Saturday April 9 - Vancouver Canucks 4 - San Jose Sharks 2
Tuesday April 12 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Vegas Golden Knights - 7 p.m. PT
The Vancouver Canucks still have a faint playoff pulse after grinding out a 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
In a penalty-filled game that had a bit of a chaotic feel, the Canucks' power play suddenly dried up, going 0-for-7. And the penalty kill, which had gone 9-for-9 over the three previous games, got burned on a first-period goal by Tomas Hertl, during a San Jose 5-on-3.
And while the Canucks have been carried offensively by their star players in recent games, depth scoring was the difference on Saturday night. Jason Dickinson opened the scoring with his first goal since Jan. 11 at 2:03 of the first period. Conor Garland scored for the first time since Feb. 24 when he streaked down the left wing and beat Kaapo Kahkonen short side to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead in the second — and that's on top of three assists in the previous two games, giving Garland a three-game point streak.
In the third, Alex Chiasson scored the game winner at 2:07, a second-effort chance while working with Bo Horvat. The goal was Chiasson's 10th of the year and fourth in the last five games. He also made the pass to set up Garland's tally, which gives him three goals and three assists in his last three games.
Finally, with Tyler Myers in the penalty box and San Jose pressing hard for an equalizer late in the third, Luke Schenn rounded out the scoring with less than one second left on the clock. It was Schenn's first point in six games and the first shorthanded goal of his career.
It also moves Schenn into a tie for second place in goals by Vancouver defensemen this year. Quinn Hughes has five; Schenn and Oliver Ekman-Larsson each have four.
Hughes did return to the lineup on Saturday after missing two games with illness. Boudreau started him on PP2 but mixed up his combos as the night went on. And to be fair, the Sharks deserve credit for their penalty killing. At 85.9% for the year, it's third-best in the league — and probably one of the team's best attributes this season.
It's a good thing the depth scorers were able to chip in; having both Brock Boeser and Tanner Pearson out with injuries creates a big hole in the top six. Coach Bruce Boudreau said both players were set to skate on Sunday, which was a day off for the rest of the team, then be evaluated from there.
Neither player is in the mix at Monday's practice:
After Saturday's game, both Chiasson and Bruce Boudreau also had positive words for Vasily Podkolzin. He has seen his role increase recently, with more than 14 minutes of ice time in each of the last five games and 16:44 on Saturday night, close to his season high. Chiasson talked about holding Podkolzin to a high standard and how he sees a bright future for the rookie, whose game is evolving nicely.
On Sunday, I was intrigued to see Podkolzin and his wife head out to Cultus Lake to take part in a wedding — where the groom turned out to be 19-year-old Abbotsford winger Danila Klimovich.
Congrats to the happy couple — and while the weather could have been better, at least the rain held off!
One other big statistical note from Saturday — Thatcher Demko became the ninth NHL goalie this season to reach the 30-win mark. That's a first for him in his career — actually more than his last two years combined (13 wins in 2019-20, when Jacob Markstrom was still in Vancouver, and 16 in last year's shortened season).
Demko also becomes the first Canucks goaltender to hit that 30-win mark since Roberto Luongo back in 2011-12. Ryan Miller got to 29 in his first year in Vancouver, in 2014-15. Markstrom's high was 28 in 2018-19, but he has also cracked that plateau this season, now at 34-14-8.
And while Demko's numbers have slipped back a bit from his Vezina-level stats earlier in the season, he's still sitting at career bests in save percentage (.917) and goals-against average (2.64). And
MoneyPuck has him ranked ninth overall with 15.8 goals saved above expected, sandwiched between two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky and two-time Jennings winner Jonathan Quick.
My fun fact for the game: when Noah Gregor engaged Will Lockwood in a first-period fight after Lockwood took a run at Timo Meier, I wondered if it was the first career NHL scrap for both rookies.
It was. But when checking
HockeyFights.com, I was surprised to see that it wasn't their first fight with each other!
The two also squared off in the AHL earlier this season, when Lockwood was with Abbotsford and Gregor was with the San Jose Barracuda.
Based on a 23-vote sample size, HockeyFights.com gives Lockwood the W in Saturday's tilt.
With the win, the Canucks moved within four points of that second wild-card spot on Saturday night. The gap grew to six again on Sunday, after Dallas dispatched Chicago, to get to 86 points. But after blowing a 3-0 lead to lose 6-3 to Minnesota on Sunday, the Los Angeles Kings are also now looking vulnerable — losers of three straight and sitting third in the Pacific with 86 points, and one *more* game played than Vancouver.
Basically, the Canucks need to pass two teams to make the playoffs. Most likely, Vegas. Now, either L.A. or Dallas, who still have one game in hand.
It would be a stretch to say that Vancouver controls its own destiny. But Step 1 will be another win against Vegas on Tuesday night. The Golden Knights easily beat Arizona on Saturday night, with Max Pacioretty back in the fold.
The Canucks also have one home game remaining against both Dallas and L.A.: Apr. 18 against the Stars, and Apr. 28 against the Kings.
The Canucks need to look over their shoulder on Monday. Winnipeg picked up a win on Sunday and is now just one point back of Vancouver, with the same number of games played. The Jets visit Montreal on Monday.
Tuesday night, it's L.A. at Chicago and Tampa Bay at Dallas, as well as San Jose at Nashville.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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