TOUGH KNIGHTS
Last year’s Stanley Cup finalists in top form against Canucks
Effort gets you a long way in the National Hockey League, but those details, those crucial details — as we’ve been reminded almost every evening in November — are invariably what make the difference.
Such was the story, again, for the Vancouver Canucks in a spirited, entertaining 4-3 loss on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.
The home team scored first, fell behind, then pulled themselves back into a tie, but lost the game on an ugly, self-inflicted short-handed goal in the third period.
It was Vegas sniper William Karlsson who settled the game with 6:25 to play, taking a pass from Reilly Smith after the Canucks collectively turned the puck over on the side boards and then didn’t do enough to get it back.
After the energy the Canucks showed to fight back, it was a deflating moment for all concerned.
The Canucks got the game opener from Brock Boeser in the first, period on a spectacular pass from Elias Pettersson.
Vegas scored three straight — William Carrier on a bounce in the first, Max Pacioretty on the power play in the second, then Pacioretty again in the third — before the Canucks pulled back even with third-period goals by Alex Edler and Boeser again.
Here’s what we learned ...
HAMMERIN’ HORVAT HAS HIMSELF A NIGHT
Amid the dazzle of the emergence of Pettersson, Bo Horvat’s transformation into a true two-way centre has been, perhaps, a touch under-reported.
He’s been a solid NHLer since he first entered the league four years ago.
He’s become a powerful skater. And an offensive force.
But this season, there’s an added gear to it all.
His third-period performance against the Golden Knights on Thursday night was the best demonstration of his bull-like style yet this season.
Horvat led the rush that led to the rebound Edler hammered into the net to pull the Canucks to within one in the third, and with one hand, he won the puck battle that led to the tying goal by Boeser six minutes later.
PETTERSSON THINKS AT WARP SPEED
The Canucks’ opening goal was another to put on loop, forever, in the Pettersson exhibit.
In a near-perfect repeat of what he achieved Saturday night in Los Angeles, when he anticipated and then picked off a Dion Phaneuf breakout before wiring home the game-winner, on Thursday night Pettersson picked off an outlet pass from Vegas defenceman Deryk Engelland, dangled around Nate Schmidt — who tripped Pettersson in the process — to deliver a blind, behind-theback pass from his knees back into the slot for Boeser to hammer past Marc-Andre Fleury.
Just the way they write it up. That’s a clip guaranteed to be played over and over for hockey writers across North America.
YOU MAKE YOUROWNLUCK
“You don’t just get lucky, you earn your luck,” Jacob Markstrom said a week ago, after the Canucks sank to their seventh regulation loss in a row.
The Knights’ first goal saw the puck rebound off Markstrom to hit Carrier’s foot in just the right way, deflecting back into the Canucks’ goal. Markstrom would probably like to put that rebound anywhere else.
On the second goal, it was all about the power play. Troy Stecher took a high-sticking penalty during a shift the Canucks had multiple chances to clear but couldn’t get the job done.
Pacioretty took a nice pass into the slot and wired the puck past Markstrom to put the visitors into a second-period lead.
As various Canucks have noted over the past week, the best way to kill penalties is to just not take them at all.
And on Vegas goal No. 3, Markstrom didn’t get much help as Stecher was beat into the zone by the Knights’ Alex Tuch, while Ben Hutton and Pettersson got caught in no man’s land, leaving Cody Eakin and Pacioretty to race in on the net practically unfettered.
Stecher’s stick smash on the post afterwards told it all.
CHECK THAT POKE
Two Canucks got in tight on Fleury and looked set to pull off big dekes for goals, but both times they were foiled by the quick stick of Fleury.
In the first period, Jake Virtanen came roaring down on a breakaway but couldn’t get the puck away from the desperate Fleury lunge.
In the third frame, Brendan Leipsic found himself with only Fleury between him and the net after a down-low turnover, tried to go the long way around, but again, that paddle knocked the puck off the Canucks forward’s stick.
WATCH IT
Leipsic had another great chance to score with the Canucks down 3-2, as Fleury suddenly found himself outside of and on the wrong side of the net.
Leipsic took the puck off the goalie behind the net, went for the quick wraparound on the far side, but instead of putting it in the net, misfired and hooked the puck into the side of the net.
ROUSSEL HURT
A late change to the Canucks’ lineup saw Antoine Roussel scratched because of a nagging shoulder injury.
Tim Schaller drew in after being scratched for the last two games.
By getting back into the lineup, Schaller played his 200th NHL game.