining, right?
Best Irish Whiskey shot of the game
Tyler Tucker would then conspire with Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou to score the Blues third goal of the game:
Things to note about THIS goal:
- Yes, that’s Jake DeBrusk having his shot blocked by Tyler Tucker, leading to the counterattack. Yes, that’s Jake DeBrusk randomly cross-checking Tyler Tucker and falling over him, conveniently leaving him off of “back-checking duty.”
- Yes, that’s Tyler Myers randomly floating away from his coverage for reasons I cannot begin to understand. Maybe his heart hurt seeing his tired son playing through injuries, so he came over to offer up emotional support to him.
- Yes, that’s Pius Suter sitting back to cover the middle of the ice and stop Brayden Schenn from being a factor, which he did. He just didn’t expect Myers to release Holloway like that, so he has no way to help out.
- Yes, I’m still not sure why the chaos giraffe constantly floats away from coverage. I mean, I do. He’s a chaos giraffe. It’s in his name. It just felt like really poor timing here. If Myers defends the GOTI here, then Rick Tocchet is happy, and that goal probably isn’t going in.
- Yes, that was an American crowd chanting “USA, USA, USA” in front of the Canadian goalie who took their gold away from them.
Best Madonna almost wrote a song about this
Despite looking like a man who had been fighting in the White Mountains of Middle-Earth for months on end, Quinn Hughes was still giving every single inch of his heart and soul to this game. So while he wasn’t able to dance around the ice at will, breaking ankles left and right, he was still out there emptying his fuel tank until it was well past empty.
At one point, he had a three-minute shift where Hronek was on the ice, left for a change, then came back on the ice, and Hughes was still there. It’s like that time you left work and came back the next day, and you were pretty sure your manager never left.
And again, he wasn’t generating lethal chances (nobody was), but he was still generating shots on net and giving them a chance at a greasy goal:
Again, I know this team tries. I just don’t think it has the juice to stay with the top teams.
Best Rounders into form
With the game almost over and the puck being kicked out of the Blues zone with under 10 seconds left, I was sure this game was over. I was so sure I stood up and said out loud, “I am so sure this game is over.” I even went for my customary sip of post-game water, so sure was I in my assessment.
Except I forgot the cardinal rule.
Somehow, I forgot that Brock Boeser is an absolute filthy animal:
Things to note about THIS goal:
- Boeser beat him blocker side earlier in the game, so I am convinced he was in Jordan’s head. You can see Binnington lean to his right and then staring up at the skies as he knew he got got.
- That shot is just a god damn wonderful thing. Look, I know wrist shots are cool, and nice dangles are better. But tell me there is nothing more empowering than watching a hockey player wind up and overpower the goalie with the ultimate piss missile. I know that Nashville goal Brock got was ultimately better because it led to a win and an eventual playoff series victory, but taking context out of it, this goal is a million times more badass. Brock straight up said, “not today,” and blew it by Binnington.
- Despite being a corpse on ice, Quinn Hughes still busts out a little shake and bake, which allows him to get the puck up to Elias Pettersson. There is no single other player on this team that could have made that play. Well, Tyler Myers might have. But he also runs the risk of turning around and shooting the puck into his own net. But consistently, there are very few players on this planet who would not only have the confidence to hold onto that puck and dangle around Buchnevich like that but even fewer who would have the skill to pull it off. And then on top of that, find the open player in the Blues zone.
- Elias Pettersson makes the perfect pass to set this goal up. 10/10, no notes.
Best elite beast
Best delaying the inevitable
Moments after Justin Faulk hit the post in overtime, Kevin Lankinen made another save on Kyrou that Jordan once again pre-celebrated:
You cannot ask much more from your goaltender than what Lankinen gave them on this night. Barring him turning into Dom Hasek, he gave the Canucks every opportunity to win the game.
It’s just, when you don’t have the puck in overtime, you tend to lose.
Best had the puck briefly
Elias Pettersson is going to get a lot of flack on the overtime goal because, admittedly, it’s objectively funny how the puck bobbles away from him in the seconds leading up to the goal:
Now, let’s do our final things to note about a goal on this night:
- Yeah, didn’t love Quinn Hughes sending a pass over to Elias in that spot. He’s basically sending a puck into a stagnant Elias, who has three guys on him; it doesn’t leave him with a lot of options. I think in a perfect world EP40 realizes he’s hooped so he sends it back into Vancouver’s zone, but it’s overtime and people are tired, this is when mistakes often happen.
- Yeah, didn’t love Jake DeBrusk casually going for that line change in overtime. There’s so much time and space in overtime that you have to make sure you get on and off the ice as quickly as possible. You should never be making a line change like you’re there to pick up your mobile order from Starbucks; you should always be flying in like you don’t own a phone, and you need to make sure you get in line in time to get a breakfast sandwich. The end result of this is Brock Boeser having to jump on the ice and try and play catch up from a standstill.
- I’m ok with Kevin making the lunge on that save. He’s thinking Philip Broberg is going to be trying to get that shot off as quick as possible, but this is where you have to give full credit to the skill and patience shown by Bro. Dude takes his time and lets Lankinen beat himself; that’s a dope goal that I can’t help but tip my hat to.
Best what could have been
Again, end of the day, this team lost another one in overtime. Not only that, they lost in a game that they can’t really afford to be losing in.
Time is running out on the clock, and we can’t keep going “Well they still have a chance” before the playoff scenarios end up sounding more and more grim.
Spirited effort? Sure.
Iconic moment to tie the game up? Of course. You know when you need a pick me up, you’re going to watch that Boeser last-second goal.
Ultimately a failure? Unfortunately yes. It was another game in which even when they had players step up in key moments, they still couldn’t seal the victory.
I guess what it comes down to is if Saturday’s game can finally be a turning point for this team. Will THAT be the game that gets them going consistently?
If a win over Carson Soucy can’t make that happen, then I don’t think anything else will.
See you Saturday.
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Another moral victory.
The Vancouver Canucks dropped a 5-3 decision to the New York Rangers this afternoon. The team didn’t play poorly at all – in fact, it was probably one of their best performances at both ends of the ice all season. And in typical Canucks fashion, instead of being rewarded for their efforts, they were punished and lost this game. Could they have done better in capitalizing when they were dominating the game flow? Sure. But at the same time… New York never really was the best team in this game, convincingly.
Here’s the loss, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.
Game Flow
There was nothing in this game that suggested the Rangers ever got a lick of momentum. The first period set the tone for the Canucks, who posted a 73.53 CF% and 84.63 xGF%. It was absurd, with Vancouver tallying 1.86 xGF in the opening frame alone. Should they have capitalized on that more? Probably, but at the same time, it wasn’t as if they gave New York a path back into this game from the stats side – they just didn’t build more. The Rangers only posted a single period at 0.5 xGF, with the Canucks holding a handy edge in expected goals and Corsi shares that shouldn’t have resulted in 5 goals against.
Heat Map
The heat map adds further support for the fact that Vancouver absolutely deserved to win this one. At 5v5, the scoring chances were 28-13 in favour of the Canucks, while the high-danger chances were 12-3. That much is apparent, where the Rangers had no hot spot of note in any significant area, and the Canucks got a really good patch right in front of Igor Shesterkin. The biggest thing here which will make most people pull their hair out is seeing that the Rangers were able to pot four 5v5 goals against the Canucks, despite lacking a lot in the chance generation department.
Individual Advanced Stats
Corsi Champ: It is hard to quantify the impact that Quinn Hughes has on this Canucks team. Leading the way with a 74.29 CF% and playing against the best the Rangers had to offer, the defenceman put in a shift and a half. At 5v5, Hughes was on ice for a 13-4 shot differential, allowing him to rack up a team-high 1.9 xGF and second-best 85.65 xGF%. The former Wolverine helped the Canucks get a 16-3 scoring chance differential, with a further 8-0 high-danger chance edge. Simply put, Hughes was dominant, putting on a clinic whenever he was on the ice and ensuring that New York didn’t have a sniff of offensive pressure.
Corsi Chump: Dakota Joshua brought up the rear in the Corsi department at 50.00 CF%. That’s a really good number to be at as the “worst” player on the team, as even that meant that he was splitting possession approximately evenly against the opposition. And it wasn’t as if Joshua wasn’t putting up good metrics elsewhere, managing to record the fourth-best xGF of 1.17 and a 70.47 xGF% for the game.
xGF: Jake DeBrusk found himself leading the Canucks with an 87.97 xGF%, thanks to his third-best 0.1 xGA and seventh-best 0.76 xGF. The winger was on ice for three HDCF and zero HDCA, all the while playing against New York’s top line all game. DeBrusk did manage to record an assist, so it wasn’t as if he was putting up empty stats, either. It was some solid results against solid competition in relation to the opposing team.
GSAx: Not Kevin Lankinen‘s finest moment. New York only managed 12 shots all game and accumulated 1.14 xGF in total. The Finn, letting four goals get past him, would record a -2.86 GSAx in a game where Vancouver had the ice tilted in their favour. Only one of the goals came from a high-danger chance, with two middle-danger goals against and one low-danger goal against. Lankinen just didn’t have a good game, and unfortunately, the results reflect that.
Statistical Musings
General misery: The stats from this game really aren’t bad at all. Were there some underperformers? Of course, but that’s the case with any game. Vancouver, the team posted some really good metrics and looked like a team that deserved to win this contest. Unfortunately, things didn’t go their way, and despite no player finishing below 50.00 CF% or 54.31 xGF% (Derek Forbort posted that last number, by the way!), the Canucks are now scoreboard watching and seeing their postseason hopes slip away.
As a team
CF% – 64.71% HDCF% – 84.21% xGF% – 76.86%
The Canucks played really good hockey here. They lept out of the gates in the first period, generating an amazing amount of chances and getting into the lead. After that, though, despite holding good enough share metrics, they didn’t do enough to bury the Rangers firmly, and in the end, that cost the Canucks. The implications of this result could be huge, and with each point so valuable, to come up completely empty-handed stings, especially given how well they played at both ends of the ice.
Vancouver stays on the East Coast, hopping over on Monday to play the New Jersey Devils.
Stats provided by naturalstattrick.com
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Saturday could not have gone much worse for the Vancouver Canucks and their dwindling playoff hopes. After starting the weekend just one point behind the St. Louis Blues, they’re suddenly hanging on for dear life thanks to being on the wrong side of so many games and some rotten health luck.
The Canucks arrived in New York City for their Saturday afternoon tilt against the Rangers with growing confidence in their scoring attack, despite a setback losing in overtime to the Blues on Thursday. And heading into the home stretch of the season battling for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, there was no better time to face a Rangers team fighting to crash the postseason party out East, albeit with an older, directionless roster.
The Canucks should’ve had no problems putting the Blueshirts away and gave every inclination that they would. For seemingly the first time all season, the Canucks were absolutely dominating their opponents in possession metrics and crushing the Rangers in shots on goal 39-12, including a 23-6 run after 40 minutes of play.
But in true Vancouver fashion, five of those 12 Rangers shots found the back of the net, including three on Kevin Lankinen in the third period alone. This resulted in the Canucks leaving Madison Square Garden with a shocking 5-3 defeat and no ground made in the playoff race.
But the biggest losses of the day arguably had nothing to do with the game itself. The Canucks suffered worse defeats in other ways, starting with an injury in the second period to Elias Pettersson.
Pettersson had been making key strides in recapturing his scoring touch of late, progress from his snakebitten play for most of the season. However, an unknown injury in the second period kept him from finishing the game (as did linemate Nils Höglander) and, according to coach Rick Tocchet, might prevent Pettersson from playing Monday and beyond.
The out-of-town scoreboard was even more unfriendly to the Canucks than the injury bug.
At the same time the Canucks were playing at MSG, the Blues dropped the puck against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks. It came as no surprise that by the time the game in New York was over, the Blues were already cruising to a crucial 4-1 win.
Meanwhile, down the road in Belmont Park, the New York Islanders took a 3-2 lead over the Flames with three minutes left, poised to keep Calgary off the points sheet. Thirty seconds later, Jonathan Huberdeau tied the game to force OT, where Nazem Kadri potted the winner and pushed the Flames in front of the Canucks in the standings.
Adding insult to injury, the Utah Hockey Club stomped out the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-4 later in the afternoon, putting them one point behind the Canucks with 22 games remaining for each.
Here are the updated Western Conference Wild Card standings after Saturday’s action:
The Canucks and their 76 points now sit third in the race for the final Wild Card spot, with the Blues in the driver’s seat at 79 points and the Flames second with 77. And with the Blues set to face the Nashville Predators on Sunday, the odds are high that the Canucks will be in a five-point hole by the time they face the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
As far as days of the season go, Saturday was about as terrible as it can get for the Canucks. Vancouver will hope that means there’s nowhere left to go but up, but with so little time left, they need to climb at breakneck speed.
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Welcome back to Stars of the Week at CanucksArmy! Every week, we’ll be bringing you our Top Three best and brightest performers on the Vancouver Canucks that week. Disagree with our picks or have your own stars to nominate? Let us know in the comments below!
With the postseason beginning to look like an increasingly unrealistic goal for the Vancouver Canucks, what exactly are they still playing for in their remaining 12 games? For glory? Definitely not. Out of spite? A little bit. For redemption? Sure.
The team had some momentum at the start of this week, following an exhilarating yet baffling win against the Winnipeg Jets. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to capitalize on this push any further. They came up just short and ended up with a pity point in an overtime loss against the St. Louis Blues, and they had an absolutely torturous and irrational loss against the New York Rangers. Torturous because it started at 10 AM on a Saturday – this game very well might have ruined your brunch – and irrational because the Rangers scored 5 goals on just 12 shots. The Canucks had 3 goals on 39 shots. Vancouver was effectively “Igor Shesterkin-d,” which is well on its way to being a functional verb.
The team has been looking more confident in shooting, certainly more than they did over the winter, but the wins just have not been coming up for them. Despite the perpetual monkey on their backs, let’s look at who showed up for the team this week.
Brock Boeser
Brock Boeser made it through the Trade Deadline as a Canuck – although, he has since said it was one of the longest weeks of his life thus far. Currently, he is still set to become a UFA this summer.
Boeser has not been able to play to last year’s career-high 40-goal season, and he has been struggling even further after the departure of J.T. Miller. This week might have just been his light at the end of the tunnel.
Boeser has suddenly woken up and remembered his role as a scoring winger and actually played like he deserved his first-line spot. He showed up for the team in crucial moments, not just once, but several times across three games. His 6 point week might just be the definition of clutch: 2 goals and 1 assist to lead the Canucks to a 6-2 clobbering of the Jets, 2 goals against the St. Louis Blues including a crucial game-tying goal, and another goal against the Rangers. St. Louis also saw him score his 200th career NHL goal – every single one as a member of the Canucks, since he was drafted in 2015. He’s shown tenacity, resilience, skill, and immense loyalty, as he always has.
BROCK BOESER TIES THE GAME WITH 4 SECONDS REMAINING IN THE 3RD PERIOD!!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 21, 2025
Playing on the top line alongside Nils Hoglander and Elias Pettersson has proven fruitful for Boeser. This momentum is now in question, however, following Hoglander and Pettersson’s uncertain injury statuses.
Brock Boeser has been putting up the kind of performance that makes you want to beg Patrik Allvin, Jim Rutherford and co. to meet the dollar amount Boeser and his agent are looking for in his next contract, or at least try to. If the Canucks cannot or will not do this, then the final stretch of the season gives Boeser the perfect opportunity to attract the lucky teams set to compete over him once he reaches free agency. It’s Brock Boeser’s world, and we’re just living in it – for the next few weeks, at least.
Kiefer Sherwood
Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser were not the only players to hit milestones this week – Kiefer Sherwood literally hit one.
Against the New York Rangers on Saturday, Sherwood broke the record for hits in a single NHL season. This was hit 384 – he would finish the game with 12 hits, which now has him securely in the single-season lead with 395. As if designed by fate, Sherwood’s record-breaking hit came against his former teammate Carson Soucy, who was traded to the Rangers at the Trade Deadline just weeks ago.
Other than his impressive hits feat, one that many fans have been counting towards all season, Sherwood also has a goal and an assist this week. Once again, Sherwood has proven to be one of the best free-agency signings the Canucks have made in recent years.
Quinn Hughes
Since January 31st, the Canucks have played 19 games – this time period also accounts for the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Hughes has only played in 9 of those games due to injury, presumably the same lingering oblique muscle issue that saw him forfeit his Team USA spot for 4 Nations. It is clearer than ever that Hughes is not playing at 100% health, but has resolved to finish off the season regardless. The team should thank their lucky stars that Quinn Hughes playing at less than 100% can be just as effective as others playing at 150% strength.
This week, Hughes has topped his teammates in ice time in every single game, his lowest turnout being 25:52 against Winnipeg, and he played over 30 minutes against St. Louis. This would be a lot for anyone, even if they weren’t playing through an injury in a season full of statistical horrors for his team. He’s been finding the scoresheet during these multitudes of shifts, too. He has 4 points in 3 games this week, and that’s coming off goals in back-to-back games last week, at that.
The third star of the week also finished off with a milestone. Hughes hit 400 career points this weekend against the Rangers, with a powerful shot outside of net-front traffic that Dakota Joshua was able to capitalize on to open the scoring.
Dakota Joshua opens the scoring at MSG!
That was quite the shift for Quinn Hughes. He broke Matt Rempe's ankles and picked up his 400th career point!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 22, 2025
If only the game had gone Vancouver’s way. The Canucks may have just wasted a season of record-breaking feats from the reigning Norris Trophy winner.
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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to today’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
The Devils started the game with plenty of jump, and got some good chances off on Thatcher Demko right off the bat. The good news for Canucks fans was that Demko looked sharp early.
With Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander heading back to Vancouver after exiting Saturday in New York, Pius Suter was elevated to the Canucks’ first line, and wasted little time in making his impact on this game. Suter found some space in the slot, and Marcus Pettersson did well to find him for the quick strike over Jacob Markstrom’s right shoulder.
Pius Suter wins the faceoff and scores a goal! What a shift for #24!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
1-0 Canucks.
The Canucks got their first power play of the game after Johnathan Kovacevic — WHO NEEDS TO PLAY BETTER — was called for high-sticking on Jake DeBrusk. The Canucks’ power play looked dysfunctional and struggled to get set up. But in the end it was the Canucks who were up on the scoreboard after 20 minutes of play.
The Devils got their first power play of the game five minutes into the second when the Canucks were called for a bench minor. The Canucks’ red-hot penalty kill stood tall, as did Thatcher Demko, who was looking more than comfortable after being off for so long.
It didn’t take long for the Devils’ next power play, as Teddy Blueger was called for a bit of a phantom trip on Tomas Tatar.
The Devils struck quickly, with Timo Meier burying a second chance shot to tie this one up.
Timo Meier scores on the power play for New Jersey.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
1-1.
From there, the Devils ratcheted up the pressure big time, hemming the Canucks in their own end and stacking shifts. The Canucks managed to withstand the Devils’ attack, entering the third period tied at one apiece.
Thatcher Demko was the Canucks’ best player early in the third, as he continued coming up with some big saves for them, including a massive one off of Dawson Mercer.
Thatcher Demko makes one of his better saves tonight!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
Just over five minutes into the period, the Canucks’ power play got another chance, a prime opportunity to take the lead in this one. Brock Boeser ripped a wrist shot off the post, but that was as close as the Canucks would get on this instance.
The Devils struck back on a fortunate bounce off the boards behind Demko, as they jumped into a late lead.
Timo Meier scores his second goal of the game. It's 2-1 New Jersey.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
2-1 Devils.
Just 45 seconds later, Jonathan Lekkerimaki took a beautiful pass from Derek Forbort and ripped a shot home to once again pull even.
Derek Forbort sets up Jonathan Lekkerimäki in the slot and he buries it! This game is tied!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
2-2.
New Jersey gets their one goal lead back.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
Then just moments after that, the Devils jumped out to another lead.
New Jersey gets their one goal lead back.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
3-2 Devils.
With just over two minutes left, the Canucks pulled Demko in favour of an extra attacker. Quinn Hughes went to work, and the Canucks rolled out some heavy pressure on the home side. Hughes fired a shot through traffic that led to a loose puck in the crease, and Conor Garland was ready to bury the rebound.
VANCOUVER TIES THE GAME WITH 30 SECONDS LEFT IN THE 3RD PERIOD!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
3-3.
This one needed overtime.
Quinn Hughes nearly ended this game just a minute into overtime when he pulled off an end-to-end rush that looked eerily similar to the rush he turned in Saturday against the Rangers, which turned out to be the fastest max speed of any player in the NHL this season. Hughes manufactured himself a breakaway chance, but Jacob Markstrom turned the shot attempt away with the blocker.
Then it was Thatcher Demko’s chance to shine.
THATCHER DEMKO MAKES A SAVE IN THE SPLITS
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
This one needed a shootout!
Paul Cotter: STOPPED.
Jake DeBrusk: SCORES!
Jesper Bratt: Scores.
Conor Garland: Stopped.
Timo Meier: STOPPED!
Pius Suter: Stopped.
Luke Hughes: Stopped.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki: SCORES THE WINNER
Jonathan Lekkerimäki scores the shootout winner! What a win for the Canucks!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 25, 2025
4-3 Canucks final.
Some more takeaways from tonight:
-Quinn Hughes is on an island right now.
-Good start for Demko. Nice to see him settle in and not show too many signs of rust.
-Jonathan Lekkerimäki is going to be great one day. He might even be great next season after an offseason of working out, and tonight, he showed so much of that potential. Great shootout move too.
-Great night for Aatu Räty in the faceoff dot.
-The dream lives on…
What’s your instant reaction to this game? Let us know in the comments section below! And be sure to tune into Rink Wide Vancouver moments after the final horn!
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