Canucks 2, Leafs 1: No Hughes, no Demko, no problem

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The Vancouver Canucks haven’t had their captain for four games now and yes, you can tell the difference, but unlike the previous time this season Quinn Hughes was out of the lineup, the Canucks continue to find a way to persevere.

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And that perseverance took on a new dimension Saturday as midway through the first period Thatcher Demko left the game with some sort of left leg problem. He wouldn’t return.

Thank goodness, as ever, for Kevin Lankinen.

The Canucks’ other goalie has been solid all season and it was no surprise he was excellent in backstopping the Canucks to a 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Canucks’ defence-first style continues to work wonders as they appear to be beginning a surge towards the playoffs. It’s been five games now since J.T. Miller was traded to the New York Rangers. They’re 4-1 in that stretch.

It was a game where the Canucks score first, a good thing, and then commanded the third, also a great thing.

They got a great performance from Elias Pettersson. He set up the game’s first goal and skated aggressively all night.

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Playing with Jake DeBrusk and Kiefer Sherwood, the line played aggressive two-way hockey, limiting the Leafs’ efforts to create scoring chances from the inside. They even closed out the game, with Pettersson providing the final block to keep the puck from getting anywhere near the Canucks’ net.

It was a pretty complete performance.

What a pass

In a season that has had so much disappointment in it, one of the things that been so obviously missing for Elias Pettersson has been evidence of his first-class passing talents.

So to see him fire a perfect angled pass to Filip Hronek to open the scoring was excellent.

He looked confident.

And he looked confident again when he nailed the iron later in the opening frame.

But where were the other passes?

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Canucks really took a foot off the gas in the second period. They broke out well more than once but they kept slowing the game down on attack, declining to make aggressive cross-ice pass opportunities several times.

And so they found themselves in a 1-1 tie going into the second intermission, when Morgan Rielly scored late in the period.

It was a game that had no business being 1-1.

Nailing the scouting report

A big factor in the win was how the Canucks looked fully prepared for the Leafs’ game plan from the start. More than once the Canucks’ forecheckers got better angles to the puck on the Leafs’ defencemen, winning the race to the puck.

They made it very hard on the Leafs’ breakout too. Toronto does not play a fast game and so keeping their rushes from getting even started was key.

Further, there’s just no breaking down the Canucks’ defensive posture from behind the net, but time and again the Leafs tried to do that.

Look at this shot map:

Atmosphere

This was yet another game where the Canucks’ folly of not retaining the Larscheiders stands out.

We heard a lot of defensive Go Canucks Go against Go Leafs Go chants … but not much else.

For a game with so much traditional energy to it, too often the atmosphere was underwhelming.

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