The atmosphere is always rocking when one specific East Coast team invades Vancovuer, and Saturday night was no different. It was loud, it was energetic, and it felt like a playoff game with emotions and momentum swinging back and forth. The Canucks came out on top after a second period to forget, with a resilient effort that keeps them top of the table. Here are your highlights:
A massive first period. A let down in the second. A power play-powered third period. What a game for Hockey Night in Canada. The atmosphere was fun, and the end results even better. Two goals each from Hoglander and Garland through two, the top line coming alive in the third with two power play goals, and Demko closing the door when the team needed him to was enough of a recipe to extend the Canucks’ point streak to 7-0-1 in their last eight games.
The games over that stretch have all been different, and last night’s game proved another test for the boys in resilience and maturity. Tocchet has kept beating that mindset into them, and compared to last year it’s night and day.
“You know, I was just really thrilled with the way that we were able to stick with it, ” Demko said after the game, talking on the ups and downs of the game. “Probably the last couple of years it’d be something that might deflate us and we might not have the ability to come back and win that game. So I’m really proud of the group and, you know, sometimes it takes a full 60. And it did.”
Demko was a huge part of that full 60. I’m sure there are one or two goals he’d like back in that second period, but he shut it down when he needed to, with Toronto racking up 19 shots in the third period alone. Tocchet was all praise for Demko after the game:
“Demmer, he just wins. Past history… I'm not comparing, but I remember Grant Fuhr, he'd let four goals in but he would never let the fifth goal in. I'm not saying Demmer wasn't on his game, but I just love his resolve. They weren't going to get a fifth goal because he was dialed in. I think the same thing with our team. We might have a bad period or we might have a bad stretch, but somehow we can hang in there. And that's resiliency.”
The Canucks’ power play has been one weak spot the past few months, but it came through when needed last night. Miller noted that, as well as nodding to the unit’s resolve. “It feels like it's been a while since we said the power play won us a game,” he said. “I was just really proud of us five for sticking together after [the short-handed goal]. The last thing you want is to give that up, and it was a great play by [Marner]. Those things happen, but I thought our response was really good.”
That it was. With that win the Canucks stay 1st overall in the league, and push the Leafs into a wild card spot. It’s the small things that you like to wake up to on a Sunday morning. Quinn Hughes hopes as much.
“I mean, they've got a great fan base, they've got a great team,” Hughes said after the win. “Lots to cheer about. Fortunately for us, you know, we've given our fans a lot to cheer about, too.”
A couple other small nuggets:
- Apparently that was Tocchet’s 82nd game as the coach here, and his record over that span? 51-23-8, which is good for 110 points. The Canucks are currently on a 117 point pace this season.
- Hoglander scored his 14th goal last night, setting a new career high. That’s without any power play time, either. Definitely a piece you don’t put on the trade block.
The Canucks are back in action Monday against the Bedard-less Blackhawks.
To the comments:
(Quotes from MacIntyre, Patrick Johnston, and NHL.com)
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