標籤: 1000th

The Vancouver Canucks lost 4-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Monday night, spoiling Evander Kane’s 1,000th NHL game.

They gave up their second lead before the third period was over. Shea Theodore and Reilly Smith scored 1:17 late in the second. Cole Smith added an empty-netter to complete the scoring.

According to NHL.com, this was John Tortorella’s debut behind the Vegas bench since Bruce Cassidy was fired on Sunday, and the Golden Knights were in desperate need of some change.

Vegas had lost three in a row and six of seven, yet found enough life to rally after falling behind 1-0 and 2-1.

ESPN reported that the win kept the Golden Knights in third place in the Pacific, just one point behind Edmonton.

Canucks had some bite

I’ve seen enough Canucks losses this season to know this was a little different. Its bite was more. The team played with more edge and urgency than in most games since the Olympic break, even if by the end the result looked familiar. The effort was definitely better.

At 12:19 of the first period, Kane gave Vancouver a 1–0 lead on a clean backhand finish after being sent in by Jake DeBrusk on a 2-on-1. It was a nice moment.

After Vegas tied it on a Rasmus Andersen goal at 7:48 of the second, Brock Boeser responded by deflecting Filip Hronek’s point shot past Adin Hill on the power play at 12:17.

For a while, it looked like the Canucks might continue this for that period. He didn’t.

Then came the period which changed everything. Ivan Barbashev won the race for the puck and found him alone in the slot, after which Theodore made it 2–2 at 17:17, and Reilly Smith put Vegas ahead at 18:34 on a one-timer from the right circle.

The Golden Knights improved their play after the opening period, and the shot-attempt differential told the story better than the scoreboard for a long time, 67-33 in favor of Vegas. Kevin Lankinen had to be sharp to keep the Canucks close.

lessons learned

Adam Foote later said that Vancouver did not pull away, and Sportsnet quoted him as saying that the Canucks weathered the toughness of Vegas and competed all night.

Sportsnet also pointed to growing pains on the blue line, and one example was hard to ignore when Elias Pettersson Jr. misplayed a two-on-one, leading to Theodore’s goal. Young defenders sometimes learn by burning but it’s still sad to see it happen in real time.

The Canucks pressed in the third, but did not have enough success. Hill finished with 22 saves, Cole Smith hit an empty net at 18:50, and Vancouver lost its sixth consecutive game.

The stat that stands out is that Lankinen made 30 saves. He gave the Canucks a chance that was much more time than the skaters before him deserved.