That might have been a huge win, had they not suffered so many self-inflicted wounds this season. Instead, yesterday's 6-2 triumph over the Ducks will be an amusing footnote on another wasted season. Well, let's get this over with, then.
Vancouver Canucks (35-28-13) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (46-22-8)
7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: Sportsnet 650
It was clearly the best first period the Canucks have played all season, which is absolutely hilarious that it could never come when it actually mattered. Whatever the myriad of reasons for their demise this year, the fact remains this team was not as good as perceived, and still under-performed on those measurements. And while technically, the Canucks playoff hopes are still alive, we've seen this far too many times before to entertain they might actually do the thing. I suppose it's fitting that with such monumental odds against them, the final nail in the coffin would a loss to Vegas. The hockey gods have a cruel sense of humour.
As fun as it was to watch that win yesterday, there's a lot of reasons to be frustrated. There wasn't a game all season where the Canucks got those kinds of bounces. Also frustrating, was watching them shut it down afterwards, as though this team wasn't known for blowing large leads. Sure, it didn't happen, but it's an indictment on the coaching staff that they weren't pushing the Canucks to keep pressing. I don't give a good god damn if you run up the score. This is a team that needs to get it's offensive juices flowing, so why stifle it?
I'm not one who is into the whole selling false hope thing. I tried my best to keep telling you that things weren't right this season, and while there were moments where it looked like they might figure things out, consistency was something that eluded them. There are some things to look forward to, as the play of D Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Lekkerimaki show that they're ready for a full time role next season. And with Tom Willander to be signed after the end of the Frozen Four, there's at least some prospects that the team can hopefully start building around.
Next season should also, if both stay healthy, be better from a goaltending standpoint. With a healthy Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen not getting burnt out like he clearly has this season, the Canucks can, with some changes to the defence, not give up as many goals next year as they did this season. I am hopeful that Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin do the hard work to rebuild the back end, and give those goaltenders the kind of support they need, and take some of the pressure off Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek.
And then we come to coaching. It's clear now that Rick Tocchet's systems do not work. The Canucks are predictable, and play a style that doesn't allow them to exploit weaknesses in opponents who may outmatch them. Their main offensive weapons aren't actually given the green light to do anything, and when they do try and be creative, any mistakes end up in the Canucks net because of the many glaring defensive issues this team has.
LINEUPS
Just go to nhl dot com if you don't believe us, that's where we got this...
10 p.m. ET; SNP, ESPN
Golden Knights projected lineup
Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone
Brandon Saad -- Nicolas Roy -- Pavel Dorofeyev
Victor Olofsson -- William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Tanner Pearson -- Brett Howden -- Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin -- Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Akira Schmid
Scratched: Cole Schwindt, Ben Hutton, Kaedan Korczak
Injured: Tomas Hertl (upper body), Ilya Samsonov (upper body)
Canucks projected lineup
Conor Garland -- Pius Suter -- Brock Boeser
Drew O'Connor -- Teddy Blueger -- Jake DeBrusk
Dakota Joshua -- Aatu Raty -- Kiefer Sherwood
Linus Karlsson -- Max Sasson -- Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Quinn Hughes -- Victor Mancini
Marcus Pettersson -- Filip Hronek
Derek Forbort -- Elias Nils Pettersson
Kevin Lankinen
Thatcher Demko
Scratched: None
Injured: Nils Aman (upper body), Tyler Myers (undisclosed), Filip Chytil (concussion), Noah Juulsen (lower body), Elias Pettersson (upper body), Nils Hoglander (undisclosed)
The good news is that Vegas also played last night. The bad news is they used their backup goalie against Calgary, so it'll be Adin Hill in goal. Lankinen starts for the Canucks, and they could see Hoglander make his return. Even with Hoglander back in, that is a lot of regulars out of commission. No Hertl for Vegas, which is great because he's always been a thorn in the Canucks' side.
GAME DAY CHATTER
The farm team is on a hell of a roll heading into the postseason. It's nice to have some good news, eh?
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Listen to more Bolt Thrower. From 'Mercenary', this is 'No Guts, No Glory'.
Enjoy the game, I guess? Fuck fascists everywhere, including Trump, Musk and all those bastards in the US. Go Canucks Go!
