Wednesday March 6 - Vancouver Canucks 3 - Toronto Maple Leafs 2 (OT)
If Alex Edler can keep playing like he did on Wednesday, maybe the Vancouver Canucks can will themselves back into the Western Conference playoff race?
Edler was a beast from the opening faceoff and was ultimately rewarded by the hockey gods when his overtime floater beat Frederik Andersen to give the Vancouver Canucks the win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
Edler had already earned a healthy dose of respect from me for getting himself back into the Vancouver lineup just three-and-a-half weeks after suffering that brutal facial injury in Philadelphia. Comparatively speaking, he eased back into action in the Canucks' road losses to Arizona and Vegas last week before delivering a tour-de-force performance in his first game back at Rogers Arena.
Edler literally came to play right from the opening draw. The first statistical event of the game was a hit by him on Mitch Marner. He closed the period with two quick shots on Andersen, giving him a total of five in the opening frame to go along with his three hits, two blocks and one takeaway.
He didn't get another shot on goal until the overtime winner that drifted past Andersen at 3:11 to give the home team the win, but finished the night with a total of nine shot attempts, four hits, five blocks, three takeaways and one giveaway in 27:06 of ice time. Heady stuff—and a reminder that while Ben Hutton did a good job of stepping up as Vancouve's top left-side defenseman while Edler was injured, he's still not able to deliver that level of impact.
Edler's agent Mark Stowe made an appearance on Sportsnet 650 earlier on Wednesday, talking about how his client still wants to remain in Vancouver and that the goal is to get a contract extension completed before free agency opens on July 1.
I've heard it said that Edler has all the leverage in the negotiation, but I disagree. If Vancouver is the only place he wants to play—and I have every reason to believe that it is—he's at the mercy of what's being offered by the team. That gives him a very personal motivation to play his absolute best hockey between now and the end of the year—in an effort to extract not just maximum dollars, but probably also a healthy, secure term and what I bet he desires most—another no-trade clause.
Wednesday night's game got me excited to see what he can deliver the rest of the way.
Unfazed by being hung out to dry by his teammates in Vegas last Sunday, Jacob Markstrom delivered yet another terrific performance, stopping 28 shots and earning second-star honours.
This save on John Tavares was a jaw-dropper.
Also, quick nods to Adam Gaudette for a two-assist night, to former Leaf Josh Leivo for tallying the tying goal—on the power play, no less—and to another former Leaf, Luke Schenn, for picking up his first point as a Canuck on the sneaky Loui Eriksson shot that keyed Vancouver's third-period comeback.
Wednesday night marked the first time all season that the Leafs lost when leading after two periods. They're now 32-0-1 for the year.
Thursday March 7 - Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers - 6 p.m. ET - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 67 GP, 28-30-9, 65 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
Edmonton Oilers: 66 GP, 29-30-7, 65 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Can the good vibes from Wednesday's performance fuel another win on Thursday in Edmonton? That's a tall order—the Canucks haven't won consecutive games since beating Buffalo and Detroit on home ice before the All-Star Break. But they did beat Edmonton to complete a perfect back-to-back at home in mid-December, after the 5-1 win over Philadelphia that got Dave Hakstol fired.
Jacob Markstrom delivered both wins in that set. And Thatcher Demko didn't inspire confidence when he took the second half of the back-to-back in the 5-2 loss in Arizona last week. Markstrom had a reasonable 30-shot night against Toronto on Wednesday, so I'd expect him to get the nod in Edmonton.
According to
SportsClubStats, the Canucks nearly doubled their playoff chances with Wednesday's win, but that number only went from 1.2 percent to 2.1 percent.
Vancouver did move two points ahead of Chicago in the Western Conference standings, up to 12th overall but still seven behind Minnesota in the second wild-card spot.
The fun part is that they go into Thursday's game tied in the standings with the Oilers. Both teams have 65 points but Edmonton owns the tiebreaker thanks to a game in hand and one more regulation/overtime win.
The Canucks have done well in the season series so far, with a 2-0-1 record, and Elias Pettersson had the game-winner in both victories. But the Oilers reeled off three-straight wins at the end of their recent road trip. They've been riding the hot hand of Mikko Koskinen in net, as well as their big two up front. Connor McDavid has seven points in four games since returning from his two-game suspension and Leon Draisaitl has strung together an 11-game point streak, where he has put up nine goals and eight assists.
I don't think anybody's catching Nikita Kucherov, who has opened up a 14-point lead in the scoring race, but McDavid currently sits third with 33-59-92 and Draisaitl isn't far behind, in eighth place with 41-42-83—already career highs for him in both goals and points.
As you probably know, Jesse Puljujarvi has now been shut down for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on both his hips. Jujhar Khaira could draw back into the Edmonton lineup against Vancouver after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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