Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
Starting Lineup
Warmup #Canucks lines vs. @NHLJets
Kane. EP40. DeBrusk.
O’Connor. Rossi. Boeser.
Öhgren. Blueger. Garland.
Höglander. Kämpf. Karlsson.
EP25. Hronek.
MP29. Willander.
Buium. Joseph.
Tolopilo
7pm on @Sportsnet650 https://t.co/J6DNM1DB0V pic.twitter.com/kElvEICKsr
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) February 26, 2026
Great job by the Canucks in-arena, and an even better job by John Shorthouse on the broadcast to honour the late Jim Robson before this game got underway.
First Period
The Jets came out with a purpose to begin this game, and Nikita Tolopilo had to be sharp right from the get-go. He made a beautiful right pad save off a cross-crease chance in the first few minutes, and helped the Canucks withstand the early Winnipeg pressure.
That gave Drew O’Connor time to go the other way and snipe one five-hole on Eric Comrie to give the Canucks an early lead.
Canuck killer Kyle Connor scores for Winnipeg. It's 1-1
: Sportsnet | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/OM0767LNFK
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 26, 2026
1-0 and the assist to birthday boy Brock Boeser.
Evander Kane got dumped by Dylan Samberg behind the Jets’ goal, and after appealing to the ref for a penalty, Kane retaliated and took the game’s first penalty. On the power play, the Jets struggled to get set up, and the game stayed 1-0 Canucks.
With just over eight minutes left in the period, Mark Scheifele made a nice pass behind the grain to Kyle Connor, who buried his 26th goal of the season to tie this one up.
Some takeaways from the first:
-Liked some of what I saw from Marco Rossi playing with Brock Boeser.
-Nikita Tolopilo’s athleticism is flat-out impressive.
-Liam Öhgren was one of the Canucks’ best players before the break, and he nearly had a goal in the opening 20. It might have been a high stick, but it was still nearly a goal nonetheless, and that counts for something!
Second Period
Off an early faceoff win from Elias Pettersson, Evander Kane ripped a shot far side on Eric Comrie to give the Canucks their second lead of the night.
CANUCKS GOAL
Evander Kane rips a shot past Eric Comrie and puts Vancouver up 2-1!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 26, 2026
2-1 Canucks. If I were an opposing GM, I’d be giving up a second round pick for Kane ASAP. You just can’t risk missing out on an opportunity like this.
The Jets responded well after this goal, and began to apply some serious pressure onto the Canucks. Winnipeg earned their second power play chance of the game after Nils Höglander took an offensive zone hooking penalty. The Jets came close to scoring, but Conor Garland made a sweeping save to stop Kyle Connor from being able to shoot the puck into the yawning cage.
The Jets didn’t have to wait long for their next power play chance, though, as the Canucks were called for too many men on the ice. Again, Tolopilo and the Canucks’ PKers stood tall.
The Jets were all over the Canucks in the second period, and eventually, that translated into a goal as Gabe Vilardi battled with Elias Junior Pettersson at the net front and deflected the puck into the back of the net to tie this game up with a minute to go in the second.
Gabe Vilardi ties this game for Winnipeg
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 26, 2026
2-2.
Some takeaways from the second:
-Despite the hooking penalty he took, there were some noticeable rushes for Nils Höglander in this period. He’s a player I’ll be curious to watch down the stretch. It’s basically been a lost season for him, so can he make something out of the final 25 games?
-He gets the assist on the faceoff win, but it was a pretty uninspiring first 40 minutes for Elias Pettersson. Same with his linemate Jake DeBrusk.
Third Period
With the two sides tied at two all, something had to give in the third.
Filip Hronek let fly a point shot that hit the crossbar, Nils Höglander tried to break in on a partial break against Luke Schenn, and Nikita Tolopilo made some sharp saves in the first ten minutes of the third.
The Canucks got their first power play of the game when Kyle Connor got his stick up on Drew O’Connor with eight minutes to go. The Canucks’ first power play unit featured Hronek, Pettersson, Rossi, DeBrusk, and Boeser. That group struggled to get set up. The second group — Buium, Willander, Garland, Karlsson, and Kane — managed to get set up, but their best chance, which came off the stick of Tom Willander, was stopped with relative ease. Still tied up.
Conor Garland had a couple great chances to end this game, but couldn’t convert. This one needed overtime!
Some takeaways from the third:
-Sure didn’t notice Linus Karlsson much tonight.
-The Öhgren-Blueger-Garland trio didn’t seem to skip a beat with the break. Liked a lot of things they did tonight.
Overtime
IT SHOULD BE FIVE ON FIVE! Sorry, that’s my new visceral reaction to seeing 3 on 3 OT. Not sure why.
The Canucks started with David Kampf, Brock Boeser, and Filip Hronek. Kampf won the draw, and Marco Rossi immediately hopped over the boards to replace him.
Rossi and Boeser moved in on a 2-on-1, and Boeser had a great chance to score on his birthday, but couldn’t beat Comrie. The Jets broke back the other way, and Cole Perfetti put the finishing touches on this one for the Jets.
Cole Perfetti ends this game in overtime.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 26, 2026
3-2 final.
Hard fought game from the home team. Good game for Nikita Tolopilo. Some things to like from various youngsters. You can absolutely live with games like this. 24 to go! But who’s counting?
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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Earlier this week, the topic of the Vancouver Canucks‘ captaincy was brought back to the forefront. That was because, in a podcast appearance, President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford declared that defenceman Filip Hronek would be on “a very short list” of players to be considered for the Canucks’ captaincy.
“He’s been our best player this year,” Rutherford said on an appearance on 100% Hockey. “He’s a number one defenceman, he’s a heart and soul guy, and as bad a year as the Canucks have had, Filip Hronek has been extremely good. He’s been terrific this year.”
As for the question of if Hronek could be the Canucks’ next captain:
“We haven’t got to that point yet, that will be a discussion in the summer, but in my opinion, he would be on that very short list for sure. He has all the qualities to be a very good captain. What you see on the ice is what you see off the ice, he’s a leader.”
Did you notice the same part of that quote we did? No? This one:
“…he would be on that very short list for sure.”
Okay, so we’ve determined it’s a very short list, but what we’re asking today is: Just how short is that list?
Who will be the Canucks’ next captain?
Earlier this month, when rumblings that Hronek was being considered for the captaincy first surfaced, we gave our thoughts on the matter, in the end determining that, while Hronek is seemingly well-liked by his teammates — in particular the younger defencemen who have raved about how much he’s helped them — there’s a lot that goes into being an NHL captain, and that the Canucks might want to hold off before naming a captain.
The most obvious one is the media responsibilities. The Canucks are presumably going to be doing a good amount of losing next year. Does Hronek want the responsibility of coming out and communicating with the fanbase on a nightly basis? Is he the best person for that job? And we haven’t even gotten into the expectation that a captain be involved in their community, donate their time — and in the case of captains like Henrik Sedin — money, and energy to charitable causes. We’re not saying Hronek doesn’t want to do those things or even trying to suggest he’s incapable of them. It’s just illustrating that being named an NHL captain is a big deal, and it’s not a decision to be taken lightly.
Also, it’s worth at least considering how Hronek reacted to Rutherford’s comments. This from Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre:
Anyways, back to the task at hand. We know Hronek is on the list because Rutherford said so, but who else could be on there? Let’s work in reverse.
As it stands, the Canucks have 19 skaters signed for next season.
Elias Pettersson
Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk
Evander Kane
Marco Rossi
Conor Garland
Filip Chytil
Nils Höglander
Drew O’Connor
Liam Öhgren
Linus Karlsson
Aatu Räty
Max Sasson
Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson
Tyler Myers
Zeev Buium
Tom Willander
Elias Junior Pettersson
Now let’s assume the Canucks want a captain with NHL experience. After all, they didn’t name Bo Horvat captain until after a full season following Henrik Sedin’s retirement, even though Horvat seemed like the obvious successor even while Henrik was still playing. With that in mind, let’s remove anyone with under 250 NHL games from our list. What are we left with?
Elias Pettersson
Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk
Evander Kane
Conor Garland
Nils Höglander
Drew O’Connor
Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson
Tyler Myers
There are some good veterans and long-time Canucks on this list. Brock Boeser and Tyler Myers’s names, in particular, stand out, and Myers would, in fact, be an almost perfect stop-gap captain for a season or two in the twilight of his career. Unfortunately, he is currently deciding whether or not he’ll waive his no-movement clause to facilitate a trade out of Vancouver after the Canucks got a trade offer they liked, so it’s hard to consider him as a realistic option on the Canucks’ list at this juncture.
Maybe that part matters. Let’s narrow down the list to players who haven’t popped up in any trade rumours this season:
Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson
Wow, that is a very short list! The Canucks gave up a first round pick for Marcus Pettersson just last season, and while that trade hasn’t worked out and Pettersson has struggled in Adam Foote’s system, Pettersson has a reputation around the league of being a great teammate, and that certainly counts for something. But is he the right choice for captain right now? No, probably not.
Now, we don’t know for sure that the Canucks’ list is actually that small, or that those two players are the only names on it. What we’re trying to illustrate is that the Canucks are currently a team in flux and in a unique transition period; and if ever there was a time to take a step back and wait before naming a captain, this might be it.
Did we miss anyone? Let us know in the comments section below!
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The Vancouver Canucks (18-33-7) finish the month of February with a matchup against the Seattle Kraken (27-22-9) at Climate Pledge Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and it’s the late game on Hockey Night in Canada.
The Canucks have dropped four straight (0-2-2) since their last victory on January 29 against the Anaheim Ducks.
What we saw
It appears to be status quo for the Canucks as they make a quick stop in Seattle tonight. The team looks like it will roll out the same 18 skaters it used in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. That means veteran blueliner Tyler Myers will sit out for a second straight game for trade-related reasons. Myers is with the club and took part in the morning skate, but will not dress tonight as he contemplates his future.
The only change will come in goal, where Kevin Lankinen makes his first start since a 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on February 4. Lankinen represented Finland at the Olympics, but did not see any game action. So it has been more than three weeks since he last participated in a game at any level. Lankinen is 7-19-4 on the season with a 3.67 GAA and an .876% save percentage. His last win came against the Washington Capitals on January 21. He has dropped his last five starts all in regulation time.
Drew O’Connor and Evander Kane scored the Vancouver goals on Wednesday while Nikita Tolopilo made 24 saves in goal. With 14, O’Connor leads all active Canucks in goals scored this season. Kiefer Sherwood had 17 at the time he was traded to the San Jose Sharks.
Vancouver has scored exactly two goals in each of its past seven games (1-4-2). The club is 0-8 on the road since a 3-2 shootout victory the last time it was in Seattle on December 29. The club’s last regulation-time road win was December 19 against the New York Islanders.
The Canucks are 2-14-4 in their last 20 games, getting outscored 82-41 in the process.
Drew O’Connor will appear in his 300th NHL game tonight. There is something about Seattle that seems to bring out the best in Conor Garland. The veteran winger leads all Canucks with six goals and 14 points in 16 career games against the Kraken.
The Opponent
Kraken lines and pairs from morning skate
McCann-Beniers-Eberle
Schwartz-Stephenson-Tolvanen
Catton-Wright-Kakko
Meyers-Gaudreau-Melanson
Dunn-Larsson
Oleksiak-Montour
Evans-Fleury
Daccord (starter)
Grubauer#SeaKraken #SeattleKraken https://t.co/9BQFBTcQhO
— Circling Seattle Sports (@CirclingSports) February 28, 2026
The Kraken have stumbled out of the Olympic break with a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday and a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. Kaapo Kakko had Seattle’s lone goal against the Blues. Philipp Grubauer allowed four goals on 31 shots. Joey Daccord gets the start in goal tonight.
Tonight is the Kraken’s only home game of February and its first on home ice since a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 29. Seattle has won three straight and four of five in the Emerald City.
Jordan Eberle leads the Kraken with 20 goals, while Jared McCann is second on the team with 16 goals in just 33 games played. Eberle is the team’s top point producer with 38 on the season, while Matty Beniers has 37 points and Chandler Stephenson has 36.
The Kraken own the best 5-on-5 save percentage in the NHL this season at .928%. Overall, Seattle owns the fifth-best save percentage in the league at .901% behind Colorado, Minnesota, Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders.
Seattle sits 31st in the NHL on the penalty kill at 71.4%. The only team behind the Kraken? The Canucks at 71.1%.
News and notes
This is the third meeting of the season between these teams. The clubs have split shootout wins on the road. The Canucks were 3-2 winners in Seattle on December 29, while the Kraken returned the favour with a 4-3 victory a few nights later on January 2. The teams will face off one more time on March 14 at Rogers Arena.
The referees for tonight’s game are Trevor Hanson and Peter MacDougall.
Don’t forget to join Rink Wide Vancouver for full postgame coverage after this game – and every game. The livestream starts moments after the final buzzer. Rink Wide is the place for full postgame analysis and discussion. Contribute to the live YouTube conversation with your thoughts on the game and support our charity partner – the BC Mental Health Foundation – with a Superchat.
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The Vancouver Canucks‘ Season of the Tank continued on Saturday night, this time in the form of a 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Like most of the games this season, the main source of highlights continues to be the play of Drew O’Connor, now with the added bonus of the line of Teddy Blueger, Conor Garland and Liam Öhgren. You might not like it, but this is what peak tanking looks like.
And like many games before it, the Canucks had a bit of a pushback to let you know they aren’t quite legally dead yet, before flatlining in the third period. Not even Greg House could solve this roster’s illness, although I have a sneaking suspicion that Michaela Quinn might have some insight. Two things the 90’s taught me: never count out the Medicine Woman, and when you have a chance to buy a Charlotte Hornets Starter jacket, you take it.
You want a silver lining that will make you sit outside and reconsider your life choices? Joey Daccord didn’t score a goal against the Canucks. That’s a legitimate takeaway from this night. That is something you will actually say to a friend or family member tomorrow, and you will actually mean it.
“Could have been worse, at least their goalie didn’t score, eh?” you chuckle nervously as you wait in line at Starbucks with the co-worker you barely know, praying that your order will be ready as soon as possible to save you from this moment.
With the playoffs no longer an issue, the next major milestone of the season for the Canucks is of course the trade deadline. It’s that time of year where house metaphors run rampant and we get to hear various reports about the team “willing to tear things down to the studs” to “they want to do a quick turnaround” to “they’re thinking of maybe renovating the bathroom to make it a bit more modern” to “maybe Lil John has some bold new ideas for our man cave in the basement.”
It has, however, traditionally been an area that this team has struggled in ever since Mike Gillis left, as they have shown a remarkable ability to be quite terrible at the whole “selling” part of it. Whether it’s running out of time or giggling about the terrible offers you have been getting, Vancouver never really seems to grasp the concept of buying low and selling high.
Now, to their credit, it appears that all options are on the table. We went from “hey we need some veterans around to protect the kids” to watching the team play like such dog shit that a miracle of miracles occurred and management seemingly realized “are we the baddies?” in regards to the senior players. With Tyler Myers currently out of the lineup as he debates trade options, as rumours swirl around Elias Pettersson being targeted by several teams, to the yearly “Where is Brock Boeser being traded to this time?” tradition, it looks like it might be the first time in over a decade plus that this team might make moves in volume at the deadline to bring in draft capital.
That being said, the Canucks actually have to do the thing. It’s one thing to have reports swirling around the league, and it’s another to actually get it done. And this management has absolutely lost any and all right to the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doing what needs to be done at the deadline. We haven’t even gotten into the fears that ownership is like a little gremlin hiding around the corner, ready to pounce and fast forward the roster building in the next few seasons, in the hopes of that sweet, sweet playoff revenue.
But we won’t project. We will take things one step at a time. And while “ownership gonna ownership” should always be seared into your brain with this team, we will have the grace to watch this trade deadline play out as the tank season continues.
Because ultimately, the play on the ice doesn’t matter right now. This roster is going to look drastically different in a season or two. Losing is the name of the game, and even on nights like Saturday, where it is downright unwatchable at times from a Canucks perspective, at least the train is heading in the right direction.
Now we just have to wait and hope it keeps going that way at the deadline.
I have gone back and forth with Elias Pettersson from “they can rebuild him” to “we need to burn every single thing that ever came in contact with JT Miller and EP40” and I think I’ve finally landed on that “we can still be friends” break up speech I think this team sorely needs to have with him.
He just sort of stopped getting power play time as the game wore on, and while there could be many reasons for that, it’s hard to watch this team and view him as being part of the solution going forward. The team isn’t leaning on him at all at the moment, which again, maybe that’s part of the tanking strategy, but it feels like a fresh start is probably best for both parties involved. Even if he goes on to have a career renaissance with another organization, I think this fan base would just salute him from afar. Have at it EP40, go live your best life.
The one issue I have with that direction, however, is I have a hard time viewing this management team as the guys who can sell the “he just needs a new team, he can be that 100 point player again” vision. Patrik Allvin once claimed players set their own value with their play on the ice, so it’s not like he can create miracles in a trade, and I think he actually meant it? Which seems wild in a league in which you need to sell other teams on your assets to try and win trades. This isn’t eBay; you don’t get five stars for being so open and honest about the stains and rips on the players you’re selling.
That being said, the only thing the NHL loves more than a tall, former first rounder, right handed d-man rehabilitation project it’s a former first rounder, high point producing center rehabilitation project, so there should be a good market for him. It’s just, are these the guys to squeeze the most amount of juice out of it?
Or maybe they keep him forever and none of this matters, who knows.
WHO KNOWS.
Now let’s see how the #Canucks do. Hopefully better than the #LeafsForever
— Judge Dredge(@RealJudgeDredge) March 1, 2026
The Canucks games are quite boring right now, due mostly to the fact that the majority of their offence is based on shooting the puck on net and waiting to see if Evander Kane took or drew a penalty on said shift.
Early on Planet Ice was in his bag, though, as he went on an end to end rush that led to a thrilling point shot from Tom Willander, which led to a juicy rebound, which led to nothing much really:
Meanwhile Jordan Eberle was letting the Canucks know that he was coming for them tonight, as he rang a shot off the post mere seconds after that incredible Willander point shot into traffic:
Yes, that is Eberle dancing around Willander so effectively that it caused the rookie d-man to drop his stick and twirl in place, it’s best to just ignore the moments like these for now. Remember the point shot and hold onto that memory instead.
Next up was Berkley Catton, which sounds more like a cast member from the OC than a hockey player (I am positive he dated Summer in season three when she went to Brown University), forcing Kevin Lankinen into making a massive save after PO Joseph got caught pinching from the blueline:
If you were hoping this would be a wake up call of sorts for Vancouver to tighten things up, don’t worry, Vince Dunn made sure to dispel you of that notion rather quickly, after he made it 1-0 a mere eight minutes in the game:
If you’re Vancouver, you clip Elias Pettersson making that fantastic defensive play to break up the initial rush and add it to your trade package video.
But if you’re Vancouver, you also scrub Evander Kane sort of farting in the puck’s general direction along the boards, failing to get it out, leading to Dunn’s goal.
Kevin Lankinen looked to complain to the officials about contact being made with his glove, but my boy, you were out of the crease so that’s on you. You can’t drive on the Lions Gate Bridge in a yellow arrow lane and scream at the incoming drivers, we’re supposed to be a society.
Rush, rush, went the Kraken, as they would make it 2-0 after a bit of a fortuitous bounce off of Eeli Tolvanen in front of Kevin Lankinen, leading to Chandler Stephenson scoring on a rather confused bronze medalist:
Once again Tom Willander found himself on the wrong side of a video clip, as he was unable to contain Jaden Schwartz along the boards, which led to Planet Ice running over to try and make a play on the puck, which led to Garland losing out on a high risk pick six attempt, which led to the clear shooting lane for Adam Larsson that led to the goal.
Again, many teams have breakdowns in coverage, it’s not as if the Canucks are all alone in that regard. It’s just the volume at which they commit them, and the fact they have very little offensive push back to balance things out, that’s what makes you find yourself running draft simulators in November.
OK let’s hammer through the end of this period, as I can’t imagine you read the intro to this article and find yourself dying to find out how the Canucks played in another 5-1 loss.
Or maybe you do? You’re a fan of this team, so clearly you enjoy pain and misery. Maybe this is your kink, who am I to shame.
Let’s play a game then, let’s have some fun with it. Can you spot the difference between a Canucks scoring chance and a Kraken scoring chance?
First up, here is Vancouver trying to score a goal:
A point shot from defensively minded Elias Pettersson, followed up by Linus Karlsson swatting at the rebound. Now I checked with the lawyers, and yes, this counts as a scoring chance.
Next up, we have Chandler Stephenson jumping up to grab a terrible Zeev Buium turnover for a breakaway, and then Tolvanen trying to bank in the rebound after Lankinen made the initial save:
That’s just kind of how it goes now. Vancouver is dead in the water so they just sort of trot out the “thoughts and prayers” point shots into traffic while they wait to see which team runs into a PDO disaster and actually lose to it.
Every good wrestling match has a bit of a shine for the jobber; you need to let people think there’s a chance, otherwise, there is no emotional investment.
And as is often the case, Drew O’Connor and Liam Öhgren continue to be bright spots for this team, just in terms of generating scoring chances and not looking like they’re dead inside.
Liam Öhgren made a slick defensive play in his own end as the first period came to a close, leading to an offensive rush that just narrowly missed getting a shot on net:
At this point you might be wondering “why celebrate someone almost getting a shot on net” and I think we both understand the situation we’re in here. We’re both adults, we know the score.
Drew O’Connor then rang one off the post after Brock Boeser made his one appearance of the night, drawing in the defenders before springing the DOC in for surgery:
There was a time when Boeser was on a line with an actual nickname, if you can believe it. It was called the “Lotto Line”, and those were the times my friend, we thought they’d never end.
Liam Öhgren would then get the lone goal of the night for Vancouver after Buium who a slick redirect to get the puck onto the stick of Garland, who would eventually throw the puck in the general direction of Liam for the score:
Joey Daccord would also complain to the referee after this goal, but this one was even worse than Lankinen’s disagreement, as Joey was the one who leaned out with his glove to initiate contact. This would be like stealing a cup of coffee and then yelling at the person for not knowing you don’t like salted caramel.
We also noted it a few games back, but the DNA of the Dakota Joshua/Teddy Blueger/Conor Garland line is all over this new version with Liam in Dakota’s place. Same big body presence, same ability to showcase skill, but with higher upside from the young Swede.
I have no idea if this line will ever be in a position to be an elite third line for the Vancouver Canucks, but they do deserve credit for being the most consistent line on the team lately.
Hockey just isn’t the same without Captain Chaos on the ice#Canucks #FreeMyers
— Ravneet Dhatt (@rdhatt19) March 1, 2026
I’m not ready to write the goodbye letter to Tyler Myers, so I will instead honour his name with a couple of nice offensive highlights from the Canucks.
The aforementioned Blueger got a good look on net after O’Connor stole the puck from Vince Dunn and found the Latvian Olympian in stride:
And then Garland did a devious little pass between the legs to once again set up the Blue Man:
Again, not the most lethal of scoring chances, and the odds of Blueger going bar down like a young Cody Hodgson was few and far between, but it’s better than a gif of Drew O’Connor getting a penalty for closing a door a little too hard.
Aside from Fil Hronek, nobody looks good on the backend for Vancouver this year.
That being said, it feels like Elias Pettersson might have taken one of the biggest steps backwards on this team just in terms of where he was trending to where he is now.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting he was a future Norris trophy winner, but he went from “this kid could be a tough, reliable bottom pairing guy” to “Why are teams bullying him like Punch the monkey and how can we make it stop?”
His reads just make no sense to me, and his gap control has been ghastly at times, but again, maybe that’s just the vat of drizzling shits that occurs with Adam Foote’s defensive system. Only time will tell, I suppose.
Dp25 ended up on the wrong side of the ledger on the Kraken’s third goal of the night, as his point shot was blocked, leading to Jordan Eberle scoring, as he foretold earlier:
The broadcast would go on and on about Vancouver being the team Eberle has the most career goals against, but honestly, who doesn’t have that at this point? There was like that one stretch under the Sedins where other teams were like “oh so THIS is what it feels like to be terrorized by a player over and over again” but for the most part I just assume players like Troy Brouwer scores at a 47% higher clip against the Canucks versus any other team.
The Canucks continued to struggle with turnovers, as DP25 would then find himself unable to flip the puck deep into Seattle’s zone, leading to Shane Wright getting a shot off on another two on one:
Remember Dan Hamhuis? I miss him.
The second period ended up with a bit of chaos that Tyler Myers would have been proud of, all of which was started by Fil Hronek being angry around his net:
Hronek and Kaapo Kakko would each get penalties on this play, and I want to be clear that I absolutely love it when Hronek gets sassy. There is a reason there is talk about him being made the Captain, and it’s because he is one of the very few guys who looks like he gives a shit, even during the worst losses. That’s the kind of guy you want to ride or die with.
Now, SHOULD he get the C in Vancouver? From an off-ice point of view, absolutely not. Fin should get the C before Hronek takes it on. The dealing with the media, and putting on a brave face, all that outward stuff a captain needs to do, that’s just not Fil. He could barely answer a single question from Jeff Paterson last season, so I find it hard to imagine him fielding questions about the team being terrible for a season, let alone five years.
The Canucks are at a point where players have quit on the team (not blaming, in many cases it makes sense why they want out), so they are in a desperate need to hitch their wagon to someone with Thomas Muller energy. Someone who seemingly loves this city and doesn’t accept losing, and wants to be a part of the solution. You need a shining light to lead you through this darkness.
To Hronek’s credit, it seems like his agent has made it clear he isn’t going anywhere. Anytime trade talks come up, Hronek’s name is never mentioned. That loyalty to the city is commendable and something fans will adore.
But all the stuff that comes with being the Captain? You need that as well in this market.
No shade to Quinn Hughes (well, a little), but this team needs all the good PR it can get, so it can ill afford to have someone pout their way through media scrums, staring at their shoes, and offering up three word answers. I am not saying media scrums are the be all end all, believe me, but I do think you need to start building your culture back up in as many ways as possible. And that starts with your captain setting the tone.
All of which brings us back to four on four hockey from the penalties, where Matty Beniers almost dangled his way right around Kevin Lankinen to make it 4-1:
Seattle would then hit a post off a faceoff, after the puck deflected off of Liam Öhgren’s stick:
Which then led to a last second penalty drawn by David Kampf that absolutely should have been a penalty shot because damn it, why not at this point:
Once again the magic of Liam Öhgren and Conor Garland goes to work, this time resulting in the high danger scoring chance for Kampf before being dragged to the ice. He didn’t get a clean shot off, but rather than let us enjoy a moment of excitement, we were instead rewarded with watching the Canucks start the third period off with a powerplay.
Yay.
Do you enjoy miscues? I hope you do. I have several to offer you.
Hey, where are you going-
Nils Höglander was the first to make a major mistake, as he jumped up into the play and didn’t cover for a pinching Marcus Pettersson, leading to Beniers shooting on yet another two on one:
Next we had the 25th Elias Pettersson leading too far to the right side of the ice, giving up just enough room for Shane Wright to rush up the ice, before DP25 closed the gap only to back off and overload defending a potential pass for reasons:
Then Tom Willander found himself getting his pocket picked behind his own net, leading to a shot that wasn’t necessarily dangerous, but at this point in time, any chance on net feels like it’s high danger against the Canucks:
All of which is to say, yes, the Canucks don’t exactly have an air tight defensive system at the moment.
I will say that least I saw Elias Pettersson play in this game? Here he is setting up Evander Kane for one of the few scoring chances in the third period:
I say this because I watched this entire 60 minutes of hockey and for the life of me I cannot remember a single Jake DeBrusk shift. The score sheet says he played 16:23 of hockey on this night, but I feel like I am being gaslit on this.
Drew O’Connor would then take a penalty for, and I shit you not, slamming the door kind of hard, which hurt the officials fee fees:
Hasn’t Vancouver suffered enough? Do we really need an official power tripping because someone dared to make a loud noise near him? And as far as door slams go, that was incredibly weak. That door slam wouldn’t have stopped Steve Austin from getting out of a steel cage, that’s all I will say.
On the ensuing power play, Jorden Eberle would then get his second of the night, as the Canucks “Late night Taco Bell bathroom episode” approach to penalty killing continues:
I am not quite sure why the Canucks penalty killing diamond resulted in a) Teddy Blueger sprinting across the ice as if his life depended upon it to cover the point man, along with b) Marcus Pettersson cheating up high and releasing his man beside the net, but I learned long ago to stop questioning these th
ings. Bees, it’s always bees.
Now fun fact, the NHL would take this goal away from Eberle and give to Matty Beniers because apparently the puck whispered sweet nothings into his skate:
I have no idea where the puck made contact with Beniers skate, nor do I know why the NHL spent time and resources to micro analyze this goal to ensure Matty was assigned the goal, but here we are.
I just can’t imagine seeing that goal but then being all CTU about it and calling up Chloe O’Brian to enhance it until you had proof that, yes, that puck might have, perhaps, perchance, slightly brushed against the steel of Beniers skate blade.
It just seems interesting on what the NHL chooses to dive deep into, that’s all I am saying.
Brandon Mountour would then hit the post on a similar looking play on another man advantage, as once again the Canucks just started overloading and chasing the puck, leading to time and space for the Kraken defender to hit iron:
Adam Foote is doing exactly what he needs to do in order to secure the top pick, I just don’t know if he is meaning to do it or not. The thought of it keeps me up at night.
Post game, Adam Foote bluntly explained Pettersson’s benching.
“Well, he didn’t have his, whatever it was. He’s got to be better, and he knows that. He’s aware of that. We need more from him, and he’s got to find it. I’m sure [if] you talk to him, he knows he’s got to be better for us, and I’m sure we’ll see that next game.”
Foote was asked postgame if there were any specific areas in which he is looking for Pettersson to improve:
“Just in general,” Foote said. “Like, you know, he’s got to play with more, you know, more zip; like, put more pace to his game; more engaged. Good things will happen when he gets his motor going. He’s aware of it. So, I’m sure we’ll see it next game.”
Hey, here’s that silver lining we talked about:
Yeah, take that Joey, you missed by inches! Sweet, sweet victory!
Anyways, here’s Eberle scoring what he thought was his hat trick goal on the traditional “we’re down a hundred goals, we should pull our goalie with five minutes left in the game” from Adam Foote:
Jokes on you Eberle, one of your goals was given to Beniers! You DIDN’T get a hat trick, now you own a bucket of hats based on lies!
Anyways.
See you Monday.
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For whom does the bell toll?
The Vancouver Canucks were shellacked last night, losing 5-1 on the road to the Seattle Kraken. While the stats suggested that this game probably deserved to be a little bit closer than what the scoreline ended up being, the final result highlights the cold reality that Vancouver has been staring down all year. This group simply is not good enough to make any sort of push, any semblance of contention. They might be able to get numbers going their way, but the lack of talent and the lack of “talent”-making plays is obvious to see. There’s not a whole lot of positives to take other than the fact that they’ll be staring down a high lottery pick this draft.
Here’s the loss, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.
Game Flow
Overall, the game flow didn’t look all that bad at first glance. There wasn’t a single period where the Canucks were heavily out-possessed or out-chanced, with the team actually finishing above 50.00 xGF% for every single period last night. That being said, it was also noticeable that after the surge towards the end of the first and start of the second, the Canucks weren’t really able to push the needle in any direction. Things stayed relatively stagnant as at 5v5 in the second and third, the high-danger chances stood at 4-4 for the teams.
Heat Map
The heat map paints a generous image of how the Canucks played last night as well. With the scoring chances knotted up at 24-24 at 5v5 play, Vancouver actually had the slight edge in high-danger chances at 10-7. That being said, six of them came in the first period, with the team unable to keep the momentum rolling despite that impressive opener. As well, it wasn’t as if they were doing a great job at capitalizing on their opportunities, while Seattle managed to bury two goals in tight against Kevin Lankinen.
Individual Advanced Stats
Corsi Champ: Marco Rossi led the Canucks with a 66.67 CF%, centring a second line that didn’t really make much of an impact aside from that Corsi number. While his 65.40 xGF% looks good on paper, that was just 8.38 xGF% rel to team average, showing an above but close to average performance in relation to the rest of the roster. Again, it’s nitpicking a little, and given how the entire game went, Rossi’s share metrics should be a relative highlight on this roster.
Corsi Chump: Filip Hronek brought up the rear with a 45.00 CF%, but given the impact he made elsewhere on the ice, this can probably be forgiven. The Czech defender was on ice for two goals against, yes, but he was also tasked with heavy 1D minutes with some nice share metrics to show for it. His 1.14 xGF was the second-best on the team, while a 64.89 xGF% ranked him as the sixth-best skater in that category, too. In his minutes, Hronek managed to hold a 4-1 advantage in high-danger chances, which isn’t easy given the quality of his competition.
xGF: When Linus Karlsson is leading the team in xGF%, things are probably not trending in the right direction. Not that it’s a slight against the Swede and his team-best 80.40 xGF%, but he shouldn’t be the offensive leader for any team looking to actually win hockey games. Karlsson posted the fourth-best 0.92 xGF, behind Marcus Pettersson’s team-high 1.26, as the forward was on ice for an 8-5 scoring chance advantage and 5-1 high-danger chance lead. Again, these are great numbers and not something to disparage Karlsson with. However, the fact that he’s the one leading this team and trying to get the likes of Elias Pettersson going is… rough.
GSAx: Kevin Lankinen didn’t get a lot of help in front of him, but it also wasn’t a banner night between the pipes for him either. Facing just 2.64 xGF, Lankinen gave up three high-danger goals and one low-danger goal for a -1.36 GSAx. While it could’ve been worse than that, it also could’ve been a lot better, as it’s still very much in the negatives when it comes to overall impact. Vancouver didn’t give him the run support to win this game by any means, but Lankinen definitely didn’t hold his end of the bargain as much as he probably should’ve.
Kevin Lankinen makes a big save on the two-on-one chance.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 1, 2026
As a team
CF% – 52.78% HDCF% – 52.00% xGF% – 45.69%
Should the score have been 5-1? Maybe not. But did the Canucks deserve to lose? Absolutely. There’s nothing good about this team, nothing that makes for a compelling product to watch each and every night. Their best players are mostly invisible, and this team looks hobbled to all hell and back even without the injuries in the lineup. In essence, this is what a roster banking on a bounce-back looks like when they just don’t bounce back. At least, the 2026 draft pick is looking better every single day.
Vancouver returns home to host the Dallas Stars tomorrow.
Stats provided by naturalstattrick.com
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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!
The 2026 Winter Olympics have officially drawn to a close, and going from watching international best-on-best hockey back to watching the 2025-26 Vancouver Canucks has the same effect as an ice bath has on the nervous system. Of the Olympians the Canucks sent to Milano-Cortina, Kevin Lankinen returned with a bronze medal – sure, Juuse Saros held the net for all of Finland’s games, but participation awards also count at the Olympic level!
The Canucks remained committed to the concept of the draft lottery this week, which is one positive aspect heading down the stretch. Their 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets still netted them one consolation point, and their 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken was a masterclass of an early rebuild cycle game. If they keep playing this poorly, I, for one, will be proud of them. They’re keeping their eyes on the prize: an April vacation to Bali and Gavin McKenna in their pockets.
Rock Bottom Stats Corner
Games played this week(s): 2
Games won this week(s): 0
Goals scored this week(s): 3
Goals against this week(s): 8
Total points gained this week(s): 1
Games since last win: 5
Games won in 2026: 2
Goals scored in 2026: 39
Goals against in 2026: 82
Players traded in 2026: 1…and a half, as Tyler Myers is in the no-man’s-land between a rostered player and a traded player, apparently.
Drew O’Connor
If you had told me last year that in March 2026, Drew O’Connor would be the Canucks’ leading goal scorer, I would have laughed you out of the building and halfway to Siberia. Well, it looks like we’re all in Omsk now.
Yes, with 14 goals on the season, the man they call DOC is the team’s leading goal-scorer, with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk hot on his heels with 13 apiece. With 23 games remaining in the regular season, those numbers are about as miserable as it gets. But O’Connor is one of the few players who still looks like he is putting effort into a lost season, who takes pride in his game on a team suffering from severe wounded pride syndrome. With the precise ways the Canucks have struggled the last two seasons, the players who did not let their attitudes waver will be the ones remembered for it, for certain. This bar is low, but at least clear it.
O’Connor had some good looks between both games, a handful of set-ups and shots off the crossbar himself, and a nonsensical misconduct penalty that seemed primarily based on him getting too angry at the penalty box door – but again, at least he still plays these games like they’re something worth getting upset about. Drew O’Connor is still showing up for the crest on his jersey, so it’s also fitting that he scored the Canucks’ opening goal in their return to Rogers Arena after the Olympic break.
Nikita Tolopilo
The Belarusian netminder was one of the only reasons the Canucks walked away with an overtime loss against Winnipeg this week. Matched against the Jets’ back-up Eric Comrie, as Connor Hellebuyck was presumably nursing a nauseatingly nationalistic Hangover of Freedom, the Canucks were meeting a broken-down Winnipeg team, but still could not quite nab the win.
With all due respect to Olympic bronze medallist Kevin Lankinen, Nikita Tolopilo has looked the stronger goaltender of the pair. He plays with a focus and confidence beyond his experience level, and that ability to stand tall even while hyperaware that the team in front of you is outmatched is a critical need at present. Given that the rest of the Canucks’ season is effectively experimental performance art at this point, it might be worth giving Tolopilo more starts to test his skills and stamina at the NHL level. That would offer some insight into the goaltending situation moving forward.
Besides…Tolopilo’s got the aura to match the role.
Nikita Tolopilo's mask
: Bob Frid-Imagn Images pic.twitter.com/JR2yAoCVrY
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 3, 2026
Liam Öhgren
While Marco Rossi was activated off injured reserve and slotted into second-line centre this week, Liam Öhgren has still been the most interesting piece to come back from the Minnesota Wild in the Quinn Hughes trade. It does not seem to be an entire overreaction to state he has serious middle-six forward potential, given how he has performed within the context of a – frankly and objectively – bad Canucks team. As discussed in 3 Stars before the Olympic break, Öhgren continues to play well with Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland, and continues to be met with an increased role, even on the third line.
The Canucks get on the board with a shot from Liam Öhgren that finds the back of the net.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 1, 2026
That is quite the slapper from the young man, and it proved to be the only goal for the Canucks in an onslaught from Jordan Eberle and the Seattle Kraken. This was most definitely because Tyler Myers, the number one nemesis of the Kraken, was not in the lineup.
Off the ice, at the Canucks annual Dice & Ice charity gala, there was also…whatever this is.
These are some extraordinarily good sports. If this is the kind of thing they’re willing to do for a good cause when the team is flailing, they might become the actual second coming of The Beatles if this team improves in the coming years.
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Elias Pettersson. Tyler Myers. Jake DeBrusk. All three of the pending unrestricted free agents. It seems that almost every Vancouver Canucks player — aside from Filip Hronek, of course — has found themselves in the NHL rumour mill lately.
It makes sense too. Why wouldn’t the 32nd-place Canucks be listening to opposing teams’ offers on just about anyone? As we head into NHL Trade Deadline week, the Canucks should be one of the team’s most active teams as they look to knock their first deadline since declaring themselves an actively rebuilding franchise out of the park.
Could that include moving out a veteran player with some term left on their contract? You’d hope so. Two players who fall under that category are Conor Garland and Brock Boeser. While Boeser’s contract carries a full no-move clause, Garland’s six-year extension with the Canucks doesn’t kick in until July 1st. And until then, Garland has no trade protection, which makes him a prime candidate for the Canucks to try to sell high on.
According to a report from RG.org’s James Murphy, the Boston Bruins are ‘back in’ on Garland, and have some interest in Boeser as well.
In a post to X.com a few hours after his initial report, Murphy added, “Just got another call on this, and let’s say the [Bruins] have plenty of competition on Conor Garland.
You can read the full report by clicking here!
As for Boeser, reports emerged last week that Boeser would be willing to waive his NMC for the right situation, and while most people seem to think that only means Boeser’s hometown Minnesota Wild, Boston might be a desirable destination as well. Boeser, who turned 29 last month, re-signed with the Canucks in free agency this past offseason, inking a seven-year contract with an annual average value of $7.25 million.
READ NEXT: Canucks in trade talks with teams about Drew O’Connor
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The Vancouver Canucks lost to the Dallas Stars 6-1, and you know what?
I have no whimsy to share. No stories to dive into. No metaphors loosely based on the odd sexual tension on Life With Derek.
We are all pretty much locked into the results of the trade deadline this week, so it’s hard to get lost in all the magic of whatever this game was.
The good news? The Canucks continue to maintain a death grip on last place, while I assume the league sweats bullets about Vancouver, maybe, possibly, finally landing a first overall draft pick.
And while I imagine the league is considering using a spinning wheel “just for the spectacle of it all” and to pay proper respects to Canucks history, this current trajectory is the best course for the team to take.
The only problem is I think the veterans are all kind of waiting to get off the island, so to speak. I don’t want to say the team looks checked out, but if they turned around and started scoring on their own net “to help things along”, I wouldn’t even blink.
It just feels like people are in a bit of a stasis, with a head coach most likely pondering the ramifications of this season on his NHL career, with veteran players visibly eyeing the emergency exits, and young players probably confused why Adam Foote keeps telling them to feed the puck to Sakic or Forsberg and let Patrick Roy take care of the rest.
The good news is that by Friday, we should have some answers, but the bad news is that, given the way the team is playing, it’s hard to imagine how much value many of these players even have at this point.
Don’t get me wrong, a good GM can still make trades in this environment, but Patrik Allvin didn’t exactly impress with last year’s deadline performance.
Still, the end game is still the same: the Canucks need to move as many veterans as possible and recoup as many draft picks as they can. Anything under three trades will honestly be seen as a failure, as it should be.
But until then, we get to watch games like the one on Monday night, in which a vastly superior team with a far higher trajectory in life stomps all over you, recreating memories you thought you’d repressed from high school.
It was a truly awful game from Vancouver, but at this point, you are legally bound to read this entire article. I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them.
Let’s do this.
I just. Man.
I am so tired.
To be clear, I don’t think media scrums are some magical sacred event that must be viewed with proper respect. I understand the banal nature of them.
But it is part of the NHL ecosystem where players get asked dumb, dumb questions and hand out dumb, dumb answers, while we writers try to mine through them to come up with something resembling interesting content. It’s a fun little game we all play.
And when you get paid millions of dollars to play hockey for a living, I do think the bare minimum of answering questions without looking like you’re dead inside isn’t a big ask. Just a spot of customer service would be a delight. You don’t have to love your job, but I still rented videos to people with a smile (I’ll explain what a VHS tape is later, and a Blockbuster Video, and a Video Update for the hyper-local reference).
It’s just, the culture around this team has felt like dog sh!t for a long time now. Everything feels so heavy with this team. It feels like you could ask them if they enjoyed the weather, and they would throw their hands up in the air with a heavy sigh before rolling their eyes and telling you they haven’t checked the weather yet, so they can’t comment on it.
And on one hand, I understand it isn’t a fun place to be in right now. The results on the ice are atrocious to the point where you truly wonder if the division-leading Wash Ur Apples of Burnaby ASHL could rack up a win against the Canucks. That maybe Brandon Del Grosso could outpace Elias Pettersson in points.
It’s also the only team in the league that suffers a loss like tonight and then has to hope they can get a good locker at practice the next day, before the 10-and-under open skate group arrives.
So I understand that off-ice and on-ice, things aren’t great. We all get that.
But it’s all the more reason why they absolutely need to gut this team. You want fans to invest; you need players who look invested, and right now, I don’t know who is more excited for a roster turnover, the fans or the players themselves.
All I am saying is it’s been a couple of years now of this sour-puss approach to life from the Canucks, and if they want to sell tickets, the entire culture around the team has to change, and change fast.
No more funeral speeches when you get asked if you need to play better, that’s all I ask.
will start vs. DAL on Monday.
3-3-2 | 3.03 GAA | .908 SV% https://t.co/GL66QD6yBm
— Daily Faceoff – Fantasy (@DFOFantasy) March 2, 2026
Nikita Tolopilo got the start for the Canucks, and I generally enjoy watching him in net over any other Canuck goalie, if only for the aesthetics of it all. He just plays like someone who enjoys making a save once in a while compared to some of the more robotic nature of most NHL goalies. He has a bit of flair to his game.
And make no mistake about it, the end result of this game wasn’t his fault at all. Despite his .838 save percentage on the night, he continued to make saves and not once did he motion to his bench and demand a trade, which has to count for something.
So let’s honour the young netminder with this clip of him making a save when the game was still 0-0 and everything felt so possible in life:
Godspeed the rest of the way, Nikita.
Godspeed.
Evander Kane opened up the scoring for the home team when he basically skated in the general direction of a Jake DeBrusk rebound:
This goal was notable because it was the last positive sentiment you will see about Marcus Pettersson on the night. He made a really good outlet pass to Jake DeBrusk to get this rush started, so make sure to really take your time and savour it properly.
Also, I like how every time Evander Kane scores, we’re all joking about his trade value going up, but we’re also not really joking? You can clearly see the desperation behind the tweets? It’s like we’re trying to sell a car and praying our folksy charm will secure a deal.
“She may not look like much, but she’ll get you where you need to go. Can’t say the same about my ex-wife, though, am I right? Ha ha ha ha. Ha. Please buy the car. Please. I don’t even have an ex-wife, I don’t know why I said that.”
Vancouver is in that territory where other teams circle them on the schedule and mentally note it’s going to be an easy night. You look at this roster, and there is absolutely nobody to be afraid of or gameplan for. At least with Quinn Hughes, you know the other team was going to be annoyed chasing him around the ice all night, and there was a possibility he might carry the Canucks to a win.
Now? The Canucks best forward is Drew O’Connor, and their best line is anchored by Teddy Blueger. I can’t imagine there is much scheming to be done to try to shut them down. Which means teams kind of take it easy for a period, going full big brother on the Canucks, before they sit up in their chair and take things seriously.
But until then, the Canucks got to believe they might actually make it 2-0 on the power play, or at the very least, Elias Pettersson might get an actual shot on net:
I do agree that the puck movement was nice, but Elias Pettersson once again finds himself taking too long to get a shot off to the point that you start wondering if the one timer Petterzone ever even existed.
And coming off of his third period benching the game before, I think Adam Foote hoped it would light a fire under EP40’s ass, but it felt like more of the same: solid defensive effort, but a complete lack of impact on the offensive side of things:
No dekes. No dangles. Just getting bullied and shoved to the ground with disdain. Even with leading the forwards in ice time on the night with just under 19 minutes, Elias Pettersson could not manage a single shot on net.
It is truly incredible what EP40 has turned into compared to his earlier seasons.
At one point, the Dallas Stars thought they had tied the game up, but they forgot one thing: Tolopilo doesn’t do foot stuff:
You can’t beat him in the feet. You just can’t. The puck goes near his skates, he locks it down like a young Ty Pardy, that’s just how it goes.
Good luck ever trying to score near his feet, Dallas.
OK, well, mistakes happen:
Yes, that is Adam Erne, with the assist from Bert, making use of a fortuitous bounce off the boards. Erne basically punched the puck around Marco Rossi, and PO Joseph could do nothing but watch as the cruel God of deflections careened the puck towards the net and in off the skate of Nikita.
Now, many teams could bounce back from said bad luck. Luck is a big part of any sport, so you need to learn how to roll with the punches.
Alas, Vancouver is not such a team. When Dallas scored, you kind of felt normal again, to be honest. It felt a bit weird when Vancouver was winning; nothing made sense.
To use Love Island dialogue, it felt awkward being in a love triangle, and you didn’t enjoy Dallas asking you if you’d be ok with them being open for a chat with the lead because you already know they made out with the lead in Soul Ties before Movie Night.
Jason Robertson didn’t just beat Elias Pettersson; he also nutmegged Evander Kane, so you know, at least everyone is failing together:
An important takeaway in that clip is Jake DeBrusk standing in the middle of the ice doing absolutely nothing. This comes into play in a moment.
But first, Wyatt Johnston would almost score when his shot off the rush almost squeaked by Tolopilo and into the net:
All of which is to say the second period had arrived, and you just sort of knew Dallas was taking over for the rest of the night.
This was punctuated by Lian Bischel scoring while Jake DeBrusk did a remix edition of his earlier defensive zone play by standing in a circle and covering absolutely nobody:
Jake is straight-up quitting on the Canucks to the point that I think he should have his Pokémon card-buying privileges revoked. I just don’t think you can be a neutral observer in hockey; that feels a bit unfair.
You think Wash Ur Apples gets to lead their division without Brandon Wong paying attention in his own zone?? I think not.
Apparently, the Dallas Stars have a good power play, and the Canucks penalty kill is the very opposite of that?
I am starting to seriously consider the fact that Derek Forbort is the key to everything with this team. I have fought it for far too long; I think I just have to accept it at this point.
Regardless, Dallas would make it 2-1 off of a wicked one-timer from Jason Robertson on a second period power play:
Vancouver didn’t even do much wrong here, to be honest. Dallas didn’t even give them enough time to start chasing the puck and falling all over the place. Instead, Matt Duchene just skated in and found Robertson for the quick shot. It was an act of mercy, really.
In a perfect world, yes, Conor Garland closes the gap at the point and gets his stick in the shooting lane.
But you also have to give credit to the opposition for being good at their jobs sometimes.
The Canucks best scoring chance in the middle frame? Nils Lundkvist whiffing on a clearing attempt that Linus Karlsson jumped all over, leading to a one-timer from Nils Höglander:
Hey, if you’re only going to have one scoring chance in a period, it might as well be a piss missile attempt. I have yet to find somebody not thrilled by watching a cannon of a shot beat a goalie.
Which just sort of underlines the problem with the Canucks right now. To borrow a term from Rick Tocchet, they just have no juice. Every shift is a survival event. There is no structure. There is no plan. It’s just hoping to survive the shift so someone else can get scored on.
Zone exits with possession? Don’t exist.
Zone entries? Same thing.
The entire makeup of this team is a combination of shots from the point into traffic, hasty line changes, and frog DNA.
As I said, clean zone exits fled the scene when Quinn Hughes quit on Vancouver and ran to Minnesota:
Elias Pettersson just sort of tosses the puck back towards the net instead of taking the easy play along his own boards, and the end result is a scoring chance for Dallas.
Ilya Lyubushkin would then get a shot after Fil Hronek failed to clear the puck from his zone as well:
It’s bad hockey from a bad team. A good team like Dallas is going to feast on nights like this.
Marcus Pettersson’s descent into madness/Luca Sbisa continues, as his soft clearing attempt ended up hitting Miro Heiskanen in the skate, leading to MP3 panicking at what was unfolding before him and doing what Tyler Myers always taught him: dive at the first sign of trouble.
So Marcus dives at the puck, and Sam Steel, sensing the nervous energy in the air, waits out the Canucks defenceman and spins to find a wide-open Matt Duchene for the goal while Brock Boeser politely watches from a distance:
Again, this is very much a solid combo of “ok Dallas is really good at what they do” and “But Vancouver is also really bad at what they do.”
No.
I also have no idea why there are five seconds of total darkness at the end of the video clip, but it feels apt? It feels like a good metaphor at work?
With the game well in hand, Dallas kept scoring because hey, why not?
Colin Blackwell was next to light the lamp, as Marco Rossi backed off from Blackwell at the same time as Zeev Buium stepping up and away from Blackwell, giving us the kind of disastrous combination normally reserved for Love is Blind:
Again, that’s a tremendous finish from Blackwell, so credit where credit is due. But Vancouver is also making it incredibly easy for teams to get these chances night in and night out.
Down by many goals, God bless Tom Willander for trying to get his team back into the game with an end-to-end rush. Alas, Garland didn’t drop back to cover the point, so when Willander was stripped of the puck, Matt Duchene found Sam Steel with a perfect pass that Tolopilo had to make an amazing save on:
It’s almost over, I promise.
After seeing how much fun it is to jump into the rush and give up an odd-man rush, the defensively postured Elias Pettersson walked into a pass from Conor Garland that felt like it was better suited for a right-handed shot. The end result? Another breakaway:
Tolopilo was not the problem in this game.
Entire coaching staff has to be gone at the end of the season right??#canucks
— Chris
And why not complete a night of terrifyingly bad plays from d-men with Marucs Pettersson giving up the middle of the ice to Mavrik Bourque, which led to Linus Karlsson sliding over to double team because why not, leaving Bischel all alone to snipe home the sixth goal of the game:
Man-on-man coverage is really fun until it isn’t.
It’s basically the same goal we’ve seen all season long. The Canucks break down in their coverage, they double-team in a panic to try and get at the puck, and they can’t recover in time to stop the team from finding an open skater.
No more excuses is what it comes down to. Just find a way to get deals done.
It wouldn’t be the NHL if we didn’t see the Canucks buck the odds and find a way to escape landing a top draft pick.
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It’s been so long since we’ve seen an entertaining game from the Vancouver Canucks that I had almost forgotten what it looked like. And if we’re being honest, 10 minutes into the game, I had resigned myself to another dull and tepid loss from the home club. Some would go so far as to say a lugubrious night was in store for us.
Not me, of course, but some would say.
But maybe the thrill of possibly being traded at Friday’s trade deadline and being freed from whatever hell you call this hockey team was enough to give a bit of zip to Adam Foote’s squad on Wednesday night, as they managed to claw back into a game they had no right being in. Hell, at one point Elias Pettersson skated with vim AND vigour, something I had long given up on seeing ever again.
It wasn’t just seeing Elias Pettersson dashing down the ice that gave fans a moment of pause. You had Linus Karlsson outworking his opponents and generating a goal. You had Brock Boeser scoring a power play goal. You had Marco Rossi playing perhaps his best game as a Vancouver Canuck. You had Drew O’Connor being Drew O’Connor, and I mean that in a good way. And with the price for right-handed defenceman being at a premium at this deadline, you couldn’t help but ponder “what if…” when you saw Hronek lead the team with a three-point night.
And yes, the score sheet says Jake DeBrusk played as well, so I will take its word for it.
Now, it wasn’t all roses and oat milk on the night. Vittorio Mancini drew into the lineup, but he basically got caved in all game long. Kevin Lankinen also found himself getting pulled after letting in four goals. And Conor Garland looked like he might have banged up his hand at one point during the game, which always makes people nervous approaching the trade deadline.
But in a season in which the thirst for first is all that matters, it was a fantastic tank game. The team showed a bit of pride in front of the home crowd and even put on a bit of a show in the 6-4 loss. Rogers Arena sounded far louder than it had any right to be, which just speaks to the fan base that is awaiting the pendulum to swing the other way.
So while we wait to see what other trades, if any, shake out by the end of the week, let’s sit back and enjoy one of the rare nights when Canucks hockey actually felt fun again.
Before we begin, I want everyone to raise a glass of milk in honour of our Chaos Giraffe, and then try to slide on your stomach to break up a two-on-one. It’s what he would have wanted.
He never quite lived up to his first contract with the team, but despite being in the harsh spotlight of Vancouver, he never once wavered in being a pro’s pro. A lot of players would have withered under the unrelenting nature of this market during the down times, but he never shied away from tough questions, stood tall during the bad times, and also gave us some fun highlights over the years.
Even if half of them were chaotic as hell.
Still, he kicked the sh!t out of Duncan Keith on that hit, and for that, we will be forever grateful. Also, that time he blocked a shot with his balls to clinch the playoff series against the Nashville Predators. Or that time he dangled through the Jets zone to score a highlight reel goal. Or the fact that he was the best player at giving an immediate receipt to his opponent if he didn’t like your hit.
Plus, he actually seemed like he loved the team and the city, which is a rarity nowadays. With so many players quitting on this team (and fair enough, it’s not fun here, we get it), there was something endearing about Myers seemingly wanting to go down with the ship. The team had to basically White Fang him for his own good to get him to go on a playoff run in Dallas.
God speed, good sir, God speed.
It sure felt like we were going to be in for a long night when Carolina scored just minutes into the game on the power play, after Sebastian Aho popped in a shot just outside the crease on a nice feed from K’Andre Miller:
As frustrating as Rick Tocchet hockey could be at times, I will say the man loved protecting the guts of the ice, something that has fallen by the wayside under Adam Foote. I thought the main differences between the two would just be “zip” vs. “juice” when talking about players needing energy, but alas, it appears the defensive structure of both coaches is more akin to Kitsilano Secondary being far superior to Lord Byng. At first glance, it looks like two similar high schools, but when you peer closer, you see the crumbling facade of burning garbage that is Byng.
Hail gold and blue forever.
Back to the goal, Marcus Pettersson slides away from the front of the net to chase down Miller, leaving room in front of the net, and Boeser doesn’t collapse quickly enough to get a stick on Aho.
End result: another power play goal given up by Vancouver. This is life without Derek.
And the first period just sort of continued with Carolina generating chance after chance while Vancouver responded with an energetic “Oh yeah, watch us dump the puck into the corner!!” pluckiness normally reserved for t-ball.
Even when Vancouver would succeed in said dumping, Carolina was able to transition and counterattack at high speeds, causing Vancouver issues in coverage, as is tradition. Kevin Lankinen had to be sharp to stop an Aho one-timer after Carolina exited their zone and set up in Vancouver’s zone rather quickly:
Vancouver didn’t help themselves early on, either, as a Brock Boeser fumble in his own zone led to Jackson Blake almost making it 2-0:
It’s not even a bad pass from D Elias Pettersson to Brock; it’s just when you’re losing this much every single night, I imagine even picking up a simple pass feels like the world’s greatest effort. It’s like when you’re depressed, and you know you’ve spiralled; sometimes, having a shower feels like a task better suited for being at the center of a mythological tale. Surely Hercules can do this, but not I. Not me, a mere mortal.
Carolina even started leaning on Vancouver physically during the opening frame, when Andrei Svechnikov ran over Conor Garland, which led to another high danger chance for the Hurricanes’ star forward:
You know you’re losing the battle when Jordan Staal is out here trying to dangle around your goalie:
On the night, the Hurricanes had 12 high-danger scoring chances to Vancouver’s three. They were, and are, clearly the better team.
But they also didn’t score enough early on, and you could kind of sense the Hockey Gods sitting up in their chairs a little bit as the first period wound down. Nobody enjoys grinding their high heel shoe in your stab wound more than a Hockey God who sees you flounder away too many scoring chances.
It started kind of slow, but you could see a bit of life in the team when Liam Öhgren skated his bag off down the ice to try and generate a scoring chance:
And sure, their lone shot of the first period, 10 minutes in, was Marcus Pettersson from downtown:
But look, Dan Cloutier taught me to fear any shot, so I don’t want to discredit this as a scoring chance. Going full Nick Lidstrom can work. Sometimes goalies will for no reason whatsoever lazily reach out with their glove in a playoff game to stop the easiest shot in the world only to let it in, this is what I’ve been taught.
Soon enough, though, the Canucks were starting to look, I don’t want to say dangerous, that would be insulting to Darkwing Duck, but they were looking like they were knocking on the front door with purpose.
And who else but Öhgren to showcase some hope when he almost feathered a pass perfectly over to Brock Boeser on a two-on-one chance with around five minutes left in the period:
A couple of things to note about this play:
- Marco Rossi makes a very smart play to step up and snake the puck away from Carolina. He sets this play in motion.
- That pass from Öhgren is absolutely divine. Waits out Jaccob Slavin until he’s sliding on the ice, then curls his wrists just enough to send the puck back under the skates of the Canes d-man. I don’t know who was more surprised the pass got through, Slavin or Boeser.
All of which led to…
After holding onto dear life, the NHL tends to give you a power play if it’s early in the game. I don’t make the rules; I just follow what Colin Campbell screams about in emails to his subordinates.
And with the man advantage, the Canucks looked downright competent. After moving the puck all around the offensive zone, Marco Rossi flung the puck across the crease only to see the puck deflect in off of Slavin’s stick behind Bussi:
Bit of luck in that goal? Sure. But you take that any day of the week over what we’ve seen in the last month.
The Canucks second score of the night was the goal of the game for me. It ends with Drew O’Connor finding Fil Hronek for the one timer, but Linus Karlsson played a central role in this goal:
Karlsson played so well early on in the season that he earned himself a new contract, and it felt justified. He works hard around the net and has a good enough skill set to do a bit of damage on the score sheet.
But I also kind of forgot he existed because, honestly, the team has been such a bag of sadness for so long now that it’s hard to watch a month of losing and be like, “Oh man, when is Karlsson gonna get going again?” You watch this team, and you mostly want to have a nap.
On this goal, though, you see him make the nice pass to Drew to set up the initial rush, and more importantly, you see Karlsson follow the play and fight for body position so he can get the puck back when it bounces towards the corner. He then finds DOC once more, who circles the net to find Fil Hronek, and baby, now you’ve got a trade deadline stew going.
Just a great play overall from Linus, and a solid effort from DOC as always.
Also, yes, that was an official piss missile from Fil the Pill.
The second period is where you kind of felt like Earth was healing, as Carolina asserted their dominance on the game by way of goals, many goals.
First things first, they made sure to erase Vancouver’s lead after a bad bounce off of Elias Pettersson’s stick led to Sean Walker scoring from the slot:
I don’t think Vancouver did anything egregious on this play, but I do think Kevin Lankinen probably wants that shot back. Sometimes bad luck is bad luck, however, so you can sort of write this one off.
Former friend turned foe Jalen Chatfield would then dial up Stall with a long-distance pass, who would enter the Canucks zone and softly slide a pass for Nikolaj Ehlers to skate into:
Teddy Blueger and Zeev Buium don’t provide the tightest coverage on the play, but they do switch off properly, so the fundamentals were there. But you get worried any time a guy like Ehlers gets a shooting lane to open up like that for him.
That being said, that’s another shot Lankinen probably wants back, as he makes himself both small in the net and too far over in his crease, opening up daylight for the Hurricanes forward.
That being said, that’s a fantastic shot from Ehlers, so sometimes you do, in fact, have to give credit to the bad guys.
That being said, that’s a lot being said.
Carolina would then almost score again off a similar play, when Slavin dialled up a long clearing pass that Seth Jarvis was able to skate onto before hitting the post with a shot:
That’s the kind of play where you get nervous watching a goalie in net as you wonder if they’re engaged in a deep battle of self-loathing with themselves.
Unless that’s just me, I just assume all goalies are like me, where everything is my fault, and I wonder why I chose this life.
I was watching a highlight package of Andrei Kuzmenko and Elias Pettersson goals, and I honestly had forgotten that EP40 used to dance down the ice and score on mid-range shots all the time. He would just walk in and boop; that’s a goal.
And while we won’t overcelebrate a shot, I will say it was nice to see some signs of that old EP40 on this night. He actually skated end to end and beat three players before unleashing a solid shot on net at one point:
The bar is low, and I know the weight of the 11.6 world he chose to live in, but this is the path he needs to keep going down. Hopefully, the Canucks can find a way to keep this going, whether that is under a new coaching staff or not.
Conor Garland would leave the game briefly after getting smacked into the boards by Walker, but he would later return:
I just naturally assume he’s always beat up and kind of broken, so this wasn’t too worrying.
Vittorio Mancini did not have a good night. He also played this Canes fourth goal very poorly, as he gave up the GOTI to Aho for reasons (bees?):
He initially has the middle of the ice, but the high pass gets knocked down out of the air by Aho, which is what throws Mancini off. That being said, this is why the cautious play would be to just maintain the middle of the ice, so it doesn’t matter which direction Aho takes the puck.
That being said, I would like to refer to the “Kevin wants that back, but also hey, good shot” argument from the third goal, except this time it led to Kevin getting pulled for Nikita Tolopilo.
Not many goalies can survive the third “I bet he wishes he had that one back” goal, and Lankinen was no different on this night.
Ok Patrik Allvin……get working those phones. No one should be safe from being traded at this point sheesh. #Canucks
— Ocean Park Nancy
Carolina looked like it had put the game away with their fifth of the night, after Max Sasson failed to get the puck in deep, leading to Ehlers scoring on the counterattack:
Straight up, I can’t get mad about a double-tap goal. I just can’t. I will giggle and clap anytime someone fakes a slapshot only to unleash a shot mere seconds later. I love the counterattack, loved it when Garland did it in the playoffs, and I love it here. It just has so much flair to it. I score that in beer league, I am walking into work the next day, and I am slapping my boss, that’s how out of control it would be.
Best reaction shot
Max Sasson shaking his head after failing a task at work, then taking a moment to stare into the abyss, never has this team felt more relatable.
With the game seemingly out of reach, the Canucks managed to find themselves with an extended five-on-three power play situation. I didn’t expect much because the Canucks power play is not something I enjoy spending time with on an elevator, but Marco Rossi fed Boeser with a perfect pass to make it a two-goal game:
I like how they just forgo the whole idea of passing the puck all over the ice and instead, Hronek and Rossi just play back and forth until a seam opens up. This was the first game I have watched Rossi in a Canucks uniform where I was like “ohhhh there’s the player who got 60 points in a season.” He might not be a line driver, and the Canucks clearly need a ton more talent everywhere in the lineup, but you can see the vision with Rossi.
Boeser would then almost score again before the period was up when a random shot on net almost found its way behind Bussi:
You could see the team had jump at this point, they weren’t just going to take their pity goal and grind down the clock. The third period started, and almost immediately Drew O’Connor, perhaps inspired by Öhgren’s earlier pass attempt, feathered a pass around a diving defenceman over to Conor Garland for the tap-in attempt:
It was weird, it was like the Caseams didn’t want to lose? That on some level, they wanted to win? It was a foreign feeling.
Jordan Staal must be so mad about this play. Dude smacks a puck out of the air for a baseball goal, only to see David Kämpf baseball bat the puck right back at him:
Someone’s been playing Pickleball…
Max Sasson then almost scored, purely using “eff all of this” energy after his earlier mistake cost his team a goal:
Look at us having fun! Who would have thought?
Luck finally went Nils Höglander’s way when EP40’s shot broke Slavin’s stick, which led to Pettersson passing around the fallen d-man to find Nils for the goal:
That would be the third point for Fil the Pill and the second of the night for Elias. More importantly, that’s just a really nice play from Elias. He draws in multiple players, which opens up the shooting lane for Nils, and I don’t have to say how relieved Höglander must feel right now. Nils was really starting to mount some real punch energy on the season, so it’s nice that the other monkeys finally accepted him into the group.
With under six minutes left, Carolina actually looked like they were holding on for dear life, which was a nice change of pace around here?
Teddy Blueger made a really nice zone entry only to cut back and find Brock Boeser in a perfect spot for a shot:
Defensive-minded Elias Pettersson ramped up the physical play by absolutely laying out Jalen Chatfield along the boards:
Conor Garland then found Elias Pettersson for a shot in the slot:
And you’re god damn right Drew O’Connor rushed the puck down the ice and crashed the net because that is what he God damn does:
And the best chance of the game, with the goalie pulled, was when Elias Pettersson rushed down the ice like a young Elias Pettersson, and lobbed a pass to Drew O’Connor in the slot that he Gabe Landeskog’d:
We just haven’t seen much of that EP40 this season. Him taking the puck and skating confidently down the ice, and more importantly, not falling at the first touch. That pass is the kind of setup that an elite finisher probably does more with (no offence to DOC), but at least the process is there. If Elias Pettersson is on the ice with the goalie pulled, and he is going end to end and setting up a linemate for a one-timer bomb in the slot, you can’t get mad at it.
A much better game but the #canucks lose 6-4 to Carolina. No points and the drive for the first overall pick goes on.
— just a guy.
Ultimately, the Canucks did the right thing and lost the game for the tank. They were such good hosts, they even let Ehlers get the empty net goal for the hat trick:
I will admit, I laughed watching Elias Pettersson, goalie at heart, try to do a barrel rolling pad stack to stop the shot, only to take out Hronek. I can only hope to find love one day the way Elias Pettersson loves trying to make saves.
Not quite the race I imagined EP40 and JT Miller thought they’d find themselves in this season, but here we are.
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With the trade deadline behind them, the Vancouver Canucks managed to pull off the rare feat of a victory by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3. The score is a bit flattering in that two of those goals were of the empty net variety, but a Vancouver win, in this economy? You don’t bother too much with the details.
I have to surmise that many players on the team were wondering if they were going to be tapped on the shoulder and given their ticket to freedom by noon on Friday. A chance to escape the losses and be a part of the playoffs, watching Colorado steamroll through en route to victory? That sounds like an upgrade to having to read about me making stupid jokes about the losses. I will admit that.
After the dust settled, however, we still have a team on our hands. Lots of players were moved out, even if it felt like there was still a little meat on the bone for your liking. In a vacuum, I think the team did perfectly fine at the deadline, even if half of their moves were to try to fix their own mistakes. There is just something depressing about watching a team trade away a player in Lukas Reichel to recoup a sixth rounder to try and offset the fourth they gave up for him.
You’d also be remiss if you didn’t wonder if trading Fil Hronek, despite his loyalty to this club, could have been something to lean on. The market for right-handed defenceman is always a hot one, but there are future deadlines for that. Drew O’Connor, in particular, strikes me as a perfect player to play and invest in so you can flip him for a haul at a future deadline.
Which brings us to the main point: if Vancouver keeps investing in this route, they have a good chance of acquiring the volume of draft picks needed to get a win or two in the draft. It will take 3-5 years to truly turn things around, and one only has to look over at Calgary to see the head start they have on the Canucks to realize you really have to commit to the process if you want it to work.
You’re also very valid in worrying that the team will trade future draft picks away at the first hint of success. That the rebuild is in name only, and the second the owner thinks the playoffs are in sight, short-term gains are back on the menu, boys.
But for now, all you can do is hope that this deadline was a sign of actual change. That, despite 10+ years of evidence to the contrary, the team will try to build an actual foundation for this team to make the playoffs seasonally. I don’t quite picture that the turnaround will happen under current management, but at least a lot of the core that was around for the EP40 and JT Miller divorce has been exorcised. This team dearly needs a fresh start, and it needs new voices to lead them, so hopefully younger players step up to fill the void. It’s vital that this team build a new culture because that will be a key part in keeping the fanbase engaged during the tough times of a rebuild.
And I also have to think that the players that got left behind at the deadline have a certain amount of stress off their shoulders. No more wondering if they’re going to be traded, no more wishing for a change of scenery. It is what it is for the rest of the season, so I feel like that would be a very freeing sort of moment for the team. I don’t think it was the engine of the victory tonight, but it probably helped. You’re here for the long haul, so you might as well just have fun and play some hockey.
Which is what they did against Chicago. Sure, the logical part of your brain wants as many losses as possible to ensure the best lottery odds, but nothing is guaranteed in this life. It’s Vancouver, so you have to automatically assume they’ll drop to third, much like they did in the draft lottery simulation TSN ran Friday morning.
So if they win, sure, why not? Have at it, boys, and enjoy a rare moment of relief. There are long days ahead before the sunshine hits, so get your smiles when you can.
In the meantime, we still have a game to go over, so let’s get into it.
This is like when my mom proudly talks about my sister’s accomplishments at the family dinner and then turns to me and politely asks me to pass the mashed potatoes. This is essentially Allvin being willing to admit that Evander Kane is, in fact, a person on this planet, but that’s about it.
And look, I imagine Evander Kane doesn’t want to be here anymore than the team or fanbase seems to want him around. If ever there was a divorce made in heaven, it was this pairing.
But if I could offer up some free advice to Allvin, it would be to play the cards a little closer to the chest. There is always a line of honesty and lying in sports, but you have to know where to pick your spots. Claiming publicly that there wasn’t a market for certain players in two consecutive trade deadlines is absolutely wild stuff to me.
I also don’t think he realizes that his inability to generate a market for said players is more of a reflection on him, as he a) put together this roster and b) should, as a general manager, be able to drum up interest in players by selling their good qualities. I can only assume cold calling another team and being like “So hey, Evander Kane is a player currently in the NHL.” and then silently waiting for an offer would yield low returns. Can you imagine the scene of Kane playing his 1000th game with Vancouver this season? It is going to have the kind of awkward vibes normally reserved for a business plan from Nathan Fielder.
But hey, maybe Allvin is swinging for the fences on the phones and doing his best Don Draper impersonation to dress these players up. It still doesn’t make sense to then publicly state that nobody seems to want them, or, like last season, claim the players play on the ice is the only thing that dictates trade value, which is another fun way of saying, publicly, that the players stink.
All in all, I walk away from every Allvin press conference with the distinct impression that he might be in over his head, and today was no different.
Ryan Donato, who I have firmly told my brain is not in fact Ted Donato, opened the scoring for Chicago in a way that felt all too familiar; A Canucks d-man (Tom Willander in this case) gave up the middle of the ice, leading to open ice for Donato to rush into, eventually beating Nikita Tolopilo after a lucky bounce off the back boards:
It’s been a bit of a Vancouver tradition under Adam Foote for d-men to inexplicably give up the middle of the ice, and while this wasn’t the most egregious version of it from Willander, it’s still something you hope a new coach can iron out of their game. The lunging poke check from Tom just stalls his momentum, and he gets caught absolutely flat-footed by the non-Ted Donato version of a hockey player, leading to the first goal for Chicago.
That being said, that’s a very very fortuitous bounce for Chicago, which is why Marcus Pettersson is late on the scene to help out because damn it, why would a puck bounce out like that, it feels very cruel to do that.
Normally, this is the part of the game where you sit back and openly ponder if the Canucks are going to lose 5-1 or 6-1 on the night, but Chicago is also a team looking to ethically lose some hockey games for lottery positioning. Their fan base loved this game in much the same way Vancouver fans have loved some of the losses from the Canucks. Chicago had some bright moments from their players, but ultimately lost, making it a great tank game for them, even if it feels like they’re jacking our swag. Did Ashley Tisdale wear their jeans? I think not.
The point is, Vancouver flipped the script and scored almost immediately after Chicago got their goal, when Drew O’Connor scored the most Drew O’Connor goal of all time:
Things to note on this goal:
- Drew O’Connor attacking the boards and lifting the stick of Andrew Mangiapane, which causes the puck to slide towards Evander Kane, which eventually leads to the puck being cycled over to Tom Willander, who takes the shot on net.
- Drew O’Connor, who initiated this play, finishes the play by skating hard to the net and setting up shop in the crease.
I am telling you, if this team cannot get a huge return at next year’s trade deadline, they all need to be removed from their jobs. A big guy with speed, who plays in the dirty areas, and can score at almost a 20-goal clip? That’s the stuff trade deadline dreams are made of. That should be the main goal from the Canucks this season, signing a bunch of gritty tall dudes to reasonably priced one-year deals they can flip at the deadline.
At this point, I would just put Drew on the first line next year and try to juice him to 30 goals. Why not at this point?
And speaking of 30-goal scorers, Jake DeBrusk finally made an appearance, as he would deliver his own tip of defiance when he got a stick on a Zeev Buium point shot:
Things to note on this goal:
- That is absolutely atrocious defensive coverage from Tyler Bertuzzi and Oliver Moore off of this faceoff, so it’s nice to know other teams do this as well. They just sort of stop skating and stare in the general direction of the puck before seemingly thinking, “job well done boys, time for beer,” and then patiently watching Buium take a shot on net.
- Alex Vlasic also does a pretty terrible job of containment, as he, too, seemingly gets caught up in the frame-mogging by Buium, allowing Jake DeBrusk to skate right by him and get a deft tip on the shot.
- I’m happy that a Kuzmenko and Hamhuis jersey got to celebrate this goal in the crowd.
Teddy “No Offers” Blueger would then set up Max Sasson to almost make the game 3-1, only to be denied by Arvid Soderblom:
Perhaps enraged by Max Sasson’s inability to garner him an assist, Teddy then took things into his own hands by making it 3-1 himself a of shift later:
Things to note on this goal:
- I like how now that the deadline has passed, Marcus Pettersson is out here looking like a young Tyler Myers. Just going full Chaos Giraffe as he dangles through the offensive zone out of nowhere.
- Max Sasson made a really smart defensive play to get the puck back to Vancouver, and then turned around and generated the zone entry with possession that led to the goal. His ability to use his speed and then cut back to buy time for trailing teammates is one of his best assets; the other one being his ability to change how his last name is pronounced from month to month.
- I refuse to believe there wasn’t a market for Teddy Blueger.
- Chicago just wasn’t moving their feet at all in this period. Nothing against that dashing run by MP3, but the amount of one-handed, not-skating-because-skating-is-hard moments from the Blackhawks was very noticeable. Which again, stop stealing Vancouver’s best bits, get your own thing.
I included this next clip of Connor Bedard to showcase how skilled he is, but mostly how much I enjoyed Brock Boeser going full “he’s the fastest kid alive” and just pointing and telling Marcus Pettersson to take over coverage:
I respect a man who knows his limitations.
Ilya Mikheyev continues to be a reliable 30+ point scorer in the NHL, even if my brain retconned his time in Vancouver as one where he struggled to score five points in a season.
Alas, hockey stats prove me wrong as his 28 and 31-point seasons with Vancouver were right in line with what he normally does, so we shouldn’t be too surprised he lit the lamp on Friday:
He doesn’t do much aside from silently sliding into place while Oliver Moore charges down the ice and eventually finds Ilya for the finish. A nice tidy bit of business, but another sign that the first period wasn’t exactly a defensive masterclass.
The Canucks can probably be forgiven for sitting back for the majority of the second and third period, as they haven’t had a lead this late in a game in a long while. They were too busy wondering what to do with their hands, so it led to a limited amount of offence from their side of the ice.
Which meant Chicago got to press their advantage, but due to them also being a rather terrible team, it didn’t amount to a ton of offensive chances? That being said, Tolopilo made a huge save off of a Frank Nazar (tell me that isn’t the perfect name for a singer from the 70’s) in the slot in the middle of the second period power play:
And when Tolopilo wasn’t there to make the save, luck showed its head and decided to take pity on Vancouver, as Connor Bedard hit iron on a nice shot from the slot:
I haven’t seen Bedard that frustrated since he left his car parked in the driveway before keyless remote entry.
But as with all things in life, Ilya Mikheyev is always lurking around the corner, ready to take you down and ruin your life, as his forecheck late in the third period led to Nazar tying the game up on a tip off of a Vlasic point shot:
Zeev Buium lost the footrace, which is nothing to be ashamed of, due to the fact that Ilya’s biggest weapon is his speed. Unless it’s in an injury-filled stay with Vancouver, then his special weapon is being the Russian player Rick Tocchet isn’t yelling at all the time.
Before we get to Boeser’s game-winning goal, I would be remiss if we didn’t showcase Jake DeBrusk doing his best to anger every person who likes to scream “SHOOOOOT” at their TV:
That’s some good puck movement on the power play, and ultimately at this point nothing matters, so I find it hard to get riled up over anything, but I will say I would have preferred Jake shoot that puck instead of passing to EP40.
It almost kind of worked, and I see the vision, but we’re just normal men. We’re just innocent men. Keep it simple and shoot the puck, be selfish.
Which brings us to Brock Boeser, who had no problem shooting/bunting a puck after Soderblom made an atrocious play on a simple shot from the corner, popping the puck into the air, ripe for the picking:
That’s a glorious goal from Boeser, who seems to have, if not found his scoring touch as of late, at least remembered which pair of pants he left it in.
Do I know why Soderblom made that play? Bees. Always bees.
With Vancouver holding a one-goal lead once again, thanks to Boeser’s goal, it meant sitting back and doing the ol’ “good road win” by setting up the bus and praying the other team doesn’t score.
And for the most part, it worked!
Oliver Moore tried to beat Nikita Tolopilo, but was stoned by the lanky legs of the Belarusian:
I’m going to be honest, I took a shot at spelling Matt Grzelcyk’s name without looking it up, and it did not go well. Neither did his shot attempt on Tolopilo, who stretched out to get his pinky toe on a shot from the crease:
And then Oliver Moore thought he had a goal, but once again, Tolopilo was there to ruin and shatter the dreams of his fellow man:
Also, shout out to Zeev Buium for deciding that taking Ryan Donato out into the boards was probably the best solution to the problem at hand. As this team loses over the next few seasons, and oh, they’ll lose, a healthy injection of violence into the lineup will go a long way with the fan base. The first guy to win a fight and dust off his hands afterwards will be a local hero, I’m telling you. The bar isn’t very high right now.
The closest Chicago would get to beating Tolopilo again was Landon Slaggert (Third year in House Slytherin?) blatantly cheating and trying to use his feet to score a goal. Disgusting:
I do enjoy how emphatically Fil Hronek and D Elias Pettersson waive off the goal immediately.
The Canucks clearly got a bit lucky on this one, but kudos to DP25 for boxing out Slaggert enough that his only choice was to be a despicable cheater who tried to kick his way to the top. This isn’t the All Valley Karate Tournament, buds.
If Max Sasson doesn’t star in the next Top Gun movie, then what’s the point of any of this?
For what it’s worth, that was probably Sasson’s best game of the season. He was noticeable in a low-event game, and he bounced back very quickly after being the culprit of a goal against in the Carolina game. As always, his speed is his top asset, and there is very little reason I see to keep him out of the lineup for the rest of the year.
Unless you’re worried he’s going to ruin the tank with his speed on empty net goals.
And just for posterity, here is Brock netting his second goal of the game:
And that was the ballgame. Canucks won, the team got to feel good for a night, and then the tank continues tomorrow at 4 pm.
Hurray!
Obviously, playing on a high-scoring, talented team helps. There is no way Vasili Podkolzin is putting up many numbers on this year’s Canucks squad.
But I have always wondered why the Canucks gave up so quickly on a young player as they did with Podkolzin. Not saying he’s a superstar, but he is looking like an effective NHL player, and as we’ve seen with Vancouver, those aren’t always as easy to find as you think.
Round of applause for tonight's axe recipient.pic.twitter.com/j7od12BewL
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 7, 2026
The good news is the Oilers still lost that game, so here’s Brock Boeser being happy after the victory.
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(@benkuzma) 
