Canucks Back In A Playoff Spot After 2–1 Overtime Win Against The Sharks

It was a low-scoring affair on Thursday night, as the Vancouver Canucks took on the San Jose Sharks in a 2–1 overtime win. Dakota Joshua and Drew O’Connor scored for the Canucks, while ex-Canuck Tyler Toffoli notched the tally for the Sharks. Thatcher Demko continued his excellent stretch of play by making 33 saves on 34 shots against. With the Calgary Flames losing to the Colorado Avalanche earlier today, Vancouver now has sole possession of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.

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Quinn Hughes missed his third game since being shaken up in last week’s match against the Dallas Stars. However, despite missing their undisputed best player, Vancouver has looked solid and continued their steady stretch of play tonight. While they were a little slow in capitalizing on their opportunities, they did well in neutralizing San Jose’s chances.

The last time the Canucks took on the Sharks, Elias Pettersson had himself an impressive two-goal game, but left the game early due to injury. The most notable part of tonight’s game for him was the fact that, during the third power play for Vancouver, Pius Suter took his place. Pettersson finished the game with 19:33 minutes on ice.

Speaking of the power play, Vancouver’s has not looked the same since Hughes went down due to injury. With Filip Hronek walking the blueline, the Canucks had many options to send the puck back to their defender to take a hard shot on net, which they did plenty of times in their first opportunity. The power play has also looked new with the addition of puck-carrier Filip Chytil. As the game went on, the Canucks were unable to set themselves up, and things looked bleak. However, after a change in personnel on their fourth opportunity, Joshua swung by the net and helped nudge the puck past Vitek Vanecek.

Elias Pettersson (D) played his fifth NHL game, and was paired with Carson Soucy. He showed his comfort in shooting the puck from his position at the blueline, registering three shots on goal by the end of the game. One of his shots taken in the first period was recorded at 92 m/hr. He ended the game with 13:02 minutes on ice.

Despite only registering a goal and an assist in the previous four games, Nils Höglander has played with a renewed jump, often being the first of his line to get in on the forecheck while maintaining his scrappy nature to stay on his feet or knock opponents off theirs. He’s been paying more attention to his positioning while playing with Teddy Blueger and Nils Åman, and made good plays to break up some possible San Jose breakouts.

O’Connor continued to assert his energetic forecheck by winning a puck battle early in the second period and sending Brock Boeser in on Vanecek. He also managed to give the Canucks a scoring opportunity off a steal in the second period. His most important play however, came in overtime after he drew a penalty shot and scored to win the game for his team.

“It was nice for that one to go in,” O’Connor confessed after the game, thinking back to his last penalty shot opportunity in the same building one week prior. “I was a little gassed from that sprint up the ice.”

“He really adds a lot to our team,” Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet said of O’Connor. “He wants to learn. I know he’s only been here a week, but he’s just a really good, coachable kid.”

Typically a Shark-killer despite his love for the movie Jaws, Conor Garland was a big talking point for tonight’s game. The forward opened the game with a big hit on Mario Ferraro and was later pushed around in the second period. He was shaken up coming off of that play and initially did not return for the third period. While he did eventually return during the team’s fourth man-advantage, he only stayed on for a little bit and immediately went back to the bench doubled-over in pain. With the 4 Nations Faceoff break coming up, it may be best for Garland to get as much rest as possible before starting the season up again.

Demko followed up a 3–0 shutout win against the Avalanche on Tuesday with another renaissance performance, stopping a Will Smith breakaway early in the first period. He was called upon to make batches of multi-save sequences including one near the end of the second period that nearly resulted in a Macklin Celebrini goal. After Vancouver’s go-ahead goal in the third period, Demko made yet another sprawling save to keep the game in his team’s favour. While Demko’s shutout streak ended at 118:32 minutes, he was able to record his 13th win against the Sharks.

“It’s been awhile,” Tocchet said of the ever-elusive overtime win. “We’ll take it.”

Stats and Facts:

• With a win tonight, Thatcher Demko is now 13–0–0 against the San Jose Sharks

• Drew O’Connor scores the final goal of the game for two straight games

• Thatcher Demko’s shutout streak ends at 118:32 minutes

• Conor Garland draws his 25th penalty of the season after being shoved to the ice by Jake Walman at 8:21 of the second period

• Vancouver scores the first goal of the game for the 25th time this season

Scoring Summary:

First Period:

No goals

Second Period:

No goals

Third Period:

8:04 – VAN: Dakota Joshua (3) from Pius Suter and Tyler Myers (PPG)

18:32 – SJS: Tyler Toffoli (20) from William Eklund

Overtime:

0:33 – VAN: Drew O’Connor (8) (PS)

Up Next:

Vancouver plays their last game before the 4 Nations break on Saturday, as they return to Rogers Arena to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are currently second in the Atlantic Division with 68 points accumulated in 54 games played. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 pm PT, despite the game taking place in Vancouver.

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