November 24th, 2022
Ryan Gurevitz-Last night’s matchup between the Canucks and the defending champion Colorado Avalanche was one of low expectations for the Canucks, who came into last night’s game hoping to improve from yet another multi-goal collapse. The 6-10-3 Canucks went into Denver to face the 11-5-1 Avalanche who sought their fourth straight win against a far weaker team on paper, but last night’s game showed that hockey is not played on paper. A substantial 33-save effort from Spencer Martin and fantastic 5v5 offence across the board pushed Vancouver past the high-flying Avalanche in a 4-3 regulation victory.
Ilya Mikheyev opened the scoring 21 seconds into the first period, notching his fifth tally of the season off a pass into the slot from fellow Russian Andrei Kuzmenko. Colorado then answered quickly with their fire-powered offence. A series of solid scoring opportunities including multiple lunging saves from Spencer Martin and a double post from Nathan MacKinnon culminated in a well-earned goal from Mikko Rantanen, who redirected a slick pass from Devon Toews into the gaping net to level the game about 10 minutes in. Rantanen hit the daily double on the power play about 6 minutes later, giving his side a 2-1 lead after the opening frame had concluded.
Bo Horvat leveled proceedings in the second period, deflecting a point shot from Ethan Bear for his league-leading 16th goal. Colorado roared back on the power play 5 minutes later, when none other than Cale Makar unloaded an absolute cannon to put Colorado ahead yet again to close out the second period.
The Canucks were having trouble gaining any momentum in this game, yet a pair of goals against the run of play had kept them in the game going into the third period against the defending cup champions. Boudreau’s men looked to avoid the ghosts of games past and find a way to pull ahead in the final 20.
It didn’t take long for Vancouver to find their equalizer, about 5 minutes in Sheldon Dries got ahold of a loose puck in front of a downed Pavel Francouz and made no mistake. Dries levelled the match at 3 with one of the easiest goals he could score in the National Hockey League. Both teams searched frantically for a potential winner, but after 8 minutes of back-and-forth play, Ethan Bear fired a cannon of his own through traffic and past Pavel Francouz to score the eventual game-winning goal.
The Canucks offence overcame their special teams' struggles and produce 4 goals at 5v5. While it is rare and unimpressive for their 5th ranked powerplay to go 0-5, it is even rarer for them to manage a win without converting on the powerplay. The Canucks held their own against a top team in the league, which is all you can ask for when it feels like nothing’s going right. The Canucks can now enjoy a couple days off before they head south for a weekend double header against the Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks.
3rd-Spencer Martin 33 Saves .917 sv% 0.24 GSAx W
Martin somehow continues to outperform all expectations night in and night out. The Canucks backup has forced himself into a 1a 1b situation with the snake-bitten Thatcher Demko. His 33-save effort against Colorado brought his personal record to an impressive 5-1-1. Martin will inevitably see more ice time this weekend, but Boudreau will decide whether he wants him between the pipes on Saturday against Vegas or Sunday against the San Jose Sharks.
2nd-Mikko Rantanen 2G 1PPG 21:19 TOI
Rantanen notched his 12th and 13th goals of the season Wednesday night in his fourth multi-goal game of the season. Despite his team’s shortcomings, Rantanen shined alongside teammate Cale Makar with dazzling individual efforts in the 4-3 loss.
1st- Ethan Bear 1G 1A 1GWG 20:01 TOI
Bear’s addition for a fifth-round pick has been a phenomenal one, the young right-hand shot defenseman has been stellar as of late as he slowly earns more and more ice time. He’s a real difference-maker for a team lacking in right-handed talent on defence, and his addition has been huge in the recent successes of the Canucks.