Canucks beat down Beantown in thriller

It’s always better when the Vancouver Canucks beat the Boston Bruins.

It will always mean more than most games in Vancouver.

The Canucks looked deep and dangerous, on their way to a 6-1 win Saturday night at Rogers Arena.

Here’s what we learned ...

THE CANUCKS WERE AMPED TO PLAY THE BRUINS

They had speed. Boy, did they have speed.

They had skill. They made plays. The youngest players romped. They crashed the net.

The oldest players were everything you’d hope the Sedins could be at 37 years old.

They zeroed in on Brad Marchand, hitting and aggravating him.

It was just one game. But what a glorious game it was for the city of Vancouver.

There haven’t been a lot of really fun nights at Rogers Arena this season. This made up for a lot of that.

GREEN GOT RESULTS FROM BENCHING BAERTSCHI

It was the healthy scratch heard around the Lower Mainland.

Just days after GM Jim Benning’s extension, the player he acquired in a trade held up as one of his best was scratched.

It’s not the first time Sven Baertschi has been healthy and had to sit out. It happened under Willie Desjardins, and he responded with one of his best runs as a Canuck.

On Saturday, the entire team responded.

You can start with Baertschi, who had pop and scored a goal too, creating chaos when he charged the net with linemates Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser.

THE TRADE DEADLINE GUYS CAME UP BIG

Erik Gudbranson always seems to be at his most physical when the most eyes are on him.

He’s had some big Saturday nights, and this was among them. He crushed Marchand into the sideboards like he was squashing a fruit fly.

He didn’t stop there. He pancaked David Pastrnak with the force of a small truck and then also broke up a near-breakaway by catching up to the play and smothering the guy.

Did he have some lapses along the way?

Sure. He got walked by Pastrnak on a play.

But who cares? Did you see this guy hit?

This was exactly the type of game the Canucks needed to sell high on him. Now, someone has to convince Benning that’s the way to go.

Like Gudbranson, Thomas Vanek is on an expiring contract and is expected to be moved by the deadline. He had a great primary assist, setting up Daniel Sedin by cutting through the slot and making a nice cross-ice pass for a tap-in.

THE CANUCKS CAN PLAY FAST

This is a totally different team when Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen are exploiting defencemen with their speed.

Horvat flew around Charlie McAvoy, who is one of the best young defencemen in the NHL. He used his speed to get in on net and chip the puck by Tuukka Rask.

Jake Virtanen’s play was more mesmerizing. The play started innocently enough, Virtanen carrying the puck on the left side, with the Bruins’ defence in perfect position to defend him.

But as Virtanen glided over the Boston blue-line, it was like he flipped the nitrous tank. He didn’t have angle. He just had sheer speed. He smoked by Torey Krug, who’s a very skilled blueliner, and cut over the top of Rask, before Nic Dowd smacked in the rebound.

Now that play was Virtanen at his best, and so was this game.

He hit. He was engaged. He had three shots on net. He was everything you’d hope he’d be 6-7 times out of 10.

For most of the season, however, it’s been closer to 2-3 times out 10.