That looked like a much more engaged and energetic team last night! Petey, Miller, and Garland were some of the bright spots last night as the team had one of their better efforts over the past few weeks. They were fast, creative, and stingy – getting things back on track in the home stretch here. If you missed the game, here are your highlights:
The Canucks skated away with a 3-2 win over the Sabres, though the game wasn’t as close as the score let on. The Canucks outshot the Sabres 34-17 (including just 10 through two periods), and naturalstattrick.com had the high-danger chances at 26-7 throughout the game. The boys could have run away with it if they finished their chances. Either way, they got the two points and kept the lead in the West. It was a solid showing from a team trying to regain their legs and their identity – and Tocchet liked what he saw.
“I’m really proud of the way the guys played tonight,” Tocc said. “I thought there was a commitment without the puck tonight. That’s the way we’ve got to play. We’re built that way; we’ve got to make sure we play that kind of hockey. We’re not a run-and-gun team. When we play like that, we have a chance to win every night.”
It was DeSmith’s first win since Demko went down – and that hasn’t really been a fault of his. He’s played well enough to get the points, the team around him just hasn’t helped. But on a night like last night, it all came together.
“It was a long time coming,”DeSmith said of the full-game effort. “We've had some good starts and it was good that we held on to this one. I thought we controlled the play and we got back to our identity of getting the puck deep and getting on the forecheck. A lot of movement in the offensive zone, a lot of teamwork. That's kind of what the emphasis has been in the past couple of days: just get back to that identity that gave us so much success.”
Garland on a line with Petey was a great spark. Getting Miller back on his downhill side on the powerplay was fantastic. Miky and Hoggy looked tenacious and engaged… it was a nice turnaround for the boys.
“We responded from the last two games where we didn’t play to our standard,” Petey said after the game. “The work ethic and details were a lot better today. I’m obviously happy with my performance and definitely our line.
“Garland made a lot of good plays, brings energy and he’s so good at protecting the puck and with cutbacks in creating space for himself. When he’s on an island like that, you try to get open for a one-timer pass.”
The shift of Miller back to the left side on the powerplay really opened things up. They looked dangerous all night – a far cry from some of the stagnant efforts we’ve seen.
“Yeah, we were snapping it around pretty good,” Miller said of the PP. “It was good to get back on that (left) side. You know, it just depends on the personnel and the hands of people and what teams present in the formation. I felt like we created a lot of momentum each time, like we talked about. They were good reps and you feel good when you come off of those reps. That was a step in the right direction for us.”
“I thought we played hard, played a good game,” Hughes added. “I thought our power play probably could have gone [5-for-5] and the [defensemen were] really good and the forwards worked and put pressure on their mobile group, and we had a lot of looks.”
Even Tocchet was happy with the looks (and he should be, he runs the powerplay).
“[Miller] set up about five guys for empty-netters and he was excellent,” Tocc lauded. “We could have had four goals on the power play, so good for them. It’s what we needed and you could tell there was an attack mode.”
Now up to 2-1-1 on the homestand – and seemingly stabilizing the boat – the Canucks host the Canadiens next on Thursday night. Will this effort continue to ramp up? Let’s see.
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