Monday December 23 - Vancouver Canucks 4 - Edmonton Oilers 2
For the first time since October, the Vancouver Canucks strung together three consecutive wins when they came from behind to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 at Rogers Arena on Monday night.
Here are your highlights:
Though the Oilers have come back to earth after their hot start this season, they've been good at holding leads. Monday's game marked the first time all season that they lost in regulation after being ahead at the end of two periods.
For their part, the Canucks have finally figured out how to start strong. They've scored first in all four games of this holiday homestand so far.
It was Tyler Motte, of all people, who did the job on Monday — while lined up against Leon Draisaitl for an offensive-zone draw with one second left in a Canucks power play. It was his first goal of the season, and his first in 17 games.
I did the
game story again on Monday, for the Canadian Press. Though he has been drawing plenty of praise for the extra spark that he has brought to the fourth line since he returned from his broken foot five games ago, Motte was pretty excited to have had the opportunity to chip in on the scoresheet.
"I think it was our first offensive-zone faceoff in awhile," he said. "We knew they were coming out of the box in two seconds, so just trying to get a puck to the net.
"When Beags got kicked out, I was just trying to keep a similar play and went to that side. I think it bounced off his skate and right back behind him. Just tried to get something on net quick."
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied the game before the end of the first period, exploiting some less-than-impressive defensive coverage by Brock Boeser and Tyler Myers. Then Edmonton showed off its high-end power play in the second, taking the lead off a drive by Oscar Klefbom after some impressive puck movement by McDavid, Draisaitl and the rest.
Antoine Roussel was in the penalty box for that goal, having been whistled for an offensive-zone interference play on Caleb Jones. Later in the second, he took a pounding from Darnell Nurse.
After two periods, the shots were 20-20 and just one goal separated the two teams.
It really did seem like a Christmas miracle when Bo Horvat finally scored his first goal at Rogers Arena this season, tying the game by deflecting a Tanner Pearson shot attempt into the net with his skate.
Oilers coach Dave Tippett was none too happy that the goal was allowed to stand. "If it's illegal to kick a puck in the net, that's kicking, but that's for other people to decide," he said after the game.
Horvat said he wasn't going to celebrate until he heard the ruling on the play, but insisted that he's a terrible soccer player who couldn't have done that if he tried. "Honestly, I was trying to stop as quick as I could at the net," he said. "Thankfully, it went off my skate and in. It was going to take one of those for me to go in. [Pearson] made a heck of a play to get it on net, and thankfully, it hit me."
Now with 10-18-28 through 38 games, Horvat's on pace for 61 points this season — exactly what he finished with last year. His year-over-year improvement through his career has been so steady that he's taking some heat because he hasn't taken another step forward this season. Hopefully Monday's goal is something he can build off, which will help with his offensive confidence. He had a couple of good drives to the net earlier in the game on Monday, too, which led me to think that either his confidence has been buoyed by his team's recent wins, or maybe he's feeling more energetic than he has in awhile now that he's in a more typical role with Jay Beagle back in the lineup after his injury.
It was also a big game for Quinn Hughes, who got the defensive matchup against the McDavid/Draisaitl line with Chris Tanev, and who potted the game winner with a power-play one-timer with 6:12 left in regulation.
To put a bow on things, Alex Edler set up Loui Eriksson for the empty-netter to seal the win — just the second time this season the Canucks have earned a victory when trailing after two periods.
After the game, there was lots of positive talk from the players and Travis Green, but Jacob Markstrom reminded the media that even though he thought the team played one of its best 60-minute games of the year, nothing has been accomplished yet.
"It's December right now," he said. "We can't get ahead of ourselves. We're still looking in, I think (to a playoff spot)."
He's right. Even though the Canucks are the only team in the Pacific to go into the holiday break after a win, they're also still fifth in their division and 10th in the Western Conference.
The good news, though, is that the standings are tighter than ever. Monday's win puts Vancouver just one point behind Calgary, currently in the second wild-card spot, and two points back of Edmonton, third in the Pacific. For that matter, they're only four points behind Arizona and Vegas at the top of the division. And, at four games above .500, they're on track for 91 points this season, which would be a 10-point improvement from last year if they can keep it going.
Last year, the Canucks were one game below .500 at Christmas — one point out of a playoff spot then, too. They also finished the year one game below .500, but were nine points out by season's end.
It's still tough to get a read on this team. Only a week ago, people were calling for heads to roll and there was talk of dissension behind the scenes. Now the chatter is about how the guys believe in each other and everybody's pulling on the same rope.
This year's Canucks have had some meltdowns, but they've also shown signs that they can dig a little deeper when the going gets tough. It's been an interesting ride so far this season — I'm looking forward to seeing where we go from here.
I haven't fully laid out my blogging schedule for the holiday break, but I will be around. Looking forward to World Juniors kicking off on Thursday — all eyes will probably be on Canada/USA on Thursday morning but for Canucks fans, the other game will be the big matchup as Nils Hoglander's Swedes face Toni Utunen's Finnish team.
Thank you for reading, commenting and keeping things entertaining around here, all year long.
All the best to you and yours, no matter what you're celebrating! 🥳🎁🎉
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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