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Canucks’ Quick Hits: Hughes, Lafferty, Demko & Joshua

In a close game, the Vancouver Canucks broke it open to win 5-1 going away. Who played well for the Canucks in the game?

by
Old Prof
November 25, 2023

In a strong rebound from a recent rough patch of losses, the Vancouver Canucks showed up against their Pacific Northwest rivals and beat the Seattle Kraken. During the game, Teddy Blueger scored his first goal of the season on a short-handed breakaway after capitalizing on a turnover by Seattle defenseman Justin Schultz. Dakota Joshua and Sam Lafferty then scored to extend the Canucks lead, with Nils Hoglander and Ilya Mikheyev sealing the win with their own goals.

In the end, the game was close until the third-period explosion; and, the Canucks left the building with a 5-1 win.

Quick Hit One: Canucks Needed to Beat Kraken Last Night

Vancouver was backed by a large number of Canucks fans in attendance. The win was only their second in five games. Despite facing some recent challenges, the team came out composed and played effective hockey. Once again, they were led by their new Captain Quinn Hughes, who would be the current top point scorer in the NHL except that Nikita Kucherov had the night of a lifetime with two goals and four assists in Friday’s 8-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Once again, Thatcher Demko was stellar in the crease, especially during the second period when Seattle controlled play. He was the difference in the game for the Canucks. The Canucks win improved their record to 4-1-0 in Seattle since the Kraken joined the league.

Quick Hit Two: Dakota Joshua Has Been a Force Recently on the Bottom Six

Last night, the Canucks had a standout performance from Dakota Joshua, who made his presence felt all over the ice. Although Demko was the team’s best player last night, Joshua is giving Head Coach Rick Tocchet the kind of ice time he’s wanted from the emerging power forward. With the goal, he snapped a five-game point drought. He’s playing inspired hockey, even though he isn’t putting up a ton of points.

With the Canucks, there’s a silver lining in the development of the team’s bottom six. While they could be scoring more, they are still emerging as a force to be reckoned with. Conor Garland recorded two assists and went plus-3. He also broke a five-game point drought. He’s found chemistry on the Canucks’ new-look third line.

Quick Hit Three: Hughes, Lafferty Among Canucks’ Contributors

The game had several contributors last night. As noted, Hughes had a solid game and extended his point streak to 10 games with an assist on Lafferty’s third-period goal. Hughes leads all defensemen with 32 points this season.

🚨 LAFFERTY!!! 🚨

Sam Lafferty adds to the lead! 3-1 #Canucks pic.twitter.com/zdIb8YWQ60
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 25, 2023

Speaking of Lafferty, he was moved to the first line. There he capitalized on the opportunity by scoring a goal. He now has extended his point streak to four of the last five games. Nils Aman was impressive in his NHL season debut. He registered two assists and put up a plus-3 rating in the Canucks’ 5-1 win. Finally, Ilya Mikheyev padded the lead with a goal.

What’s Next for the Canucks – Today?

The Canucks now look ahead to their upcoming game against San Jose, aiming to build on last night’s strong game and maintain their positive momentum. The expectations are high, and the team can’t afford any slip-ups. Excuses like being “tired from a back-to-back” are simply not acceptable in today’s NHL.

It’s time for the Canucks to address the remaining challenges and showcase the hard work needed to gain victories against teams they should be dominating. While they are having a solid season, they are far from perfect. The team should be dominating those teams lower in their division; yet, they consistently allow these teams to linger around in games.

As a result, the team puts a lot of pressure on their goalies. Last night Demko was up to the task. Tonight, fans can hope that the team plays better in front of Casey DeSmith by creating numerous scoring opportunities of their own and by limiting those against their own goalie.