Thursday December 28 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Chicago Blackhawks 2
What a night! Five points for Thomas Vanek, four points for Brock Boeser, three points for Sam Gagner and 30 saves for Jacob Markstrom as the Vancouver Canucks took it to the Chicago Blackhawks in the third period, coming out of the Christmas break with a 5-2 win.
Enjoy these highlights...
The game was far from a cakewalk. Both teams started out sloppy and the goalies were good in a first period that saw each team score once as the Hawks outshot the Canucks 14-13. Vancouver opened the scoring when Sam Gagner tipped a Nikolay Goldobin shot in the slot three seconds after the end of a Gustav Forsling penalty for tripping Goldobin, then Nick Schmaltz replied on the power play while Henrik Sedin was serving a hooking penalty.
The Canucks struggled in the second. They didn't record a shot on goal until the 7:27 mark of the period, a stretch that included a power play, and they were shorthanded three times, including off Alex Biega's ill-advised push of Connor Murphy into the end boards, which sent the big blueliner to the quiet room and ignited a minor scrum. With seven defensemen dressed once again for the Canucks, Biega may have been overzealous on his first shift of the middle frame—where he was out as a forward with Nic Dowd and Brendan Gaunce. In the end, he had the lowest ice time on the team, at just 4:50 for the game.
But with seven minutes to play in the middle frame, Vanek gave the Canucks the 2-1 lead thanks to an old-school Gretzky-like feed by Gagner from behind the net.
Beauty pass from Gagner, beauty shot from Vanek. 2-1 #Canucks, late 2nd.
Shots were 9-7 for Chicago in the second, and Markstrom came up big, but the Blackhawks' power play struggled—managing just three shots during those three opportunities.
Coach Q also said the Hawks lost momentum when they failed on all those power plays in the second period.
That set the stage for all the fun in the final frame, where Gagner picked up his second of the night at the 1:27 mark, then Vanek and Boeser capped things off with goals of their own.
Boeser's behind-the-net feed for the 4-1 goal looked a lot like Gagner's feed in the second period.
With a chance for his second hat trick in four games, the man who's known more for his scoring than his playmaking startled everybody by feeding an amazing pass to Boeser to cap things off with 1:25 left to play.
Brock Boeser scores after the ridiculous pass from Vanek
The chemistry between Boeser and Vanek was amazing on Thursday—and takes us back to last summer, when the two Minnesota residents skated together in Da Beauty League even before Vanek signed with the Canucks.
Brock Boeser on crazy setup by his training partner, Thomas Vanek: “He had some insane passes like that in the summer, but I thought he was for sure shooting. I thought he would go for the hat trick, then I saw him turn it back (to me). Oh, my God.” #Canucks#OMG!!!
Gagner should not be forgotten, either. He has been a Blackhawk-killer throughout his career, including that notorious eight-point night as a member of the Oilers back in February of 2012.
Sam Gagner now has 13 goals and 15 assists in 33 games against the Blackhawks.
• With his four points, Brock Boeser is now up to an average of 1.09 points per game. He has re-taken the lead in the rookie scoring race, with a two-point cushion over Mat Barzal. His 21 goals now have him tied with John Tavares for fourth overall in the Rocket Richard race and with 38 points, he's tied with Mark Scheifele and Alex Ovechkin for 15th overall in league scoring.
He's also crushing the Canucks record book, including Pavel Bure's records.
Fewest games to score first 25 career goals, #Canucks history
Brock's old linemate Bo Horvat spent the game up on press row with us, watching with his dad. He was rocking an excellent eggplant-coloured suit—and that big walking boot.
quick chat with #Canucks Horvat in press box. Still in walking boot. Says he's sick of it. Claims he's making progress, but no timeline for a return. Sounds dejected won't be ready for game in Toronto on Jan 7
I'm sure Bo was happy to see the win, but I wonder if he's worried about getting his linemate back when he does return to action?
Thomas Vanek's five-point performance moved him past Henrik Sedin into second place in Canucks scoring, with 12 goals and 28 points in 38 games. That puts him on pace for 26 goals and 61 points this year—better than anybody on the Canucks last season.
I have to admit, I didn't see this coming. Is it time to think about re-signing him, rather than moving him at the trade deadline?
And speaking of the trade deadline—to the surprise of some, Erik Gudbranson is still a Vancouver Canuck as of today. He played 16:17 on Thursday and led the Canucks with five hits. He was a minus-one, but that was on the garbage-time goal scored by Ryan Hartman with nine seconds left in the game—a good time for Markstrom to give up a bad goal, if ever there was one.
Iain MacIntyre spoke to Gudbranson on Wednesday, as Chris Tanev looked poised to return to action:
Today a #Canuck. Tomorrow? Gudbranson trying not to think about it as he works to meet his own expectations.https://t.co/Y86Fid5PXH
The Canucks are hitting the ice for practice at 11:30 on Friday, then will try to string together back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly a month when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
Meanwhile, at World Juniors, Elias Pettersson delivered another beauty on the power play on Thursday. It proved to be the game winner as Sweden defeated the Czechs 3-1.
Meanwhile, a lazy effort by Team USA turned into a 3-2 upset by Slovakia in Thursday's late game. Elevated from 13th forward to the fourth line, Canucks prospect Will Lockwood saw a healthy 14:23 of ice time and finished with an even plus-minus.
He has been bumped up another level for today's big outdoor clash against Team Canada: