Coming off an uninspired loss to Utah, playing the best team in the NHL, losing Garland to an undisclosed injury… it seemed like a recipe for another Canucks loss. But, the boys sacked up and put together a fantastic effort on way to a 6-2 victory over the Jets. The team looked fast(er), it was exciting, they defended well, won the special teams battle, and showed that they can hang around with any team. Which always leaves us fans wondering where the hell that team is every other night. But, for now, a much needed two points. If you missed the game:
It was a great bounce-back night for a lot of things, probably the most needed was a solid night from Boeser. He hadn’t scored in 12 games, and had two in his last 20. He put up a pair last night, as well as a great assist, on a pretty solid line with Petey and Hoglander. With the team now missing Chytil and Garland, they’re going to need him to step up more and more.
“It felt really good,” said Boeser, who has hit the 20-goal mark. “I haven’t been much of a help to our team lately and I want to be a difference-maker in these games and help us win and push for that playoff spot. Any time I made a play, I was trying to get to the net.
“I thought our line was really connected and working hard to keep pucks in the offensive zone. It’s a huge win and should give us lots of confidence to show we can beat anybody on any given night, if we focus on the details and play to our structure.
“And now we have to build off it.”
Hughes was also quite happy for him.
“Brock's one of my closest friends,” Hughes said. “He's been someone I can lean on, and just been, you know, a really quality friend. Obviously, you never want to see anyone struggle. But in saying that, I think you know everyone on this team has kind of gone through some ups and downs this year. And as far as Brock and the message that everyone in here needs to have, it’s just: every game's a new night and each game has a new personality, and you don't know when you're going to break through.”
A breakthrough was what he needed. Brock talked about the last month: how the trade deadline was the second longest week of his life, and how much pressure he’s put on himself lately.
“The first was the week my dad passed away,” Boeser said Tuesday night. “And the second was that. I never really felt like that before; the time went by so slow because you didn't know what was going to happen. You were just kind of sitting around waiting to see what's going to happen.”
“I've been really hard on myself to, you know, step up and be better for our team,” he said before the game. “And I think if I just have a positive attitude and a better mindset, I think I can find my way back to my game.
“You know, at the end of the day, I've got to be grateful for the position we're in (and) grateful to play in this league. And I think just having a positive mindset and a better attitude coming to the rink every day, I can work my way out of this.”
Overall, it was a great team win. If they can play that way against every team, they’ll have a solid chance to make the playoffs. Defensively they’re stout, and offensively they haven’t been great, but they’ve also been a little unlucky. They got some bounces for sure last night, but they’ve been not getting a lot of them the last couple months so it’s hopefully starting to even out.
“Without the puck, we're a good hockey team,” Tocchet said. “We’ve just got to be a better team with the puck.”
“We just did the right things,” Suter said. “I think it's a great confidence boost for everybody. Obviously, in two days we've got a huge, four-point game coming up (against the Blues). I think this helps just to kind of get everybody's confidence up and everyone feels good about themselves.”
“This is great,” Tocchet said of the performance. “Enjoy it for, you know, five minutes, and then we've got to get back to reality that we've got to go into St Louis. I mean, that's just the world we live in.”
Thursday night in St. Louis is a biiiiig game. The Canucks need to bring their A game, and put some distance between them and the rest of the pack.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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