MILLER THRILLER
Goalie stops 36 of 37 shots and the Canucks, refreshed from their Christmas break, beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1
Optimism was overflowing like a holiday season cocktail Wednesday. Refreshed from their break — and away long enough to forget that pre-Christmas pummelling in Calgary — the Vancouver Canucks talked about pride and professionalism and the hope that not all is lost this NHL season.
That’s commendable and somewhat stunning.
Maybe it was the return of Alex Edler after missing 13 games with a finger fracture. Maybe it was seeing Jayson Megna winning the line lottery and aligning with Henrik and Daniel Sedin after being scratched against the Flames.
And maybe it was just some simple math with the Los Angeles Kings occupying the final Western Conference wild-card spot and providing the opposition and incentive at Rogers Arena.
Being five points back of the Kings and needing to leapfrog four clubs just to get to the post-season is a daunting challenge and the Canucks answered it — at least for one night — by hanging on for a 2-1 triumph to end a two-game losing streak.
More often than not, there has been a considerable compete level and matching that with just enough scoring has been the ongoing quest. The Canucks got goals from Loui Eriksson and Henrik Sedin, while Ryan Miller looked like he was heading for his first shutout of the season and 37th of his career to keep the optimism flowing.
Then came the 34th shot, with Tanner Pearson spinning in the slot and putting a wrist shot over the starter’s shoulder at 16:43 of the third period to make for yet another tense ending and a 36-save effort.
However, that shouldn’t have been surprising. Sustainability was never going to be easy because a lack of scoring depth and a rash of injuries — the latest string being Jannik Hansen’s knee injury, Erik Gudbranson’s wrist surgery and Derek Dorsett’s neck procedure — were going to make a run of something like 27-154 the rest of the way just to get into the post-season dance unlikely.
Then again, there was something in seeing how Megna embraced an opportunity to play with the Sedins, how Eriksson emerged from another goal-scoring funk and how the Canucks tried to match brain and brawn with the NHL’s hit leaders.
It will keep the local hockey populace polarized on whether Wednesday was like seeing a rare comet streak across the sky or whether there’s something to build upon with Anaheim here on Friday, before the Canucks travel to Edmonton on Saturday.
After all, the Kings had killed 26 straight penalties in their previous 10 outings before Eriksson struck early. So there was that.
Megna got his chance with Anton Rodin scratched, allowing the Canucks to ice a bigger lineup and make sure they wouldn’t get run out of their own building.
And when the Kings pressed hard in the final 40 minutes — they held a 13-4 shot advantage in the second and forced Miller to make sharp saves off Trevor Lewis and Anze Kopitar — you had the feeling that the structure that coach Willie Desjardins so often speaks of was going to get a stiff test right until the final buzzer.
It’s been the story of the season.