Canucks Takeaways: Strong win over Blues starts first streak in a while
Not since the players were toddlers have so many people delighted in their ability to count to two, but the Canucks earned their sound, 5-2 road win Monday against the St. Louis Blues after Saturday’s stout 2-1 victory against the National Hockey League-leading Washington Capitals.
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Just for something different, the Vancouver Canucks are now on a winning streak.
Not since the players were toddlers have so many people delighted in their ability to count to two, but the Canucks earned their sound, 5-2 road win Monday against the St. Louis Blues after Saturday’s stout 2-1 victory against the National Hockey League-leading Washington Capitals.
The two-game winning streak is Vancouver’s first since Dec. 1 and arrives after two weeks of heightened tension — and attention — amid trade stories involving core players J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson.
For the record, both players were good in St. Louis. Miller sniped a breakaway goal in the second period after demonstrating his emotional investment by fighting Blues captain Brayden Schenn on his second shift; and Pettersson registered an assist and seven shots on net during his 14:24 of ice time, finishing with expected-goals-for of 74 per cent at five-on-five.
It’s amazing how much better the Canucks look when, among their top players, more than just defenceman Quinn Hughes is going.
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And Hughes was going again, marvellously creating a two-on-one rush and setting up the first of two goals by Conor Garland to open scoring just 2:52 into the contest. The Norris Trophy winner finished with a pair of helpers for his 100th multi-point game in the NHL.
Through the team’s most dire stretch of the season, Hughes has registered six goals and 14 points in 11 games since returning Jan. 6 from a hand injury. Playing with his hand heavily braced, the Canucks captain leads his team with 56 points in 45 games — 22 points more than his nearest teammate, Miller.
Besides finally stacking two impressive wins together, the victory was important for the Canucks because it moved the team four points clear of the Blues in the wild-card playoff race in the Western Conference. Vancouver is one point out of a playoff spot, behind the Calgary Flames, who have played one fewer game.
The Canucks are six points behind the Colorado Avalanche, and four behind the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division.
The team will try to count to three Wednesday in Nashville, where a win would match the Canucks’ longest winning streak since Nov. 7.
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“It’s a big game for a lot of reasons,” Miller said in a walkoff interview after the win. “We’re trying to put multiple good games back to back for us as a group, and this is a road trip where we can come together and maybe separate ourselves from some of the teams and gain some ground.”
PRIME TIME
Amazon Prime network analyst Jody Shelley said the Canucks should ride goalie Kevin Lankinen into the Four Nations tournament break six games from now. That would be a lot of games in a row for Lankinen, who stopped 24 of 26 shots in St. Louis but has faltered this season when he gets to five or six consecutive starts.
But really, there is no choice right now for Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet, whose desperate team needs wins and has a much better chance of getting them from Lankinen than Thatcher Demko, given the goalies’ current form. In an ideal season — yeah, like the Canucks will ever get another one of those — the team would be safely above the playoff cutline and could afford to give starts to Demko so the struggling star could work on his game after missing eight months with a serious knee injury.
But there’s just too big a gulf at the moment between Lankinen (18-8-6, .906 save rate) and Demko (3-5-3, .867) for Tocchet to have any real choice. Lankinen has earned a run of starts.
TURNING POINT
The Canucks built a 3-0 lead through 29 minutes while outshooting the Blues 18-8 and chasing St. Louis starter Jordan Binnington.
But the pivotal moment came soon after that. After Dylan Holloway’s power-play goal made it 3-1 at 10:08 of the second period, Canuck Nils Hoglander was careless with his stick and raked it across the mouth of Blues star Robert Thomas, putting St. Louis back on a four-minute power play at 12:02.
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It felt like the game was shifting.
But amid some excellent penalty killing, defenceman Tyler Myers stripped Holloway of the puck at the Vancouver blue line, creating a breakaway for Pius Suter as the Canuck powered past Schenn. With St. Louis reliever Joel Hofer leaning glove-side, Suter rattled the puck through the goalie to make it 4-1 at 13:36.
Suter’s first goal since Dec. 6 ended his scoring drought at 23 games and provided a massive momentum swing back to the Canucks.
The Suter-Garland-Jake DeBrusk line had an excellent night, outshooting the Blues 7-2 at five-on-five.
Garland’s goals were his first in nine games, and Miller’s breakaway finish from Hughes’ outstanding stretch pass was his first goal in 10 games.
Vancouver’s team defending has been superior for a while now. If the Canucks actually start scoring again, they could win a lot more than two games in a row.
A MOMENT FOR MYERS
OK, so he’s not Connor McDavid. But neither is Tyler Myers “Chaos Giraffe” to his teammates.
Myers was excellent in his return from a three-game suspension that generated a lot less attention — and far less braying — than the equal ban McDavid received from the same Canucks-Oilers game nine days ago.
There always seems to be a Canuck in the market who is ridiculed for amusement, and the six-foot-eight Myers has frequently been that guy. And, sure, he makes mistakes, sometimes costly ones. At his size, it is impossible to hide.
But Myers demonstrated again Monday how important he is to Canuck success on a blue line that falls off precipitously after Hughes and Filip Hronek.
Myers used his reach to make a pile of good defensive plays, was calm under pressure, registered five shots on net and added an empty-net goal to go with his assist on Suter’s shorthanded marker. He finished plus-three in 22:58 of ice time, and the Canucks outshot the Blues 12-7 when Myers was on the ice at five-on-five.
Tocchet and teammates are elated to have him back.
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“I thought my Mysie was one of the best players on the ice,” Tocchet told reporters in St. Louis. “I thought he was terrific tonight for us. When he’s out. . . you really miss a guy like that. His breakouts were great. I thought that he was excellent. In those three games he was off, he worked really hard. So he didn’t miss a beat. I’m really proud of Mysie.”
LINE DANCE
With Myers’ return, struggling defenceman Vincent Desharnais was an easy choice to come out of the lineup as rookie callup Elias Pettersson (D-Petey) got his second NHL audition. We need to see more than 10 or 12 sheltered minutes from Pettersson, but he hasn’t looked overwhelmed in his first NHL reps. . . Winger Dakota Joshua, fit to play after suffering a leg injury on Jan. 3, did not dress but should be back in the lineup Wednesday in Nashville. . . Key depth winger Kiefer Sherwood, who was injured blocking a shot Thursday in Edmonton, did not start the trip but could re-join the team before the roadie ends Friday in Dallas.
