VANCOUVER, B.C. — After a dramatic day, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the New York Rangers, a top team, Tuesday night at Rogers Arena and battled hard in trying circumstances. The Canucks fell short, but the effort was commendable.
Big picture, the main takeaway is that the Canucks demonstrated convincingly that they have enough talent, structural integrity and stuff to stay afloat through the indefinite absence of top centre J.T. Miller, in addition to missing 40-goal-scoring winger Brock Boeser and Vezina-calibre goaltender Thatcher Demko.
It just wasn’t enough Tuesday, but the Canucks certainly didn’t look like lambs headed to the slaughter. The Rangers faded as the game went on, and the Canucks pressed hard in the dying minutes to tie the score.
Ultimately, however, it was fruitless. The Rangers, as they often do, found just enough special plays from their top players to outlast the Canucks and win 4-3 on Vancouver ice.
Here are our three takeaways from a tough, memorable night at Rogers Arena.
Pettersson steps up
The Canucks needed their best players to take their game up a level in the absence of Miller (and Boeser and Demko), and Vancouver’s star players did just that.
Quinn Hughes was electric, especially on his game-opening goal — a wonderful backhand taken after attacking the inner slot — that fooled Igor Shesterkin.
Conor Garland was in the middle of everything all game, as he often is. He added a brilliant finish to level the score at 3 late in the second period.
The Canucks, however, required a high level of two-way control from their next man up down the middle. That responsibility fell to Elias Pettersson, and although he was beaten to the net on the Chris Kreider game winner in the third period, he was up to the task and then some.
Through the first 40 minutes, Pettersson led all Canucks forwards in ice time, and the club outshot its opponents 9-2 in his five-on-five ice time. Vancouver also outscored the Rangers 2-1 with Pettersson on the ice at even strength.
Despite the defensive error late — a costly one, to be sure — it’s crucial that Pettersson won his minutes to this extent. It’s a meaningful, positive signal for the club as it looks to stay afloat during Miller’s absence.
The minutes in which Vancouver self-matches the Miller line with the Hughes-Filip Hronek pair is the tip of the spear of Vancouver’s even-strength attack, and without Miller in the lineup, that particular weapon retained its cutting edge Tuesday night. That gave the Canucks a chance. It will need to be repeated to permit the club to tread water when short-handed in the weeks ahead.
No blocker, no problem for Silovs
Having a normal one pic.twitter.com/go1K7P8ZvP
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 20, 2024
What a difference a week makes. A week ago, Arturs Silovs seemed to be rapidly falling out of Vancouver’s plans at the NHL level. He’d been surpassed by Kevin Lankinen on the goaltending depth chart and, with Demko’s approaching return, looked set for a return to the American League level.
Over the past week, Silovs has flipped the narrative surrounding him this season. It’s been a complete 180.
Now Lankinen is the struggling goaltender and Silovs has given the Canucks two solid starts in a row. And Tuesday’s was an especially strong performance against a dynamic Rangers attack.
Silovs’ excellent night, in which he tracked the puck exceptionally well and rebounded after permitting a goal against on the first shot he faced, was punctuated by a stellar sequence on the penalty kill, where he stopped a Vincent Trocheck shot despite having lost his blocker earlier in the sequence. It was a moment that brought the crowd to its feet and demonstrated the unflappability and mental fortitude that has made Silovs the star of Vancouver’s goalie development pipeline.
Silovs making that save without his blocker was awesome. Crowd at Rogers Arena was loving it. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/QyMB6UFbn4
— Grady Sas (@GradySas) November 20, 2024
The Sherwood X-factor
Of all of Vancouver’s offseason pickups, Kiefer Sherwood has stood out as the most consistently impactful difference-maker in the lineup.
That’s been true most nights, but it was especially true Tuesday, when Sherwood was especially sharp. He scored a key goal to level the score at 2 off the rush with a lovely wrist shot late in the first period, and he gave Shesterkin fits all evening, handcuffing the all-Universe Rangers netminder with heavy wrist shots from the perimeter on multiple occasions.
He was also, as usual, a massive pain in the neck to play against. On a second-period sequence after Shesterkin narrowly fought off a Sherwood shot and Mika Zibanejad gathered the rebound in the corner, Sherwood approached the star Rangers centre and feinted as if he were going to lay the body. When Zibanejad rather dramatically bailed out of the way to avoid contact, Sherwood merely went for a change, chirping the Rangers pivot as he made his way to the bench. It was a little moment, but it’s reflective of Sherwood’s mastery of the lost art of playing like a jerk at the NHL level.
Given how often Canucks coach Rick Tocchet spoke about the club needing to find its “F-U” in Miller’s absence, Sherwood provided a reminder that he can help supply it in bulk. It’s something the club is going to need a lot of in the weeks to come.
(Photo of Kiefer Sherwood driving past Rangers defenseman Zac Jones: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
