The Vancouver Canucks have a wardrobe malfunction. They’re short on belts.
Winger Alex Chiasson was awarded Saturday the gaudy wrestling belt coach Bruce Boudreau has introduced for his in-house player of the game. But they needed a whole rack of belts after the Canucks, whose playoff fantasy is becoming a little less improbable by the game, rallied in the third period on the road to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 on Hockey Night in Canada. Again.
Three weeks ago, it was a sublime 51-save goaltending performance by Thatcher Demko that stole the Canucks a 3-2 win against the Leafs in Vancouver. Demko was brilliant again in the third period Saturday, but the workload for the win was spread throughout the lineup, making the accomplishment far more meaningful.
Bumped down a line last game because Boudreau said Chiasson was unable to finish the chances he was getting playing with Elias Pettersson, the 31-year-old whacked in the winning goal at 6:55 of the third period.
Tanner Pearson, another reliable veteran who generally gets attention only when fans are unhappy with him, tied the game 4-4 on a deflection that squeezed through leaky Toronto goalie Jack Campbell at 1:03 of the third period, and Tyler Motte added an empty-netter on a pass by Pettersson.
The Canucks had six different goal scorers. But they also had huge defensive plays, like Conor Garland’s backcheck and Pearson’s dive late in the third period to deflect a pass headed to Auston Matthews. And, of course, they had Demko, who made 16 of his 34 saves in the final frame and stuffed Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares in the last two minutes.
“Played about as well in the third period as we could have played there in this building and being down a goal,” J.T. Miller, whose goal and assist moved him into 10th in NHL scoring, told reporters. “What it does is give us that much more belief.
“That's one of the games you're going to remember.”
“That's the best offensive team we've played that we've come from behind on,” Boudreau said. “And you had it in their building. You have to tip your hat off to the guys for their resiliency. You know what? The best thing I liked was the bench and how happy they were and everybody jumping up. I mean, they were committed tonight, and that's a great feeling when they do that.”
After a 3-1 road trip, and eight wins in their last 10 games, bookended by beating the Leafs, the Canucks are three points out of a playoff spot.
BRUCE, HERE IT IS
Saturday was the three-month anniversary of the Canucks replacing head coach Travis Green with Boudreau, and the team is 20-8-4 since then. Vancouver has gone from seven games under .500, to five games over .500. And, starting Wednesday, the Canucks have a season-long, seven-game homestand that includes contests against four teams firmly out of the playoff race.
Can the Canucks’ see that final playoff spot? They better not, because after so many recent, big wins, the last thing this team needs to do is look ahead or think that the hardest part of their miracle comeback is now over. The biggest issue the Canucks have had the last three weeks is consistency. They’ve been downright awful in their few losses.
It was only last Monday when Boudreau found the Canucks’ start “shocking” in a 7-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Players, including Miller, Pettersson and captain Bo Horvat, have all pledged greater consistency and more acute focus. Now is the time for the Canucks to show that.
“We get the next seven games at home,” Boudreau said. “I've used the phrase, 'You’ve got to make hay when the sun shines.' This is the time.”
TRIUMPH IN TORONTO
The Canucks’ last win in Toronto was Dec. 17, 2011. They had lost 12 straight road games to the Maple Leafs since then. Horvat has played 564 NHL games for the Canucks and been with them since 2014, but had never won in his home province.
“It has been a long time coming,” Horvat, who is from London, said. “(The Leafs) usually have my number since I've been here. I got some friends and family in the crowd tonight and to get a big win in front of them definitely feels great.
“We beat a lot of good hockey teams on this road trip. Obviously, it's a successful road trip for us, and we're heading back playing seven in a row. It should give us confidence, knowing we can beat some of the best teams in the league. But we can't get too high on ourselves. We've just got to keep it going.”
QUOTEBOOK
Boudreau was so good when asked Saturday about Miller and Pearson, especially the latter’s defensive dive to deprive Matthews of what would have been an open look late in the third period, we figured we’d just let the coach have his say.
On Miller: “He's a leader. He's our leader offensively, and he's our leader as a spokesperson. And I think a lot of the guys, you know, they follow him. I mean, he's our real star. Every team has one, and I would say he's our offensive star.”
On Pearson: “Well, he's won two Cups (in Los Angeles). And there's reasons that players play on winning teams. He's been scoring key goals. And that play that you talked about was, to me, the play of the game. Coming back, that whole side was open and he tipped it out Matthews's way.”
BUT DON’T MENTION THE 2011 BRUINS
Asked about the depth of scoring – 13 players had goals -- during the Canucks' four road games, Boudreau veered into a soliloquy about the balance of the Stanley Cup-winning Boston Bruins in 2011 and how if he could ever build a team, they would be his template. It’s probably better to avoid effusively praising the Bruins to a Vancouver audience. No reason, just saying.
