This one started with a bit of a feeling out process, as both the home side Bruins and visiting Canucks struggled to generate chances early. One player who stood out early was Conor Garland. Garland extended the Canucks’ zone time despite being out of gas at the end of the shift, and then got the Canucks’ best chance of the first 10 minutes when he let go of a wrister that Jeremy Swayman had to be sharp to get the glove on.
Boston had some dangerous looking plays in the Canucks’ end, but most of them ended in a broken play or a blocked shot before the puck made its way to Kevin Lankinen.
It was clear that the Bruins’ new coach bump has resulted in them playing a tight defensive system, and the GOTI were simply unavailable for the Canucks. The Bruins finished the first period with eight straight shots on Lankinen, and the Canucks were thankful that they exited the first tied at zero.
All in all, it was a tight-checking — yes, let’s go with that — opening 20 minutes of play.
The second period started with David Pastrnak finding himself on a clear-cut breakaway. Usually, that would be bad news for the opposition, but this time, the opposition had KeVezina Lankinen in goal. After the great save by Lankinen, Erik Brännström threw his hat in the ring for what I’m calling The Alex Edler Non-Goaltender Save of the Year Award.
Brad Marchand took the first penalty of the game as he cross-checked Conor Garland in the lower back just under five minutes into the second.
After some real early season struggles, the Canucks’ power play had scored in seven of their last nine games heading into tonight, and they continued to look as though they’ve turned a bit of a corner. After nearly two full minutes of the first unit controlling and cycling in the Boston end, Jake DeBrusk buried a rebound created from a Quinn Hughes point shot and Conor Garland deflection. 1-0 Bruins.
Boston unsuccessfully challenged the play, putting the Canucks right back on the power play. This time, they were unable to strike, despite getting some more good looks.
As you could have guessed, the Bruins got the game’s next power play as Brock Boeser was called for slashing. The Bruins’ power play’s struggles continued, as they struggled to get anything set up, as the Boston faithful showered the home team with boos.
Back at five on five, Kevin Lankinen continued to stand tall as the Bruins started to muster up a comeback attempt with time dying in the second period.
In the third period, Lankinen was once again tested plenty, and once again, he kept the Bruins at bay. Seriously, some of the saves Lankinen made were reaching out-of-this-world status. Frankly put, the Canucks did not have their best offensive showing tonight, and their defence certainly could have been better too.
Brock Boeser took his second minor penalty of the game late in the third as the Bruins continued to pour on the pressure. After a weak clearing attempt on the ensuing PK from Elias Pettersson, Pettersson blocked two of the Bruins’ shot attempts to help preserve the Canucks’ lead. Danton Heinen and Tyler Myers got in on the shot-blocking fun as time dwindled down in the third.
Hey, if you’re not going to have your A-game in front of your goaltender, you might as well get in front of pucks for him. And really, that’s the story here. The Canucks didn’t have their best showing, got a power play goal, blocked a ton of shots, got some stellar goaltending and got the hell out of Beantown with two points and hopes of a better showing tomorrow night.
After one more stellar save from Kevin Lankinen, Conor Garland added an empty net goal to seal the 2-0 win.
Some more takeaways from tonight:
-I like the look of Erik Brännström in the top four. Throwing him in the deep end like this is the only way the Canucks are going to be able to feel confident extending him. It’s also the only real way they can split up the Soucy-Myers pairing, so that’s a real win-win if you ask me.
-Kevin Lankinen was the reason the Canucks even entered the third period with a lead. Another solid start from him after a bit of a mediocre run following his great start to the season. With Thatcher Demko nearing a return, the Canucks’ goaltending situation should only get better.
-A real “life comes at you fast” moment to see Kiefer Sherwood (Canucks) and Nikita Zadorov (Bruins) jawing at each other.
-The Canucks were so committed to blocking shots and protecting the middle that it made me feel like I was watching the 2020 Bubble Playoffs series against Vegas. The goaltending performance didn’t hurt either.
-Nice for Jake DeBrusk to get the game winner in his return to Boston.
-Pettersson and his line finished the game strong after some struggles early on. More on that:
-JUST as Wyatt gave them a nickname in The Stanchies, the DPS line had a tough time dealing with their 5v5 matchup:
Is that enough for Rick Tocchet to split them up and put Brock Boeser back on the top line? We’ll find out soon, because the Canucks will do this all over again tomorrow against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game?
