Hats off to Stamkos on special night for Odjick

‘Win this one for Gino.’

That was Bo Horvat’s pledge Wednesday morning to honour the fallen and former Vancouver Canucks legendary enforcer Gino Odjick. The locker-room humorist, gentle giant and engaging community activist died Sunday at age 52 from a heart attack.

In preparation for a fitting salute, the Canucks donned their beloved black-skate jerseys in the warm-up with Odjick’s famous No. 29 emblazoned on the back and helmets. And then the alumni gathered for a ceremonial faceoff.

How fitting.

“I know what he’s meant to this organization on and off the ice and in the Indigenous communities and it’s a tough loss for his family and the organization,” said Horvat. “He’ll be greatly missed and we have to play hard and win this one for Gino.”

It was a sweet sentiment, but there was a just one problem.

The Canucks won the shotclock battle 39-25 and staged a spirited third-period rally, but they didn’t defend well enough against the quickpaced, smart-passing and opportunistic Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning scored four first period goals en route to a 5-2 triumph to stretch their winning steak to five games.

Sharp-shooting Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov were left wide open to score in a span of 3:28 in the first half of the opening frame to lay the foundation. Stamkos would strike for a hat trick while Brayden Point also score.

Stamkos didn’t have to break a sweat to hit the 500-career goal mark to open scoring with an easy twofoot, backdoor tap-in.

With Ethan Bear sprawled on the ice after delivering a hit, Alex Killorn executed a sweet toe-drag around a back-checking Ilya Mikheyev before finding the Lightning captain unattended at the side of the net.

“He’s a first class, firstballot Hall of Famer for sure,” Schenn said of Stamkos, his former teammate. “Early in his career, people thought he scored more of his goals from the top of the circle, but as his career went on, he found different ways. A pretty good playmaker. Over a point a game and a great player for his age (32) and also a great leader.

“A good buddy of mine and I’m happy for him. The crowd (ovation) was pretty good. When they honour a guy like that it’s pretty special.”