Just moments after Team Canada was eliminated from the World Juniors, Chandler Stephenson opened the scoring in this game on just their second shot of the game.
1-0 Kraken.
It could’ve been 2-0 in a hurry, as the Canucks gave up an odd-man rush that Guillaume Brisebois did well to break up. Brisebois made his season debut tonight in place of Erik Brännström. Brisebois slotting in is a fine move, but putting him in for Brännström over Noah Juulsen or Vincent Desharnais seemed like a bad decision when moving the puck is one of the biggest problems facing this team. Anyways.
Demko had to make a big save in close just seconds later, and shortly after that, Carson Soucy failed to knock down a soft flip into the neutral zone, giving Oliver Bjorkstrand a breakaway opportunity that Demko had to once again be sharp on.
After these saves, Demko was officially absolved of that first goal. I don’t make the rules.
The Kraken were all over the Canucks early, and it took about 10 minutes for the Canucks to settle into this game. One line that was good for the Canucks right from the start, however, was the fourth line trio of Höglander-Sasson-Heinen. So it was fitting that it was that line who scored the Canucks’ first goal of the game after Nils Höglander threw a puck towards the net that bounced around before finding its way to Sasson, who made no mistake in banging it home to even this game up. That’s the best sequence we’ve seen from Höglander in months.
1-1.
Seattle got the first power play of the game with a shade under three minutes to go after JT Miller was called for corss-checking on Brandon Tanev. The Kraken power play went 0-3 during their comeback win over the Canucks on Saturday, and moved to 0-4 after some sharp goaltending from Thatcher Demko, who settled into this game nicely after the earlier blunder.
The Canucks got their first power play with 44 seconds left in the first period, and it was our first chance to see Tyler Myers quarterback PP1. And it didn’t go well for the Canucks.
Despite that, the Canucks had some good jump to start the second period of this game. Höglander continued to look good, Dakota Joshua had one of his better games, and Conor Garland even scored to make it 2-1 Canucks.
And none of it mattered all that much, because Thatcher Demko exited the game with what looked like a lower-body injury.
I’m no doctor, but that looks like the left knee, and it looks eerily similar to the sequence when Demko originally hurt that same knee at the end of game one against Nashville last year. Maybe I’m wrong. That was just the sequence that occurred right before Demko left, but the broadcast also highlighted this collision with Noah Juulsen at the end of the episode.
Upon entering the game cold, Kevin Lankinen was spectacular, making two quick blocker stops and not really letting up at all, allowing the Canucks to enter the third up by a goal.
It was there that Tyler Myers pushed the lead to two when he took a pass from JT Miller and ripped it past Grubauer to make it 3-1 Canucks.
He didn’t get an assist on the goal, but that was great work by Boeser along the wall to jumpstart the play.
Shortly after the goal, JT Miller put the Canucks back on the PK when he was called for hooking in the Seattle end.
Lankinen was sharp again, but the Canucks’ PK gave up multiple grade-A looks, and the Kraken beat Lankinen on their third great chance of the power play.
3-2.
The Canucks found themselves in a similar spot as Saturday — protecting a lead against the Kraken late in the third period. And unfortunately, Vince Dunn was ready to play heartbreaker again.
3-3.
This one needed overtime.
OT is such a mess for this team, especially without Quinn Hughes. It’s so hard to write about OT shifts in Instant Reaction, so we’ll leave it to Wyatt in The Stanchies. One thing I want to point out: Höglander getting a turn in OT is about the biggest nod Tocchet could possibly give to him. Also, Kevin Lankinen was great in OT. He made the big saves that the Canucks needed.
This game needed a shootout.
Bjorkstand: NO
Miller: SCORES
Kakko: NO
DeBrusk: NO
Beniers: NO
The goal from Miller, combined with the saves from Lankinen, meant it was a win for the Canucks.
They don’t ask how.
4-3 final.
Some other takeaways from tonight:
-Another strong game for the Canucks’ top line of DeBrusk-Miller-Boeser.
-Best game we’ve seen from Nils Höglander since October. He even got an OT shift tonight, which means Tocchet noticed him in a big way.
-Brock Boeser’s goal-scoring streak comes to an end at four games.
-I’ve seen enough of Noah Juulsen.
-Liked Brisebois’ game tonight.
-Let’s hope Demko is okay.
-Quinn, if you’re reading this, don’t rush back if doing so could jeopardize your career. But also, I don’t know how much longer I can watch this.
-JT Miller played the fewest 5v5 minutes of anyone tonight. Hm.
-Let’s do it all again tomorrow.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game?
