Saturday December 2 - Vancouver Canucks 2 - Toronto Maple Leafs 1
Daniel Sedin was honoured for reaching the thousand-point milestone, Troy Stecher proved that he's tough as nails and Jacob Markstrom came thisclose to a shutout as the Vancouver Canucks marked their return to Rogers Arena with a 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Here are your highlights:
The festivities began with the excellent tribute to Daniel, which set the tone for the night.
Markus Naslund's touching video letter earned extra marks from me as we got to hear him pronounce Ornskoldsvik a couple of times. Daniel's family looked charmingly casual—almost like they didn't know they'd be asked to come on the ice—and the emotional high point was Derek Dorsett's presentation of the silver puck on behalf of the team.
They'd still be cheering if we didn't have to start the game. #DANIEL1000 pic.twitter.com/uL5i6seGnb
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 3, 2017
Word is that Dorsett had met up with his teammates on Friday but his appearance at the ceremony was kept under wraps. Coming so soon after the announcement that his playing days are over, it was great to see him looking well, and with a smile on his face.
Any doubt about his emotional impact on his team has certainly been put to rest over the past two games. The Canucks dug deep to win in his honour in Nashville on Thursday and came out like a house on fire on Saturday—earning wins against two very good hockey teams in the process.
Assuming his health permits it, I'd love to see Dorsett stick around the team in some capacity for the rest of the year, similar to what Pascal Dupuis did when he was forced to end his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins a couple of years back.
Firing 17 shots on Frederik Andersen, the Canucks took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room after one period. Markus Granlund potted his fourth of the year before Alex Edler extended the lead on a delayed penalty call off a gorgeous cross-ice pass from Henrik—and point No. 1,002 for Daniel.
Enjoy the sweet Punjabi goal call. "Alex Ed-leeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
Alex Edler Goal Canucks Cycle game Pays
— Hockey Night Punjabi (@HkyNightPunjabi) December 3, 2017
off 2-0 half way through the 1st. @Canucks #Canucks pic.twitter.com/TAQMXriiVc
Maybe it's just as well that the game started at 4:00? The Canucks' body clocks may have still been on Eastern Time, as their energy flagged after the first period. Vancouver was outshot 25-9 in the final 40 minutes, so maybe we should focus less on Jacob Markstrom losing the shoutout with 2:52 left to play and more on the fact that he stopped 35 shots from the third-best offensive team in the league, which hasn't been shut out once this year and had been held to one goal just three times previously?
There was no sign of Markstrom's usual softie on Saturday. In a year when so many teams are struggling to get strong performances out of their backups, the Canucks are well set in that regard, still an impressive eighth in the league in goals against.
“Huge win at home, great buzz in the building. This was a special night. Nilsson has been playing really good and tonight it was me and I wanted to play well.… - @j_markstrom
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 3, 2017
But yeah—Markstrom's no-shutout streak is getting perilously close to record proportions.
Most Career Starts
— Greg Shannon (@Greg_Shannon) December 3, 2017
No Shutouts
Pokey Reddick 116
Jacob Markstrom 114
Hardy Astrom 71
Darren Pang 70
Jim Hrivnak 67
As for Troy Stecher, I don't imagine he likes playing the Leafs much.
I flashed back to the moment when Ryan Miller had to rescue him from Matt Martin in Toronto last year when he hobbled to the bench after taking a close-range slap shot off his foot on his first shift of the game, but I'm not sure he even missed a shift.
Then, with six minutes to go in the second, he was felled again—this time by a puck to the face.
After six stitches to the inside of his nostril, he was back on the ice for the third period. All told, he played 14:33 on the night.
“I knew I still could contribute, so I wanted to get right back out there. The face is a long way from the heart, I’m fine. No chiclets gone.… - @troystecher
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 3, 2017
That kind of effort doesn't go unnoticed. I think Stech out-bulldogged the Bulldog on Saturday.
Green on Stecher: "I just think that's A; who he is and B; what you want out of all your players. You want guys to go through the wall to win. It's a high price to pay to win in this league."
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) December 3, 2017
The win moves the Canucks back into a playoff spot for the moment—and the boys will get a chance to get some much-needed rest before what should be winnable home games this week against Carolina on Tuesday and Philadelphia on Thursday.
To wrap up today—Canucks prospect Kole Lind got back on the ice on Saturday after missing a couple of weeks with a viral infection that's believed to have been mono.
#Canucks prospect Kole Lind had 1G and 1A in his return to the Kelowna Rockets lineup last night
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) December 3, 2017
He now has 34 PTS (12-22-34) in 21 WHL games
Lind has been on the bubble for selection to Canada's World Junior team, so a strong return helps his cause—and comes just in the nick of time. The initial roster for the World Junior Evaluation Camp is expected to be released early next week.
Also, keep an eye out for Will Lockwood as a possible selection for Team USA. Fully recovered from his offseason surgery, he's attracting attention in his sophomore season at the University of Michigan.