The Vancouver Canucks didn’t deserve to win Wednesday night’s game against the Utah Hockey Club.
But they still should have won that game.
The Canucks, as they have so many times this season, came out flat in the first period and spent nearly the entire 20 minutes stuck in their own zone. Shot attempts were 28-to-10 for the Utahns, with plenty of those attempts coming from close range, including a couple of breakaways.
And yet, the Canucks survived the first period thanks to Thatcher Demko, 15 shot blocks, and Utah missing the net on a couple of their best chances.
“It wasn’t our best start,” said Danton Heinen in an understatement. “I thought we gave up a little too much and relied on Demmer a little too much. He made some great saves but I think we’ve got to weather those storms a little better.”
The Canucks were better in the second period but still needed Demko to bail them out on a shorthanded 3-on-1 and got some help from a goalpost on another grade-A scoring chance.
But despite the chances they were giving up, the Canucks took a 1-0 lead into the second intermission and turned it into a 2-0 lead shortly thereafter. Maybe they didn’t fully deserve that two-goal lead but they had it nonetheless.
Typically, good teams hold on to two-goal leads in the third period and close out games. Instead, in the final ten minutes, the Canucks folded.
“We let our foot off the gas,” said Dakota Joshua. “They’re a good team and they took advantage of us and we let that one get away.”
Yes, the Utahns got a little luck to go their way but they only got that luck because of the chances they created. If not for a few more nice saves by Demko, the game could have been over in regulation.
Instead, the game went to overtime, earning the Canucks at least a single point out of a game where they deserved none but should have gotten two.
Look, hockey’s a weird sport.
“You’ve just gotta lock these games down,” said Rick Tocchet. “It’s two-nothing, you’ve got to stay with it. Every game’s a learning lesson.”
The learning lesson I lesson-learned is that the Utah Hockey Club is a lot more exciting than their boring-ass name would suggest.
Also, they’re in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference by points percentage, right behind the Canucks, who ought to be keeping an eye on these Utahn Hockey Clubbers, just like I kept an eye on them when I watched this game.
- The Canucks' first period was U-G-L-Y, for which they had no alibi. They had just one shot on goal in the first 16 minutes — an unscreened Conor Garland wrist shot from 46 feet. Their second shot was even further out — 54 feet — from Carson Soucy, which was again unscreened and more of a weak ground ball than an actual shot.
- I remember covering Michael Carcone when he was an undrafted invitee to Canucks camp back in 2016, so it’s been neat to see him develop into a legitimate NHL forward for the Arizona Coyotes/Utah Hockey Club. He showed off some sublime skill early when he chipped the puck behind Hughes’ back and danced around him, with only a sprawling Teddy Blueger preventing Carcone from setting up Alex Kerfoot for a tap-in goal. Typically when dancing and Hughes are involved, Hughes is the dancer, not the dancee.
- Thatcher Demko kept the Canucks in the game early on, with his best save coming on a Logan Cooley breakaway after Brock Boeser, covering for a pinching Quinn Hughes, well, stopped covering and chased the puck. It was a bit of a weird game for Demko but, for most of it, he looked like classic Demko, complete with bailing out his teammates after unforced errors.
- It was great to see Dakota Joshua back up to speed in this game, quite literally, as his speed caused all sorts of problems for the Utahns, even causing a car crash. Joshua’s speed chasing down a puck in the Utahn zone caused Vladislav Kolyachonok to run headlong into his own goaltender, Karel Vejmelka, sending both players spinning to the ice.
- “I thought today was a step in the right direction for Dakota,” said Tocchet. “I thought he really moved his feet. Hopefully, he can build off that.”
- I wrote today about Kiefer Sherwood and how, even though he looks to finish every check, he respects his opponents and aims for clean hits with no intent to injure anyone. You could see it in how he immediately held out his hand in apology to Nick Schmaltz after he didn’t realize the door at the Canucks’ bench wasn’t fully closed after hitting him into it. Schmaltz was grimacing in pain but was ultimately all right and didn’t miss a shift.
- The Canucks continued their experiment of splitting up Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller on the power play, this time with Miller on the first unit and Pettersson on the second. Some might point to this as proof of behind-the-scenes drama but there might be a simpler explanation: having both players on the same unit means one of them — usually Pettersson — rarely touches the puck. With their own unit, the play runs through them and gives each of them more opportunities to be a playmaker. Or maybe that’s just me looking at it through salmon-coloured glasses.
- “We’re just trying different things right now,” is all Tocchet would say on the subject after the game.
- The experiment went sideways, as Miller turned the puck over on a fanned shot, leading to a shorthanded 3-on-1 for the Hockey Club. By all rights, it should have been a goal, but Alex Kerfoot shot the puck back into Demko instead of into the wide-open net, which makes me wonder if Kerfoot understands how goals are scored in hockey. He has 92 career goals — has he been upset that he missed the goalie all 92 times?
- The second unit had more success thanks to the lively boards at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. When Jack “You Suck” McBain tried to clear the puck, Pettersson got a piece of his stick, allowing Quinn Hughes to keep the puck in at the blue line. His shot went wide but the puck caromed to Danton Heinen on the far side and he twisted his torso to get his stick on the puck and shoot it past Vejmelka to open the scoring.
- Miller came close to extending the lead on another power play late in the second period when Conor Garland’s shot got blocked and the puck popped out to the side. Miller dove out to backhand the loose puck on net but Vejmelka the southpaw got his blocker on the shot with a quick left jab.
- A pinch of hustle and a dash of skill gave Joshua the 2-0 goal early in the third period. In the defensive zone, Nils Höglander made a strong play on the boards to get the puck to the blue line, where Teddy Blueger spun like a Dreidel to spring Joshua on a breakaway with a backhand pass. Joshua cruised past Schmaltz, then made as if he was going to deke to his backhand before cutting to the forehand to tuck the puck around Vejmelka into the vacated cage. Gorgeous.
- “It was a great pass by Teddy,” said Joshua. “I got inside position on the guy and I was lucky enough to put it home.”
- Tyler Myers and Thatcher Demko both deserve a little blame for the Hockey Club’s first goal. Myers should have stayed with Clayton Keller instead of closing the gap on Schmaltz, who was already being checked by Erik Brännström. Demko should have been able to squeeze Schmaltz’s shot instead of coughing up a rebound. The puck dribbled out to Keller and he dragged it to the open net for an easy goal that shouldn’t have happened.
- Myers was in the box for the tying goal, though his penalty was admittedly softer than baby carrots cooked for three days in a slow cooker. “Kyle [Rehman] is a good ref,” said Tocchet. “He saw something different. It happens.”
- On the power play, Keller used some subtle misdirection, looking to the backdoor as if he was about to make a cross-seam pass when he didn’t have a teammate there. Miller took the bait, getting his stick in a passing lane that didn’t exist and opening up the passing lane to Dylan Guenther at the top of the left faceoff circle. Guenther nearly whiffed on the one-timer but the off-speed shot deflected off Teddy Blueger and fluttered into the net like a butterfly, causing a tornado in Brazil.
- Both teams came close to finding the gamewinner in regulation. Carson Soucy set up Garland on the doorstep and he had an open net on a move to the backhand only for Ian Cole to poke the puck away at the last moment. Then Carcone saw an open net when a puck deflected to him but Demko lunged across to make the stop.
- Overtime was wildly entertaining, with both sides coming close on great chances. The Canucks were arguably unlucky not to score. Miller sent another diving backhand just wide on a rebound. Garland forced a great blocker save on a dash up the left side. Pettersson had a great shot on a 2-on-1 but Vejmelka got just enough of the puck to send it past the post like a Canadian election despite campaign promises. Unfortunately, the puck had decided it was too good for its home.
- “When you get in that overtime, it’s kind of a coin flip, right?” said Joshua. “Everybody, both sides, had their chances and we didn’t capitalize and they made the final play.”
- That final play came after Miller tried to play hero. At the end of a minute-long shift, Miller decided to attempt one last rush instead of going for a line change. He sent a pass in front that hopped over Garland’s stick and took a bounce off the lively boards for a Utahn 2-on-1. Miller was out of gas on the backcheck and couldn’t make it back in time to prevent Mikhail Sergachev from sending a bouncing puck through Demko’s five-hole.
- The goal came with just 12 seconds left in overtime. The Canucks were a dozen seconds away from going to the shootout. Maybe the end result would have been the same if Miller went for a line change — the Canucks haven’t won in the shootout since April 8, 2023 — but it was still a frustrating way to finish the game.
- Of course, if Miller and Garland had connected on that last pass, it would have looked like a brilliant decision to go for one last rush. As I said about 1800 words ago, hockey’s a weird sport.
