It was a special night at Rogers Arena on Thursday for numerous reasons as the Vancouver Canucks hosted the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
Forward J.T. Miller returned to the lineup following a leave of absence for personal reasons and for Brock Boeser, it marked his 500th game in the National Hockey League.
During the second period of Thursday night's game, Brock Boeser managed to light the lamp, which was assisted by J.T. Miller to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-0 lead.
In doing so, Brock Boeser became the 14th player in Vancouver Canucks franchise history to score in their 500th game in the National Hockey League, according to Sportsnet Stats.
Brock Boeser comments on scoring in his 500th NHL game
After the game, Brock Boeser met with reporters and opened up on how it felt to not only reach the 500 game milestone, but also to score against the Panthers.
Boeser said that he's a loyal person and to be able to score in game 500 with the Vancouver Canucks means a lot to him.
'I'm a pretty loyal guy so to be able to do it with the Canucks means a lot to me, and hopefully there's a lot more to come.' Boeser said according to David Quadrelli of Daily Hive.
The Burnsville, Minnesota native has had a pretty good season for the Vancouver Canucks so far, registering 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists), 14 penalty minutes and is a minus-three in 21 games.
It's an important season for Brock Boeser too, as he's set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer and wants to prove to everyone that last season's 40-goals wasn't a fluke and he's worth a long-term deal with a higher cap hit than the $6.65 million he's currently earning.
Reports earlier this week stated that Brock Boeser is looking for an eight-year contract with an average annual value north of $8 million USD.
We'll have to wait and see what the rest of the season has in store for Brock Boeser and if he's able to agree to terms on a new contract with the Vancouver Canucks before free agency opens on July 1st.
