Alex Burrows played under 14 minutes in this game, but that doesn’t capture his impact. His game was like the cup sizes at Wendy’s: way bigger than you expect. You were expecting a medium contribution from Burrows? Bam! Have a large! Want a large game from Burrows? Bam! Popcorn bucket!
Burrows ended up with a goal and an assist, but even that doesn’t do his game justice. He got under the skin of the Buffalo Sabres early, starting a parade to the penalty box for the Canucks’ expansion brothers. He personally drew two penalties, leading directly to two goals. Without Burrows, the Canucks lose this game.
Speaking of “without Burrows,” this game likely didn’t hurt his trade value. Like the GMs of contending teams around the NHL, I watched this game.
- The Sabres scored the opening goal, withering the Canucks’ sluggish breakout with a salty forecheck. First Nikita Tryamkin was uncharacteristically bodied off the puck, then when Markus Granlund recovered it, he had his pocket picked and got unceremoniously dumped like Peter Bretter (Very NSFW!). In the resultant confusion, Tyler Ennis ended up wide open at the back door to score.
- Bo Horvat’s line was once again the Canucks best. Horvat had the Canucks first good scoring chance, forcing a great save from Robin Lehner after a Jannik Hansen pass, and he finished the night with a goal and an assist. His first-line caliber play finally saw him get more ice time than Henrik Sedin...and less than Brandon Sutter. So close and yet so far.
- After another strong shift from the Horvat line, Alex Burrows got into a scuffle with Robin Lehner. The goaltender gave Burrows a tap with his stick and the agitator didn’t waste the opportunity to goad the hotheaded Lehner into something more, shoving Lehner and drawing a slash and an invitation to fight. Burrows just shrugged, then got clocked by Justin Falk, who came flying in like the heel in a wrestling match. The end result: a power play for the Canucks and an agitated goaltender for the Sabres.
- The Canucks power play has been uncharacteristically on fire lately. It’s like Elijah’s altar when he challenged the prophets of Baal: soaked completely in water, with no chance of catching on fire except by a miracle from heaven. I’m pretty sure the Canucks’ power play over the last week has proven the existence of God. Heck, the Canucks could have been 3-for-6 in this game: both of Michael Chaput’s goals came mere seconds after a power play ended.
- Yes, two Michael Chaput goals. I’m telling you, blatant proof of the existence of God.
- Bo Horvat scored the first Canucks goal by auditioning for the role of Squirrel Girl’s sidekick in the sure-to-be-upcoming live action movie: Tippy. He embodied Tippy completely, redirecting Ben Hutton’s long wristshot past Lehner.
- I’m liking Reid “The Mighty” Boucher more and more as he continues to make an impact in limited minutes. He played trigger man on the second power play unit, finishing with three shots on goal, and made a nifty play on a zone entry, pulling up quickly to shake a defender, to set up Jack “One Surprisingly Good Shift Per Game” Skille for a scoring chance that he rang off the crossbar.
- After an ugly Evander Kane elbow on Troy “Koi Boi” Stecher led to another power play, Michael Chaput hit the ice at the tail end of the man advantage, poked the puck away from Jack Eichel, then found himself in just the right spot when Daniel Sedin’s centring pass for Loui Eriksson deflected out to the slot. Chaput Cha-shooted and beat Lehner glove side just four seconds after Kane’s penalty expired.
- Just before the end of an eventful first period, Kyle Okposo tied things up at 2-2. Luca Sbisa completely failed to tie up Okposo in front, but there was plenty of blame to go around, as the Canucks in the defensive zone were like cell phone companies in northern Canada: lousy coverage.
- After that, Markstrom shut the door like he wasn’t born in a barn. Two of his biggest saves came on Sam Reinhart: early in the second Reinhart got in alone and drove to the net, but Markstrom was able to get his left pad on it. Then late in the third period, he made a sterling save, one of the best saves of the year, somehow getting his blocker out to rob Reinhart on a rebound. It was literally a sterling save, as the standard for sterling silver is 92.5% purity and that save kept his save percentage above 92.5%.
- Five minutes into the second period, Burrows got the last laugh on Lehner. Horvat started the breakout and Troy Stecher jumped up into the rush, taking the puck into the offensive zone and finding Burrows driving the centre lane, whose quick shot beat Lehner under the glove. Poetically, the defenceman backing in too far giving Burrows the space to shoot was Justin Falk.
- After Burrows drew another penalty driving to the net, Chaput scored another goal seconds after a penalty expired. This time Burrows got involved a little more directly, getting the second assist. He dropped the puck back to Alex Edler, who found Chaput at the side of the net. His shot was lousy and off-target, but it ricocheted — or rico-Chaputed — in off none other than Justin Falk.
- Lending an ominous tone to the much-needed win, Bo Horvat left the game in the final minute. Fittingly, he left on a heroic note, blocking a shot, then staying in the play while clearly hobbled and without his stick before diving out to sweep the puck into the neutral zone with his bare hand. Okay, it was a gloved hand, but it sounds so much more dramatic the other way. Only then did he leave the ice and head straight to the dressing room.
- The Canucks have to hope that Horvat is all right and not in the sense that a seal bit off his left hand. If Horvat is out for any extended period of time, the playoffs will become even more of a distant dream than they already are.
