The Canucks moved up to 3-0 in the Petey era (or is it the post-Myers era they’re perfect in?) with their 3-1 W over Vegas. Correlation does not equal causation for that, but Petey has looked a lot better since signing his contract. And, so I heard, the Canucks only took one penalty again without Myers… interesting. If you missed the game, here are your highlights:
And just like that, the Canucks swept their three game road trip on the heels of their mini-crisis slump. A solid victory over a Vegas team chasing them in the standings who has loaded up in the past few days should reinforce some belief in themselves from themselves – and the fans. It was another “playoff” style game, one in which the Canucks are looking and feeling comfortable in. It seems like the days of outright panic on the backend when trying to defend anything are gone. It seems like a different kind of hockey, but what kind of hockey?
“It’s Canucks hockey” Tocchet said. “I think we got back to our identity the last couple of games, three games here. All the areas that we wanted to shore up — I've got to give the guys credit — they shored it up.
“When we did make a mistake, I saw us hold the fort. I saw some guys really buckle down. This time of the year, playoff hockey or whatever, you've got to really hang tough in those situations and I think we did.”
The Canucks looked like the team that is leading the West. They went up early against Vegas in an outstanding road first (the Canucks have scored the most first-period goal in the NHL this season), and then never really looked back. And after giving up just three goals in three games on this trip, they look like they’ve settled into what got them here: being a really sound team overall.
“We cleaned up a lot of good stuff. It was just full team effort, full 60 minutes, which was great,” Demko said.
The whole team played well: Demko looking like his stalwart self, Petey picking up his 400th point while looking much more engaged and dangerous, Hughes scoring for the first time since Jan 22… lots of good from that game. One other person who looked really good was Lindholm, skating on a line with Garland and Podkolzin. It’s been a rough stretch for Lindholm, both with his play on-ice and the schedule of long road trips and being bounced around the lineup. Lindholm knows he has to play better, as he said as much before last night’s game. With the schedule calming down for the Canucks with a nine game homestand upcoming – giving lots of practice time to cement systems and chemistry – I think we’ll see a much better Lindholm down the stretch.
The Canucks are up to 89 points with 17 games left to play. After the last few years, that is pretty other-worldly. The projected playoff bar in the West is around 93 points. Crazy times in Vancouver.
Speaking of crazy times: today is deadline day. While lots of teams have been making swings the past 48 hours, the Canucks have been on the quieter side. Lots of chatter about potential trades, but nothing yet. However, the Canucks did make moves earlier to pick up Zadorov and Lindholm… as well, they’re a top team as is. Yes, it’d be great to load up, but not only does Allvin have to weigh the immediate versus long-term balance of trades, he also has to take into account the chemistry and makeup of the team. And, as this three game roadie has shown, when the Canucks are playing their game, they can play with any team.
To the trade deadline comments:
(Quotes from MacIntyre, Patrick Johnston, and NHL.com)
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