This game started with some phenomenal zone time from the fourth line, and surprise surprise, it was Quinn Hughes who kickstarted everything. It was a day that ends in y, so the Canucks’ captain wasted little time in making some magic happen, setting up Teddy Blueger for a deflection chance that Blueger put off the post.
The return of Elias Pettersson to the Canucks’ lineup is obviously a welcome one, and Pettersson seemed to be feeling it early.
Unfortunately, Noah Juulsen saw to it that the Canucks’ O-Zone time eventually came to an end after this chance.
The Canucks had some good jump in this game early, but the Hurricanes got the first power play chance of the game after JT Miller was called for cross-checking Andrei Svechnikov. Svechnikov went down rather easily, and Miller didn’t hesitate to let him know that he felt that way, either.
Kiefer Sherwood and Noah Juulsen did some excellent work on the PK, however, and the Canucks managed to give up just one shot on goal over the two-minute man advantage.
Back at 5v5, Miller made a poor decision with the puck, electing to put it blindly into the middle of the ice instead of up the boards, which led to Carolina getting a couple of shots off, the second of which beat Thatcher Demko five-hole.
1-0 Canes.
Kiefer Sherwood drew a penalty with some hard work in the neutral zone to give the Canucks their first power play opportunity of the game. It was there that we saw Jake DeBrusk taken off PP1 with Pettersson’s return. Him instead of Conor Garland came as a bit of a surprise. Both units struggled to get set up, and if it weren’t for a last second shot from Hughes, the Canucks would have ended their sequence without an official shot on goal.
In the second period, it took little time for Andrei Svechnikov to push the Canes’ lead to two.
Having the kind of depth that allows you to have a player like Svechnikov on the third line is simply a cheat code. 2-0 Canes.
One of these teams played a game last night and was starting an AHL journeyman in goal. Can you guess which team that might be?
The second period was low-event, with the Canucks looking for the perfect chance against a team that doesn’t give up many of those. And to answer the question above, it was the Canes that played last night and had an AHL journeyman in goal. But you certainly wouldn’t know it based on how the Canucks played.
Generating just five shots on goal past the halfway mark of a game featuring Dustin Tokarski backstopping a team that played last night is downright shocking.
Really, the Canes didn’t look that great either. They looked like a team that had played five games in seven nights, and the Canucks somehow looked worse. The shots were 12-9 Canes after 40 minutes of play.
The third period got started with the Canes in protect mode, and it looked like fatigue may have started to catch up to them. Pettersson drew a penalty eight minutes into the third. On the ensuing power play, Pettersson’s chance on goal grazed the outside of the iron.
The Canes were clearly tired, but they collapsed to the middle so well and didn’t let pucks get through to their goaltender, who, at age 35, was playing in NHL game number 85.
Jalen Chatfield tripped Elias Pettersson once again later in the third, giving the Canucks another chance to strike on the power play and get back into this game. Annnndddd no shots on that power play. The man advantage moved to 0-for-3 on the night with two shots on goal.
And that was all she wrote.
2-0 final.
This is just the third shutout of 35-year-old Dustin Tokarski’s NHL career. His last one came in the 2021-22 season, when his Buffalo Sabres beat the Calgary Flames 1-0. His other one came in the 2013-14 season with the Montreal Canadiens.
See you all tomorrow.
Some more takeaways from tonight:
-I lost count at how many passes were made that just went to absolutely nobody tonight. From both teams.
-What a snoozefest of a game.
-Erik Brännström on his off side cannot be a worse option than Noah Juulsen.
-Most boring game of hockey we’ve seen this year?
-Another quiet game for Brock Boeser. Move your feet. Go to the net. Do something.
-We could pick on a multitude of players tonight, and while JT Miller had the gaffe that led to the first goal, I didn’t hate his game tonight.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game?
