October is upon us again, a time for scary movies and spooky thrills in preparation for Halloween. Unfortunately, October is also often a time for some scary Vancouver Canucks hockey. This week, the team opened up their season at home with a 6-5 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames and a 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
I know some of us might be haunted by residual nightmares related to the Canucks losing games in October, but we shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions about tearing the team down quite yet (unless you’re reading Jumping to Conclusions by our own Lachlan Irvine. In that case, go ahead). Everything is fine. It’s probably fine.
When new players come into the fold, especially four new wingers down the lineup, there’s bound to be some adjustment for both them and the core as they learn one another’s game and settle into Tocchet’s system. Ideally, I think we would have liked to have seen all of those adjustments be done and over with by opening night, but like the Stones once said, you can’t always get what you want. Two points in two games is better than none – but we know this team will refuse to settle. So, despite the disappointment of this week’s losses, who kept them in these games long enough to get to overtime?
Quinn Hughes
Quinn Hughes. It was Quinn Hughes who kept them in the game long enough to get to overtime. At least he did on Wednesday night against the Flames.
This speedy stretch pass from the captain gets fired home by J.T. Miller with just 1:37 left in regulation, as the Canucks gained back some pride and crawled into overtime. If we’re talking stars of the week, I’m thanking my lucky ones for this pass.
This was a two-point night for Hughes, picking up the secondary assist on Brock Boeser’s second goal earlier in the night.
On Friday night’s tilt against Philadelphia, Hughes was clocking in overtime hours – literally and figuratively. After Tyler Myers went down early in the game in an awkward collision with Flyers forward Joel Farabee, Hughes found himself filling the void on the blue line for the remainder of the night.
Hughes played a total of 31:49 on the ice that night. When asked about this by our own Jeff Paterson, Hughes gave an on-brand response.
Goodness gracious. I’m never complaining about a leisurely 5K stroll ever again.
Like I said last week, Quinn Hughes doesn’t appear to be a player who is slowing down by any means. He intends on taking his team with him, whether they’re in sixth gear or not. We will just have to wait and see.
Kevin Lankinen
I’ve seen enough. Give this man with 113 NHL games under his belt a Vezina nod.
All jokes aside, this late-in-the-game addition to the Canucks is looking better by the day, as we often forget Arturs Silovs is still young and green and had a shaky start to his 2024-2025 campaign in the loss against the Flames.
Lankinen coming into the fold after Thatcher Demko took an arrow in the knee (sorry, is that reference from 2011 still funny? More importantly, was it ever?) may just be a blessing in disguise. Demko is, in many ways, an irreplaceable force. But all we are asking is for a sturdy goaltending tandem to play the understudy in his absence, not to replicate his star performance. Filling his shoes in the meantime is no easy feat, but Lankinen showed some genuine promise in Friday’s game against the Flyers, despite the loss.
Lankinen seemed hell-bent on refusing to let Matvei Michkov score his first NHL goal against him. They say Gen Z is too entitled; I’m just happy Lankinen is doing the work to keep the young rookies humble.
The Finnish netminder made several of these game-saving clutch moves, particularly in overtime, which is part of the reason why this game even went to a shootout. In total, he posted a .935 save percentage (SV%) with 29 saves on 31 shots, 28 of those in regulation time, only falling to Travis Konecny and Morgan Frost in the shootout. While I have my issues with how the Canucks failed to keep up in this game, Kevin Lankinen is not included in that equation.
This brand-new Canuck has earned his next start, as far as I’m concerned. With Demko’s return between the pipes still to be determined, we might have just come across a starting goalie for more than just his next game, if we are lucky.
J.T. Miller
Okay, hear me out.
It’s safe to say that if it weren’t for the efforts of one J.T. Miller in the Canucks’ home opener, thanks to the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass from Quinn Hughes, the Canucks would have walked away with no points rather than one. Judging by how Vancouver was playing in the latter half of this game, I was not counting on this equalizing goal to come.
It was quite a game for Miller, his 800th career NHL game, to be exact. He made it count, notching one goal, one assist, and one fight.
In the first period alone, Miller hit Kevin Rooney of the Flames, who fell back awkwardly with a noticeable hit to his head. He was thankfully able to get up on his own after medical staff came to his aid, but those few minutes with him down on the ice were apprehensive – it’s not great to see a guy go down like that, no matter what sweater he’s sporting.
Despite Miller’s intent not to injure, this still could not go unanswered by Calgary. Anthony Mantha dropped the gloves with J.T. Miller after some pleasantries were exchanged by the two throughout the remainder of the period, the specifics of which I can only imagine.
It was a welcoming display from Miller, who only appeared in one preseason game while nursing an undisclosed ailment. Walking away with a Gordie Howe hat trick and a game-tying goal in your 800th game isn’t so bad, is it?
The same might not be able to be said for his Friday night effort against the Philadelphia Flyers, where the top six took the October theme a little too seriously and dressed up as ghosts for a solid half of the game.
Their forward depth took the reins from the top lines as this impossibly long game dragged on to a shootout. Even Miller’s shootout attempt against Samuel Ersson was noticeably sluggish, not the finest work from our 1C.
The Canucks simply cannot sit back, lose a lead late in the game, and rely on their stars to bounce back and save the team in overtime. That tactic is saved for a different blue-and-white Canadian team, thank you very much. More importantly, it’s just a terrible insurance policy.
Putting Miller on this list may be somewhat controversial, but after the heart attack of a game that was the home opener, it feels appropriate. I made it past his 7×8 contract signing year in 2022/2023; this is a cross I’m willing to bear.
Some Honourable Mentions
Sometimes, it’s hard to pick just three stars in the constellation of a fantastic team.
Nils Höglander, Conor Garland, and Teddy Blueger are my runners-up this week, plus an obligatory Brock Boeser mention for being Brock Boeser.
The Canucks head out on the road this week against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers – no word on the status of these games yet despite the effects of Hurricane Milton – and meet the Philadelphia Flyers once more. Hopefully, this week is better for the Canucks than their opening stretch.
