The dream of the Vancouver Canucks going undefeated under Bruce Boudreau is over but only just barely.
Now there’s a new dream: getting at least one point in every game Boudreau coaches. There’s still a chance! The Canucks are 7-0-1 under Boudreau — they have yet to lose a game in regulation. They may not have won their eighth straight game on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings but they didn’t exactly lose either.
It wasn’t pretty — the Canucks managed just 18 shots on goal — but they somehow managed to earn a point, tying up the game in the third period to force overtime. For a team that needs every point they can get after their horrific start to the season, that’s big.
Earlier in the Canucks’ streak, some of their wins came with a caveat or two. For instance, three of their first four wins came against teams playing on the second night of back-to-backs and using their backup goaltender. They came against teams missing top players, like the Carolina Hurricanes without Sebastian Aho.
On Thursday night, however, the caveat was on the other foot. The Canucks were the team playing on the second night of back-to-backs, with Brock Boeser out of the lineup in the NHL’s COVID protocol, with backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak in net.
Not that Halak played like a backup. He was superb for the Canucks, making 34 saves on 35 shots, including 16 saves in the second period alone to keep the Canucks in the game and a stop on a penalty shot in the third period. It was a stunning performance for Halak, easily his best game of the year.
It’s easy to excuse a lacklustre performance from the rest of the Canucks. They hadn’t played in two weeks and weren’t allowed to even practice for a big chunk of that time, then played an overtime game against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. It shouldn’t be surprising that the Canucks didn’t seem to have their legs in this game.
Still, under circumstances that might otherwise have lead to what they call a “schedule loss,” the Canucks managed to take the game all the way to the shootout, stealing a point and coming a coin flip away from two points.
I call that a win. Well, no I don’t, I call it a shootout loss, but you get what I’m saying. I watched this game.
- Some things probably happened in the first period but it was awfully hard to notice them in the midst of all the nothing. If you want a sign for how little happened in the first, the NHL’s official highlight package had just one clip from the first period and it was Alex Turcotte fanning on a shot. Over nine minutes of highlights in a game that featured two goals in regulation and the only thing that made the cut from the opening 20 minutes was a chance that didn’t even register as a shot attempt.
- Lots happened in the second period, however, but most of it was bad for the Canucks. The Kings out-shot the Canucks 17-to-3 in the middle frame and only Halak kept the game from blowing wide open. Halak was sharper than Casanova Frankenstein’s pinky fingernail in this game.
- The Kings did manage to get one past Halak in the second period off a rough play by Luke Schenn. He mishandled a pass from Quinn Hughes, then threw a panicked pass up the boards under pressure instead of tying the puck up along the boards and waiting for help. At the point, Christian “Wololo” Wolanin converted Schenn’s pass into a Kings possession and his point shot was tipped in by Brendan Lemieux.
- Matthew Highmore had some of the Canucks’ best chances, which makes an odd sort of sense. He didn’t play the previous night and was raring to go after spending so much time on injured reserve. He had one glorious chance on an open net blocked by Wolanin in the second period, then got robbed by a scrambling Jonathan Quick in the third period.
- In fact, Highmore and his linemates on the fourth line, Tyler Motte and Juho Lammikko, were the only Canucks who didn’t get out-shot at 5-on-5 in this game. That’s good for the fourth line; less good for the rest of the team.
- The worst shift of the second period was part of a penalty kill, which turned into a shooting gallery on Halak as the Canucks couldn’t clear the puck even after the penalty ended. Tucker Poolman got the worst of it. By the end of the shift, he had been on the ice for nearly three full minutes — 2:50 in ice time, including a full minute on the penalty kill.
- Bruce Boudreau’s aggressive, up-tempo system has been a breath of fresh air for Canucks players and fans alike. My one concern is that the team’s high-pressure forecheck and constant up-ice pressure might wear them out over time, particularly with their limited depth. The Caanucks definitely looked gassed at times in this game, particularly in the second period with the long change. Maybe my concerns are unfounded and it won’t be a long-term issue, it’s just something nagging at the back of my mind.
- The third period was a bit better for the Canucks, so maybe my fatigue theory has already been shot to bits. They were only out-shot 9-to-6, which isn’t even a Dolly Parton song, so that’s probably fine.
- For some reason, any time a referee has to pick up a loose stick — or one stuck in the boards in this case — and hold onto it for a bit always tickles me. Look at him. It's a ref with a stick and he's not supposed to have one. It's funny. Ref with a stick.
- Elias Pettersson had the Canucks’ best chance to tie the game midway through the third period, as Conor Garland and Vasily Podkollzin combined to give him a clear shot from the hashmarks and he fired it high. The frustration was obvious from the Canucks star as he slammed his stick on the ice. It was also obvious 10 seconds later when he vocalized those frustrations.
- Pettersson helped tie up the game not long after on the power play. Pettersson spotted J.T. Miller cross-ice, then picked up a loose puck off a board battle by Bo Horvat and Alex Chiasson and sent a blind pass to Miller, who had to reach for the puck but then he made a brilliant diving pass against the grain to Bo Horvat at the back door for the tap-in goal.
- Seriously, this pass was stunning — arguably the best pass of the season for the Canucks. Somehow, Miller’s complete no-sell on the celebration made it even better, as he shrugged and shook his head as if this is something he does all the time, no big deal.
- Overtime had chances both ways, with Horvat getting the best one for the Canucks with a clear cut breakaway from the blue line in but Quick swiftly got his blocker on it. Horvat got beat for the Kings’ best chance, as Alex Iafollo deked around him but Halak got just enough of his backhand with his glove to send the puck up and off Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s shoulder as he got pushed into the crease.
- Tyler Myers has been fantastic for the Canucks under Boudreau but had a rough overtime, getting beaten wide three times. This chance for Adrian Kempe was Myers at his most chaotic, as he got completely spun around and went full Tasmanian Devil into the net.
- Bo Horvat got the Canucks’ lone goal in the shootout with an incredibly quick release on a move to the forehand. I swear, the release on Horvat’s shot has gotten so much faster this season and it really shows in the shootout, where he’s 3-for-4 this season.
- Tanner Pearson is a bit of an odd choice for the Canucks’ fifth shooter after Pettersson, Miller, Horvat, and Garland. Boeser being out limits their options but it seems like a young guy like Nils Höglander or Vasily Podkolzin might be a better choice. Perhaps he was banking on Pearson being familiar with Quick from when they were teammates but that familiarity goes both ways.
