Canucks 4, Panthers 0: Completely satisfied days are right here once more as Vancouver wins fourth-straight recreation

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And like that, the Vancouver Canucks are on a four-game win streak.

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The Canucks handily defeated the Florida Panthers 4-0 on Thursday at Rogers Area, making final season’s Stanley Cup finalist appear like Florida raccoons — one of many most popular meals of the Florida panther — fairly than ferocious jungle cats.

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There was a component of luck to their recreation — Florida captain Matthew Tkachuk lacking an open internet on a comparatively straightforward probability within the second interval — however the Canucks did sufficient total to finest the guests.

It’s the form of wins good groups get.

And their goalie, Thatcher Demko, posted a stable shutout on an evening that was additionally a tribute to Roberto Luongo.

The pre-game ceremony honouring the best goalie in staff historical past had some good touches.

And Demko nailing a shutout on the night time was the perfect tribute you could possibly make.

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(Although, in all this, you couldn’t assist however assume Luongo deserved the total honour of a jersey retirement.)

“It’s poetic, proper? One thing within the air. A extremely cool night,” Demko stated about getting a shutout.

He admitted he hadn’t been Luongo fan when he was a child; rising up in Southern California he was a Los Angeles Kings fan.

“Irritating for certain,” he stated of watching the perfect goalie in staff historical past knock down his favorite squad.

“However he was the perfect in that point interval,” he went on to acknowledge.

Group file

That is the Canucks’ twentieth win of the season. With it being of their thirtieth recreation of the 12 months, they’ve set a brand new staff commonplace, eclipsing the earlier mark of 31 video games, set in 1992-93.

Affected person begin

The Panthers are having one other robust season and an enormous a part of the reason being their robust begins. They’d out-scored their opponents 29-22 within the first interval coming into the sport.

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The Canucks got here out of the primary interval of this recreation main 2-0. They have been stable. They did quite a lot of issues nicely. Each their objectives have been right down to laborious work.

Rick Tocchet stated he was actually happy how his staff carried out over the opening 40 minutes.

This was the sixteenth time the Canucks have taken a lead into the second intermission and so they’ve but to lose in such a state of affairs, finest within the league. Tocchet clearly wasn’t tremendous eager on his staff dealt with the third — they managed only one shot on aim, a press release about their lack of possession — however he additionally wasn’t upset. When he’s been annoyed about parts of his staff’s recreation, he’s been clear on that.

“The third, we have been, I feel we have been simply form of throwing pucks out simply making an attempt to eat the clock,” he stated. “I feel we will nonetheless study. I feel our breakouts in third, we weren’t actually related and we have been throwing quite a lot of pucks away, so these are issues we obtained to simply study. However for essentially the most half, 4-0, you understand, you’re fairly comfortable. Like I stated, that’s a very good hockey staff over there.”

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Depth scoring and laborious work

The Canucks had gone two-straight video games with objectives solely from their high strains, so clearly it was time for the underside six to interrupt out.

The Canucks’ first three objectives on Thursday have been scored by their backside two strains — and each have been all about stress.

The primary aim, by Andrei Kuzmenko, got here off a turnover pressured by Conor Garland.

The second aim, scored by Dakota Joshua, got here off a relentless forecheck by Garland, Joshua and Teddy Blueger.

The third tally was a present to Joshua off Sergei Bobrovsky’s stick.

The place ya passing to Bob?

If anybody can clarify what Sergei Bobrovsky was making an attempt to do earlier than he put the puck on Joshua’s stick halfway by way of the second interval, please e-mail it to the tackle on the backside of this story.

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Dakota Joshua performed down the possibility, handing many of the credit score to Garland’s stress, forcing the netminder to look in an space he won’t have initially wished to.

“Garland was taking away the left aspect so I knew (Bobrovsky’) choices have been form of restricted,” the facility ahead stated.

“I noticed him flip up ice so I believed perhaps he wasn’t going to go to the D I used to be going to,” he stated of the learn he made, shifting his angle at simply he proper second to calmly intercept Bobrovsky’s clearing try.

Unassssitttteeed

On the aim announcement, earlier than saying “unassisted,” PA announcement Al Murdoch paused with apparent irony, because it was a aim that clearly got here with an help that wouldn’t go credited.

Then he held on to the phrase a bit of longer than common, enjoying up the folly of the second and draw an appreciative roar from the group, who knew he was alluding to Bobrovsky’s gaffe.

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Miller hammers himself

“Good factor we didn’t play extra, we have been giving up grade As left and proper,” J.T. Miller stated frankly. He performed simply 15:30 on the night time, his second-lowest complete of the night time; the one recreation the place he performed much less was the Oct. 31 recreation versus Nashville, the place he was benched for among the second interval.

“Barkov’s line, they outplayed us mightily. So we personal that as a line for certain. Particularly if we’re thought of enjoying in a matchup position. Didn’t assume we have been excellent. Glad that everybody else appeared to play fairly nicely and the goalie performed superior.

Sasha Barkov’s line did out-shoot Miller’s line once they have been head-to-head however not terribly. However who’s to argue with the participant, is fairly trustworthy about his play each time he’s requested about it.

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Unfold it round

Miller wasn’t the one one whose ice time was down a bit of. The Pettersson line didn’t play fairly as a lot as they’ve.

Nor did the Hughe-Hronek pairing: each defencemen performed lower than 20 minutes. The one Canucks who performed greater than 20 minutes on the night time have been the pair of Nikita Zadorov and Tyler Myers.

Rick Tocchet stated he was trying to unfold the ice time round a bit of.

“The final thre,e 4 video games I simply assume that some guys are enjoying nicely,” he stated of discovering ice time for his depth gamers.

“I feel these guys obtained to play a bit of bit extra and if meaning you bought to take a bit of bit extra off your stars, so be it,” he added.

“And we obtained a 4 recreation highway journey in six days. There wasn’t quite a lot of mileage on a few of these guys, in order that’s gonna actually assist us.”

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Capturing bullets

The Canucks’ five-on-five taking pictures share has surged upwards once more these days — scoring 4 objectives on 17 pictures within the first two intervals, three of them at full power — is a part of the story.

A few of it’s technique: The Canucks are the perfect staff within the league at scoring off rebounds, Clear Sight Analytics’ knowledge reveals.

However, absolutely, a few of this resurgence is about luck.

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The Canucks’ PDO is surging again towards 1050, placing them into historic outlier standing.

PDO is a well-proven measure of future efficiency based mostly on a staff’s present even-strength save share and taking pictures share, added up. Good groups sit simply above 1000 so the Canucks, who’re staff, are nonetheless nicely above the place they need to be.

And it’s principally pushed by their even-strength taking pictures share

Florida goes 0-for-PNW

The Panthers have been shut out for the second straight recreation.

They gave up 4 objectives in back-to-back contests.

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NEXT GAME

Saturday

Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild

11 a.m., Xcel Power Middle, TV: TSN, Radio: 650AM

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