Canucks vs Sharks: What we learned from their 5-4 overtime win
It’s Demko’s arrival as a top-five starter in the National Hockey League that continues to fuel the belief that the Canucks can beat long odds and grab a playoff spot.
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Quinn Hughes was the story of the day.
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Thatcher Demko was the story of the season.
The Vancouver Canucks received a much-needed injection of pace and game balance Thursday in San Jose with the return of Hughes following a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and quarantine in the United States. dynamic defender.
However, it is Demko’s arrival as a top-five starter in the National Hockey League that continues to fuel the belief that the Canucks can beat long odds and capture a wildcard position in the playoffs due elite goalkeepers. Even if Demko spends a very average night.
“We’re here,” Hughes said hopefully before the Canucks blew a two-goal lead and then cruised to a 5-4 overtime victory. “We have to string some together and be one of the best (divisional) teams over the next 30 games. It is possible and everyone here (in the room) believes it.
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It was hard to argue with the pre-game optimism because Demko entered the night owning the Sharks with a career record of 4-0-0, a tiny 1.75 goals-against-average and save percentage. exceptional saves of 0.939. So it was no exaggeration to suggest that a similar outcome was possible on Thursday – even with poor rebounding and poor goalkeeper reading leading to two of the opposition’s four goals.
And even though the Sharks had lost four straight, the Canucks hadn’t won back-to-back games since Jan. 8 in Philadelphia and Jan. 11 against Detroit at Rogers Arena. It took persistence from Conor Garland who seemed to fix the problem at 14:23 of the third period. The speedy winger had a try-stumble then pounced on the rebound.
However, Alexander Barabanov beat Demko on the short side with 4/10ths of a second remaining to force overtime. This is where JT Miller went the small side on a delayed penalty to finally fix the problem.
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Here’s what we learned as Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes and Juho Lammikko also scored for the Canucks, who went 0-for-4 on the power play with just three shots, while Timo Meier scored twice on the power play and Logan Couture also responded for sharks:
BAD CHANGE, BAD LUCK
It usually comes down to this with Demko.
If the stellar stopper sees the shot, and it’s not angled or deflected or bouncing, he’ll probably stop it. And with the Sharks quietly entering the night with a 2-0 second-period lead, it was a bizarre streak that gave them much-needed life.
On a bad line change from the Canucks – Bo Horvat and Boeser leave and Matthew Highmore late for help defend a rush – it was Couture’s innocuous-looking spin-and-shoot attempt that Tyler Myers tried to sweep, but the puck bounced past a downed Demko.
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He wasn’t rattled by the bad break and came back to rob former Canucks winger Jonah Gadjovich with a right-pad save and then big saves on Jeffrey Viel and Brent Burns.
However, Demko then shook his head in disgust after giving up the short side for Meier’s power-play goal. Meier then clicked again early in the third period to drive home a cross pass on the power play to make it 3-3 and turn it into a nail-biter. Demko then held on late in the game to secure the victory.
BOESER BUZZ IS BACK
How do you quell the ongoing trade speculation that sticks to Boeser like rubber on his shoe?
You do what the right winger did to open the scoring on Thursday. In a deft first-half sequence, he took a sweet pass from JT Miller, then used patience and precision to pick the high side of goalkeeper James Reimer’s short glove with a quick wrist shot.
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The effort has given Boeser nine points (5-4) in his last eight games and under coach Bruce Boudreau he has 11 goals and 18 points in 22 games – a streak interrupted by three missed games with COVID-19. Prorated with the advice of the new bench boss, the rise in scores is equivalent to 40 goals over an entire season.
And that’s the thing with Boeser.
He’s not a burner, but he can get there and has always projected a potential 30 goals and 70 points. How do you part with a 24-year-old sniper, who has worked to be better away from the puck to complement how good he can be with it? How do you replace that offense, especially on the right side?
The kicker is Boeser’s status as a restricted free agent and a US$7.5 million qualifying offer, as his three-year extension was rescinded before qualifying was changed. And if it’s really about freeing up some salary cap space for a Miller extension, then the Canucks better get a really nice return for Boeser.
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The reported interest in New Jersey is understandable because the Devils need help from the top six on the right wing. And if the Canucks have genuine commercial interest in Pavel Zacha as a third-line center, then that’s a starting point for a package that needs to be much richer and include a scoring winger.
SHOOTING, SCREEN, SCORING
Hughes delivered his best knuckleball from the first period point to give the Canucks a two-goal bulge.
His left point knuckle hit a shark before Highmore attempted a spike between his legs before the puck madly bounced off Reimer. Lammikko then came on in the second period when he screened a Kyle Burroughs shot that hit his hip and allowed the big cross to score in back-to-back games.
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NEXT GAME
Saturday
Vancouver Canucks vs. Anaheim Ducks
7 p.m., Rogers Arena. TV: Radio Canada, Sportsnet. Radio: Sportsnet 650.
