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Canucks keep hope alive, improve record to 3-1 since their Covid pause |
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The dream is still alive.
The Vancouver Canucks did what they needed to do in their first week back from their Covid-19 outbreak, going 3-1-0 after a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens finished their week at 1-3-0, following a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames.
Before their return to action against Toronto last Sunday, the Canucks were 12 points behind the Canadiens, with five games in hand. This Sunday, the gap is down to eight, with 10 games remaining for Montreal and 15 for Vancouver.
If they can keep chipping away, they can get there.
The new wrinkle this week is the Flames — who did the Canucks a favour by beating the Canadiens twice on the weekend, but who are also gaining confidence now that they've climbed within four points of Montreal (though they have played one more game).
The two clubs finish out their season series on Monday. After that, the Flames will have just eight games to play over 22 days. They'll be well rested — or will they be rusty? — by the time they finish out their season with those four head-to-head matchups against Vancouver which could turn out to have major playoff implications.
As for the Canucks, they're hitting the road to start playing out their final 15 over 24 days, starting Monday in Ottawa. Just four of their remaining games will be played at Rogers Arena, and 10 of the 15 will be in back-to-back sets.
They are definitely going to need strong play from both goalies. Braden Holtby looked sharp again on Saturday night.
Five of the 15 are against the Edmonton Oilers. They own the second-best points percentage in the North Division, but the season series to date against Vancouver has been relatively even — 3-2-0 in Edmonton's favour.
On Saturday night, the Canucks caught a break when the Senators suddenly founded themselves shorthanded in net — again.
Anton Forsberg had originally been scheduled to start, but suffered a lower-body injury before warmup, during his pregame preparations. So Matt Murray returned to the net after his shutout against Vancouver on Thursday night, and Marcus Hogberg scrambled to get dressed as his backup.
Midway through the game, with the score tied 1-1, Murray was assessed a tripping penalty on Jake Virtanen. As the Canucks got set to go on the power play, Murray skated to the bench — and left the game, forcing an ice-cold Hogberg into action.
It's hard to tell what happened to Murray, but the Sens announced that his injury is also lower body.
The issues that kept him out earlier this season were upper body, so this does seem to be something new.
The Canucks took a big step in securing the win by scoring on the ensuing power play; Brock Boeser's 17th of the year. Then, they killed off a penalty to Quinn Hughes and a double-minor to Virtanen before Braden Holtby stepped up to stop Alex Formenton point blank, twice. Tyler Myers also slashed Formenton on his initial breakaway, setting up a penalty shot that Holtby calmly turned aside and leaving the Canucks up a goal after 40 minutes.
But the Hockey Gods were angered when Vancouver squandered a two minute 5-on-3 chance, midway through the third. Shortly after Ottawa returned to full strength, Evgenii Dadonov beat Holtby to tie the game, with 8:08 remaining in regulation.
But give Vancouver credit for answering back. It took Tanner Pearson less than two minutes to beat Hogberg for what proved to be the game winner.
That's now three goals in four games for Pearson, who's up to nine for the year.
J.T. Miller finished off the scoring with an empty-netter in a third period where Vancouver showed lots of energy, outshooting Ottawa 13-7.
With Alex Edler back from his suspension and the full complement of six defensemen available, the Canucks looked more poised on the whole. Total shots in the game were 34-28 for Vancouver and ice time on the back end was distributed fairly evenly. Five of the six blueliners played between 19 and 23 minutes, while Olli Juolevi logged 11:18 on a night that was filled with special-teams action.
Up front, Tyler Motte also returned to action — the last of the Covid-afflicted players to get back on the ice.
Before the game on Saturday, Motte described some of the symptoms that had delayed his return.
No easing back into things. Motte finished with 17:15 of ice time, including a team high 7:15 on a penalty kill that went six for six; the first time since before the pause that it has been perfect.
Matthew Highmore also seems to be quickly earning the trust of Travis Green. In his third game, he played 15:39, including 4:55 shorthanded — and stayed in the lineup as Motte and Zack MacEwen came back in up front; Jimmy Vesey and Marc Michaelis came out.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, Adam Gaudette has dressed in just one game so far, picking up an assist in 7:39 of ice time against Nashville last Monday. He was scratched from the lineup in the Blackhawks' last two games.
After Thursday's game, I worried that the Canucks' playoff drive could be dashed by a red-hot Matt Murray. Now, I'm wondering if the Sens can even find two netminders to dress against Vancouver as this series continues in Ottawa on Monday and Wednesday.
It was no exaggeration that healthy scratch Artem Anisimov got geared up and ready to go after Murray came out. And we get a clue here about what happened to Forsberg, too.
Love his butterfly!
To wrap up today — one disappointing note amidst all the good vibes.
During the Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Chris Johnston reported that it's unlikely that Elias Pettersson's wrist injury will be healed up before the end of the regular season.
Pettersson posted this image to his Instagram story on Friday, which seemed like it carried a sense of disappointment — that maybe the latest doctor's reports weren't what he had hoped.
All the best to Petey, who has now been sidelined for nearly two months. We miss you too!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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