The Canucks were under siege to start this game, and Arturs Silovs needed to be sharp early on. Tampa Bay’s top line scored after what had to be their second or third prime east-west chance just under four minutes into the game. Noah Juulsen lost an edge in his own end, and then lost his man in the defensive zone off the turnover. Unfortunately, his man was Nikita Kucherov, who promptly made it 1-0 Lightning.
Tampa Bay was absolutely all over the Canucks for the first ten minutes of this game, and Silovs made some key stops (even ones from the point!) early to keep this game within reach.
Nils Höglander drew a hooking penalty right at the halfway point of the opening frame, marking a prime opportunity for the power play to do something great. The Canucks used both of their units, but neither managed to get anything going as Tampa Bay remained up by a goal.
Back at even strength, the Canucks looked to assert themselves against a Tampa team that was simply all over them early on. As they have been through the first two games of the season, the Nils Höglander-Aatu Räty-Conor Garland trio was their best line early in this one. Räty was called for interference after going into a net front battle a little too hard, knocking the Lightning defender on his wallet.
This gave Tampa a late power play opportunity where once again, Silovs had to be sharp. Elias Pettersson had a nice takeaway and rush chance while shorthanded, the Canucks remained within one as the first period came to a close.
The Canucks looked like an entirely different team to kick off the second period, as Jake DeBrusk fed Elias Pettersson with two solid scoring chances that were turned aside by Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Canucks were all of a sudden knocking on the door, and at the very least, competing with Tampa.
After being so strong in the first period, Arturs Silovs allowed a Brayden Point one-timer to beat him blocker side. 2-0 Lightning.
That is certainly one the 23-year-old Latvian will want back. After the goal, the Canucks were right back to being sloppy in all areas of the ice. Pettersson had some positive flashes, but the Canucks as a whole looked sluggish and a step behind the Lightning.
Tyler Myers took an interference penalty late in the second, giving Tampa their second power play of the night. The Canucks killed it off, and you hoped that the successful PK could be a catalyst for the Canucks to build some momentum in the final minutes of the second.
Quinn Hughes turned in a solid shift, then Elias Pettersson did the same. Then JT Miller and Brock Boeser did the same. Then Conor Garland worked alongside Pettersson on the forecheck to nearly capitalize and get the Canucks on the board. Unfortunately, he was denied by the post, and the Canucks’ headed into the third down by a pair of goals.
The good news was that the Canucks’ best players were finally starting to look like their star players…
Unfortunately, the Lightning struck quickly into the third, seemingly killing any and all momentum the Canucks may have carried over from their strong finish to the second. 3-0 Lightning.
The Canucks found themselves on a 4-on-3 power play after that, and this was another good sequence of shits from the Canucks’ best players.
Brock Boeser, JT Miller, Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Conor Garland all looked at or near their best to end the second and into the third, Garland especially. That’s why it was fitting that it was Garland who opened the scoring for the Canucks at the end of the power play. 3-1.
Jake DeBrusk was called for a four minute double minor for high sticking, putting their penalty kill to another test. The PK continued to stand tall, as the Canucks remained perfect on the night, killing off all four Tampa power plays.
The Lightning scored their fourth goal of the night when Michael Essymont stuffed home a wraparound chance that the Canucks challenged for goaltender interference. The goal was waved off, as it was determined that Eyssimont pushed Silovs’ pad into the net.
Time dwindled down as the Canucks attempted to forge a comeback, but some sharp goaltending from Vasilevskiy (what else is new?) and an empty netter from Tampa sealed the deal. 4-1 Tampa Bay final.
Some takeaways from this one:
-Noah Juulsen got better as the year went along after a rough start to his season in 2023-24, and the Canucks have to be hoping for a similar season trajectory from Juulsen this year. Not a great night for him tonight.
-“Can I donate my popliteus?” had to be the number one Google search of the night among Canucks fans.
-It was good to see Pettersson start to look more like himself.
-Like Pettersson, Miller, Hughes, Boeser, and Garland all showed some serious flashes. Now we just need to see it over a full game.
-The Garland and Pettersson connection where Garland hit the post made me wonder if it’s a good idea to put Garland on that line next game. Would be tough to split up the third line though, one of the few lines that’s been working so far.
What are your thoughts on tonight’s game?
