The Vancouver Canucks’ Thursday night matchup against the St. Louis Blues was full of cathartic celebrations and upsets. Despite a bunch of new records on the line, the Canucks could not come out of the game with a win, dropping the game 4–3 in overtime. Kiefer Sherwood and Brock Boeser (2), scored for the Canucks, while Zack Bolduc, Tyler Tucker, Dylan Holloway, and Philip Broberg found the back of the net for St. Louis. Kevin Lankinen started for Vancouver, stopping 25 of 29 shots faced. With the overtime loss, Vancouver is now out of a playoff spot with 76 points in 69 games played. Currently, they have one game in hand on St. Louis.
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Lankinen was an early hero for the Canucks, making seven saves in the first seven minutes of the game including a kick-save on Robert Thomas. He made yet another in-tight save on Thomas only minutes later, stopping what easily could have been St. Louis’ first goal of the game. One of his most impressive saves of the night was during the first frame, when he and Filip Hronek joined forces to keep out a rebound off the goal post with only seconds left in the period.
Despite the 0–0 score, St. Louis dominated Vancouver in nearly every stat to start the game. They put up 12 shots to Vancouver’s three and won 66.7% of the first period faceoffs, as well as put up a 5-on-5 corsi-for percentage of 64.71% and an xGF% of 89.16%. While each team was awarded a partial power play, neither were able to capitalize on the chance.
Vancouver picked up their pace in the second period, making sure to keep the puck in St. Louis’ zone throughout the first seven minutes. Shots by Teddy Blueger and Kiefer Sherwood could have been the game’s opening goal if not for Jordan Binnington’s efforts in the crease. Marcus Pettersson also had two shots during this span of time. By the game’s halfway mark, the Canucks nearly matched St. Louis’ early shot count with 11 to the Blues’ 15. However, even with their early push, St. Louis scored off a deflection from Quinn Hughes and left the second period with a 1–0 lead.
Tonight was a big game for Sherwood, who came in needing only 11 hits to break the NHL record in hits made in one season. He finished the game with 10 hits made, tying him with Jeremy Lauzon’s 383 hits for the record. Most importantly, however, he scored to tie the game at 1–1, helping Vancouver stay in pursuit of the ever-important two points up for grabs at the end of the game. He finished the match with one shot on net and 15:58 minutes played.
Two players who have been heating up as of late are Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander. The two have been paired up since Vancouver’s match against the Calgary Flames last Wednesday, and put together, they have produced a combined 11 points. Adding to that total, they each tallied an assist on Boeser’s 200th career goal, with Pettersson getting one on Boeser’s second goal of the game. Together, alongside Boeser, they finished the game with a corsi-for percentage of 55%.
The game looked to be a loss for Vancouver until Boeser fired the puck at the net and beat Binnington with less than three seconds left in the game. During overtime, St. Louis nearly won off a close goal that sat on the red line of the net, but since Lankinen stopped it and it didn’t completely cross the line, the chance did not count. The Blues went on to score off a rush chance by Broberg, preventing Vancouver from taking the extra point.
“Both teams needed those points badly,” Dakota Joshua said of the team’s effort after the game. “It was nice to see some resiliency and battle back to get a point in the end there. But yeah, one we would have liked to have.”
“We’ve gotta clean it up. Clean that stuff up. I thought the second or third we were better. I didn’t think our first was that good,” Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet noted of the team’s playing style postgame.
“It’s a point, you know. It’s a big point,” he added. “Down the road, it can really help us.”
Stats and Facts:
- With the overtime loss, Vancouver’s playoff odds are now at 37.2% as calculated by MoneyPuck.com
- Brock Boeser scores his 200th career goal, becoming the ninth player in Canucks history to do so
- Brock Boeser scores two goals in two straight games for the first time this season
- With his 383rd hit of the season, Kiefer Sherwood ties Jeremy Lauzon’s NHL hit record
- Quinn Hughes hits 399 career NHL points
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
No scoring.
2nd Period:
15:48 – STL: Zack Bolduc (13) from Cam Fowler and Nick Leddy
3rd Period:
1:09 – VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (15) from Filip Hronek and Marcus Pettersson
6:35 – VAN: Brock Boeser (21) from Nils Höglander and Elias Pettersson
9:27 – STL: Tyler Tucker (3) from Brayden Schenn
9:52 – STL: Dylan Holloway (23) from Jordan Kyrou and Tyler Tucker
19:57 – VAN: Brock Boeser (22) from Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes
Overtime:
3:41 – STL: Philip Broberg (7) from Brayden Schenn and Dylan Holloway
Up Next:
Vancouver’s next game is on Saturday, March 22, against former Canuck J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers. It will be Vancouver’s first time playing against Miller since trading him to the Rangers at the end of January. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 am PT.
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