Sedins shine, but Golden Knights reign
It played out like a personal tribute to the city’s beloved stars.
The Canucks were down 4-1 to Vegas, a game seemingly lost to a team that has been among the NHL’s best all year.
But these Canucks didn’t fold in the first of a three-game curtain call for the retiring Sedin twins.
Led by a couple of young players who could be leading the Canucks soon enough in Bo Horvat and Nikolay Goldobin, Vancouver scored three unanswered thirdperiod goals and tied this game at four.
In the shootout, Vegas would score in the fourth round to win the game.
But the night was hardly ruined. This is what we learned:
GREAT START FOR SEDINS
It was one for the history books. The crowd roared as Henrik and Daniel Sedin were introduced in the starting lineup for their penultimate game in Vancouver.
It was a moment for celebration, a chance for Vancouver Canucks hockey fans to show how much they adore their team’s two greatest players.
Not long after their introductions, the Sedins answered back.
In their second shift of the game, they turned the game into throwback Tuesday. They tossed the puck back and forth, and along the boards. If you squinted just right, it felt like it was five years ago.
They didn’t score. But they did what they so often did during their incredible careers. They brought you to the edge of your seat. They had you leaning in.
And on this night you cherished every second, because there are precious few left.
GOLDOBIN PLAYING WELL
Goldobin’s play is among the most encouraging signs for the Canucks’ late-season push.
On Tuesday, he was as electric as his AHL scoring suggests he could one day be.
He scored twice and he nearly had more. On the first, he made an elegant move on the fly, pouncing
on a Brandon Sutter drop pass and in one motion drove it by the Vegas goalie on the short side.
The second goal tied the game. It was as deft as it was lucky. He calmly redirected a slap-pass on net and it handcuffed the Vegas goalie. Those points gave him seven in nine games. They haven’t all been great. In three of those, he didn’t even get a shot on net.
But if you’re taking in the big picture, this is as promising as he’s ever been with the Canucks.
SEDINS ARE STILL GOOD ON THE POWER PLAY
When Bo Horvat finished on a rebound, in a goal that was set up by Daniel Sedin, it underscored a storyline that has been threaded through this final Sedins season.
After years of struggling to score power-play goals, this year was different. Part of it was Brock Boeser. Part of it was the fact the Canucks brought in assistant coach Newell Brown to make some changes.
But don’t get it twisted. The Canucks’ foundation for this revival in power-play success has been the play of the Sedins.
They’ve moved the puck better than they have in three years and it’s helped the team continue to produce even after Boeser’s season was ended because he broke a bone in his back.
THE NIGHT WAS LINED WITH SEDINS HIGHLIGHTS
You saw the evolution from those fresh-faced kids with the baby fat and awkwardness to the superstars who carved up the NHL with chiselled features.
The Sedins grew up before our eyes, and many of those highlights peppered the scoreboard during breaks. The biggest came midway through the third when the camera focused on the twins and the crowd erupted in a standing ovation. It was as loud as Rogers Arena has ever been.