BOESER’S THE BEST AROUND
Rookie’s hat trick made a statement
With two minutes to play Saturday, the Canucks leading 4-2 and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions playing with the goalie pulled, another coach might not have risked the rookie.
But we’re learning Brock Boeser is no ordinary rookie. He’s the youngest Canuck to record a hat trick in nearly 27 years — 20-yearold Trevor Linden scored three times on Dec. 20, 1990 — and he has 13 points in 10 games this season. He’s also the youngest Canuck winger to record a multi-goal game since 20-year-old Pavel Bure potted a pair Nov. 12, 1991.
“It’s special being my first hat trick,” Boeser said. “But just against the Stanley Cup champions ... it makes it a little more special.”
Saturday’s hat trick got the headlines, as it should, but the fact Canucks coach Travis Green put the 20-year-old out in crunch time spoke volumes about the rest of the Minnesotan’s game.
Boeser added an assist, while linemates Bo Horvat (one goal, three assists) and Sven Baertschi (three assists) also had impressive performances as Vancouver snapped a two-game slide.
“It’s obviously truly a special one to score three goals in a game like that,” said Boeser. “But it’s about our team game.
“I thought our team got better as the game went on.”
Boeser, who leads the Canucks in scoring with five goals and eight assists, now has 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 19 career games after playing nine times at the tail end of last season.
“He was phenomenal,” said Horvat. “He played a heck of a game.”
Leave no doubt: The kid can play at both ends of the ice.
He’s proving to be the two-way winger Horvat and Baertschi need.
“It all starts in the defensive zone,” Boeser said Sunday.
His centre made note of his underrated skill set last week, telling Postmedia News he “does all the little things, especially defensively.”
The numbers back it up. Without Boeser, Horvat and Baertschi still get lots of shots off on offence, but in their own end they struggle to limit shots. Add Boeser, the story flips. The Killer B line has proven to be a stout twoway unit.
When you look at shot charts, you can see how this all plays out: When Boeser is on the ice, opponent shots from the right side of the ice, where Boeser usually is defending, collapse.
It’s a story similar to the effect
Alex Burrows had on Horvat and Baertschi in 2016-17. With the veteran winger, Horvat and Baertschi were even possession players, a remarkable feat on a team that struggled to generate offence by any measure.
That trio was also effective at limiting shots from the slot and below the faceoff dots, areas where most goals come from.
With Boeser in place of Burrows this season, the Horvat line is finding even better results.
Boeser’s influence isn’t just limiting shots down low, it’s also forcing opponents to shoot from closer to the blue-line, the kinds that have little chance of scoring.
As long as the Canucks keep opposing shooters to the outside — and through the season’s first dozen games, this has been a team strength, not just a Boeser-only strength — they’re going to have a chance.
Keeping opponents to the outside was last year’s hope, but the execution proved to be elusive as the Canucks’ tough talk about protecting the slot didn’t match the execution.
So far, so good.
GAUNCE RECALLED, MEGNA TO UTICA
Forward Brendan Gaunce, who had shoulder surgery in the summer, is now NHL ready. After skating in five games for the Utica Comets — recording a pair of goals — Gaunce was recalled Sunday.
Jayson Megna was sent back to Utica to create a roster spot for Gaunce. Megna played just one game after being called up a week ago.
DEMKO STILL AROUND
With Anders Nilsson’s wife due to give birth at any moment, Thatcher Demko’s latest Canucks stint will carry on for a few more days — and Travis Green didn’t stamp out the notion that the goalie of the future could see action this week.
The Canucks have four games in six nights, starting Monday, which would be a heavy load for Jacob Markstrom.
Plus, the numbers say it’s foolish to start the same goalie both nights of a back-to-back, especially when there’s travel involved.