The Vancouver Canucks and their gaudy 34-11-5 record are in Boston to take on the Bruins, who stumbled out of their All-Star break with a putrid, 4-1 loss Tuesday on home ice to lowly Calgary.
To get caught up: Matt Poitras is done for the season after a successful surgery on Monday to stabilize his right shoulder. The Canucks now have Elias Lindholm, the most-discussed non-Bruins centerman since – probably for the year before – Patrice Bergeron’s retirement. The Canucks already have emerged as the league’s most consistent threat, and now they’ve strengthened their team down the middle and sent notice that they take their own chances to come out of the Western Conference seriously.
Jeremy Swayman does not get tonight’s start – Linus Ullmark does – but Swayman was notably brushed off by Vancouver starter Thatcher Demko when Swayman was inviting locker-room goalie hugs (and getting them) during All-Star Weekend in Toronto.
The Canucks have already proven they are a focused group, but if any team can throw them off it’s the Bruins, their conquerors in the 2011 Stanley Cup final.
Captain Brad Marchand is the sole player on either team who played in that series, and that might as well be a full 20-man roster where it concerns Vancouver’s hatred for Boston and the Bruins. Nothing more they would like…
The ironic footnote to this is Lindholm went to Vancouver from Calgary, and the Flames happen to have the only other player from the 2011 Cup final who has yet to retire. Like Marchand, Chris Tanev is going strong; the left-shot defender is a free agent after the season and very likely to be moved to any one of the 21 teams not on his 10-team, no-trade list.
Given the broken leg suffered by Tampa Bay’s left-shot defenseman Mikhail Sergachev in last night’s game against the Rangers, the guess here is the historically proactive Lightning make a strong pitch for Tanev’s services.
The heart and soul of the Lightning is their big three on defense and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, and without Eric Cernak last year (cheap-shotted out of that series by Michael Bunting) they lost to Toronto. This time it’s Sergachev the Bolts won’t be rolling out, so it’s imperative they plug that hole.
The only other left D playing at that level of impact is Noah Hanafin, long coveted by the Bruins and reportedly targeted by them in a final phase of the personnel maneuvering that was meant to move two of those 2015, first-round draft picks that were obviously used (and then discussed ad nauseum).
A-I image by Daryl Vautour
A stirring rendition of “Oh Canada” and “The Star Spangled Banner” by Todd Angilly, setting the crowd abuzz.
Game summary:
FIRST PERIOD
Jakub Lauko escapes a penalty shot for holding Dakota Joshua, but Marchand scores a short-handed goal 14 seconds into the penalty and 22 seconds into the game to put Boston on top 1-0. Charlie Coyle with the play to Marchand from the RW corner.
Lots of shoving after every whistle. You’d think these guys played the 2023 Cup final, not 2011. Marchand and J.T. Miller to the box for roughing at 4:37.
Conor Garland’s hustle induced an icing, but the Bruins got out the next time.
Big chance earned by Boston’s fourth line of Morgan Geekie with Lauko and Oskar Steen. Bruins doing a good job getting pucks and bodies to Demko, causing some stress.
Vancouver’s quickness, meanwhile, sustains the Canucks’ attack and, on a few occasions already (8:50) into the game, they have isolated shooters between the circles in front of Ullmark.
This game is electric so far. Feels like the playoffs.
Miller threw the body three times on Boston defensemen away from the puck – the first one on Hampus Lindholm should have resulted in a call because it gave the Canucks a scoring chance – but the third time was the opposite of a charm, and Miller went to the box at 9:48.
Bruins to the powerplay:
Marchand fans from the right point.
Jake DeBrusk rubs out big (6-8) Vancouver D Tyler Myers, who stays down with apparent injury and stops the game. Myers left under his own power and complained to the referee on his way to the bench. No call.
Elias Pettersson deked David Pastrnak coming out of the Vancouver zone, and Pasta takes the penalty with 5:15 remaining in the first period. Canucks to the powerplay:
Hampus Lindholm fails to clear with the backhand up the middle, but the Bruins win the puck back and Danton Heinen fends off Pettersson and turns it into another short-handed goal for the Bruins, 2-0. Coyle gets his second short-handed assist of the period.
Shots after one period: 11-4 Boston.
The Canucks were moving the puck with authority and speed early, and they were somewhat physical as well, but the Bruins dug in and found their game. Short-handed goals are by nature an aberration and that’s the difference on the scoreboard, but the Bruins made this their period.
SECOND PERIOD
Two quick goals by Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha in the first minute of the second period have the Bruins up 4-0. Pasta’s came off a broken-stick delivery that deflected in behind Demko, and Zacha was sent in alone by James van Riemsdyk.
Lauko off for tripping on the forecheck. Coaches are never happy about O-zone penalties.
Ullmark snares Luke Hughes’ deflected centering feed out of the air.
Bruins get the kill. Lauko spared the skate of shame.
Vancouver starting to play again, jamming at Ullmark with bodies on the ice.
Ullmark stops Pius Suter from in tight, and the pucks squeezes through but not over the goal line and Brandon Carlo clears. The Canucks bring it right back and jam away, another close call.
McAvoy supports Zacha and Pastrnak on an offensive-zone cycle that never led to clean shot.
At the Bruins’ end, Garland stirs it up with a hit on McAvoy at the whistle, after which McAvoy shoots Garland’s dropped stick away from his opponent. Garland springs at McAvoy, who rag-dolls the overmatched by widely appreciated local product. (Just imagine the full compliment of subplots should both of these teams find their way to June hockey.)
The ensuing 4-on-4 session started with Boston pressure, then a big chance from Myers who shot wide from the slot, then Pastrnak had the lead but no energy for a tired partial breakaway that ended with an easy save for Demko.
After the penalties expired, Nils Hoglander batted an aerial puck into the Boston net, but it was ruled illegal height of contact without argument.
Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet resets his team back to its default position with plenty of hockey left. The result is more hits and two good shots from Joshua and Luke Hughes, both snuffed out by Ullmark.
Late second, Bruins up 4-0.
Lots of frustration in the body language of Miller.
Shots after two: 20-13 Boston.
Sorry for being late to the party with this scoring change, but the funky goal that occurred at the beginning of the second period when Pastrnak broke his stick has now been credited to Morgan Geekie.
THIRD PERIOD
Carlo pushed on Garland on a puck chase to the sideboards in the Boston zone. Nothing came of it because the timing was off slightly off from what could have been a dangerous outcome, and Carlo tapped Garland on the leg after they had swirled back to the front of the Boston net. There might have been an apology there. They would go back to get a puck, Carlo first and Garland peeled away.
Bruins forwards have shown good sticks in this game, especially in disrupting Vancouver’s attempts to break up zone exits and counterattack. A lot of second and third effort in this game.
Marchand turns Myers inside out but misses the right post.
Nikita Zadorov to the box at 6:15 of the third period. Bruins to the powerplay …
Demko stops Pastrnak’s one-timer from the left circle. The most impressive thing was the hard, fast, clean trade of passes between Pasta and Marchand before 88 finally went for it.
Canucks still playing to break Ullmark’s shutout and get on the board. Bodies to the net for their point attempts.
Suter got away with a hook on Marchand. DeBrusk rushes through the slot but misses the right post.
Bruins trying to play more of the final six minutes in Vancouver’s end.
Canucks ice the puck another a second touchdown misconnection within the last two minutes.
Steen, Jesper Boqvist and Heinen cause the Canucks problems in their own end. The Geekie-Frederic-Lauko line follows suit, and we’re down to 3:20.
Hughes and partner Filip Hronek catch Pastrnak legally to negate a breakaway.
All Bruins as we near the one-minute mark. Zadorov levels Steen in the Vancouver crease and goes to the box.
This game should end 4-0.
Rink Rap with Mick Colageo 