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Compared to the embarrassing free pass the San Jose Sharks offered one year ago, the Vancouver Canucks’ victory Saturday night in Silicon Valley wasn’t remotely as convincing. But it was probably more important.
Scuffling this season to re-establish their identity, the Canucks scored twice in the final five minutes and beat the Sharks 3-2, winning it on Pius Suter’s goal with 26 seconds remaining after Mikael Granlund had tied the game at 18:43 as San Jose skated six against five.
Despite needing two winning goals instead of one, the Canucks looked far more engaged and determined than they were Wednesday in Vancouver when the New Jersey Devils humiliated them 6-0. It was one of the Canucks’ best start-to-finish efforts this season and moved them to 5-2-3 through 10 games after a sketchy homestand.
Exactly one year ago, the Canucks ventilated the Sharks 10-1 to improve to 7-2-1 after 10 contests. Sounds similar, right? Just a two-point difference in the standings. Well, yes. But, no.
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The Canucks were humming along at maximum output this time last year. The landslide win in San Jose was in the middle of an 8-0-1 burn, and Vancouver had just beaten the Nashville Predators 5-2. Two games before, they’d pumped the St. Louis Blues 5-0. Two games later, they thumped the Edmonton Oilers 6-2.
This October was far different as the Canucks sputtered and misfired, still winning enough games and loser points to prevent any real crisis. But they haven’t been playing nearly as well or consistently, leaving coach Rick Tocchet to wonder about the lost identity.
Apart from Saturday’s score, the Canucks’ effort alone was a step in the right direction. They outshot San Jose 9-3 in the first period and had their most effective forechecking game of the season, spending many shifts in the Sharks’ zone by getting first to loose pucks and playing through opponents. Shot attempts for the game were 70-49.
Vancouver has now won its last four road games, and should be able to build on Saturday’s win when they visit the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
JAKE SHAKES SNAKE BITE
Ten games into his seven-year, $38.5-million contract, top free-agent acquisition Jake DeBrusk finally scored his first goal for the Canucks, breaking a 1-1 tie at 15:38 of the third period with a superb catch-and-release from the left-wing circle after a fine setup by Quinn Hughes.
It felt like a winning goal and should have been, but the Canucks were way too passive defending with the Sharks’ net open, and defenceman Tyler Myers got his angle wrong in the shooting lane as Granlund had time to pick his spot far side on Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen.
But DeBrusk’s goal should still allow the winger to play with more confidence and freedom. He and linemates J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser dominated at five-on-five (shot attempts were 16-2 for the Canucks). With just four assists and 13 shots on net in his first nine games, DeBrusk scored a few ticks after Boeser hit the post beside goalie Mackenzie Blackwood on a breakaway.
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“It’s hard not to fixate on it,” DeBrusk said of his goal drought. “It’s hard not to focus on it. There’s so many different things and new things that kind of come with being on a new team, and just kind of getting used to everything. I think I’m getting a little more comfortable. But. . . every game that goes by, you just kind of feel it more and more. You always want to get the first one as fast as possible. It took me a lot longer than other guys, but I’m happy to help in a win.”
Remarkably, DeBrusk also scored his first goal last season on Nov. 2 — in Game 9 for the Boston Bruins.
“I actually saw that before the game,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, let’s see if it’s today.’ So it was nice that it worked out that way. Hopefully I can get a couple more earlier next year, so that I know I have an automatic one on the second.”
PIUS OF CAKE
Part of the organizational thinking for the Canucks in July when they signed four, experienced NHL wingers in free agency was that upgrades in the top six would allow Pius Suter, who spent the end of last season on the left side of the top line, to return to his natural centre position in the bottom six.
Through 10 games, a bunch of wingers have been auditioned on the top two lines: DeBrusk, Nils Hoglander, Danton Heinen, Daniel Sprong and Arshdeep Bains. But Suter made a case to stay near the top of the lineup when Tocchet moved him up in the third period to play alongside Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland.
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Suter, who centred the fourth line for most of the game, scored twice on Saturday and his game-winner from Garland’s drop pass capped an impressive burst by the line, which outshot the Sharks 3-0. Shot attempts were 7-1 for Suter, Pettersson and Garland at five-on-five.
Suter’s biggest weapon is his brain, but he showed again Saturday that he possesses enough skill and grit to complement the Canucks’ top players. Alas, with only four centres on the roster, Suter probably will retreat down the lineup on Tuesday.
QUOTEBOOK
Tocchet to reporters in San Jose: “We didn’t crack after they tied the game, so I’ve got to give the guys a lot of credit. I think it was a really good effort. And it’s a good one to win, that game. I thought we did some good things. Our forecheck was probably one of our best forechecks of the year. Too many odd-man rushes still. That’s something we’ve got to really (stress) accountability. That’s my only bone to pick, that we’re losing that F3, diving in too much. Not as much as the game before, but not to the level that we want.”
OH, MAN, AMAN
The placement on waivers Saturday of extra forward Nils Aman tells us a few things.
Firstly, it means Dakota Joshua really is close to returning from cancer, as the Canucks have created room on their 23-player roster for the power winger who underwent surgery in early September and has spent the season so far on injured reserve.
The transaction is also proof in the belief of rookie winger Arshdeep Bains, who could have been re-assigned without waivers but has simply outplayed Aman since training camp began.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that waiving Aman is the correct move because the Canucks have exposed to other NHL teams a smart, fast, 24-year-old centre who can kill penalties and in whom Vancouver has already invested two years of development time.
This early in the season, it would have been easy for the Canucks to protect their asset and wait for injuries or other situations that might arise. But Bains, 23, has dressed for seven of the last eight games and, on Saturday, started in the top six beside Pettersson. Aman was a healthy scratch the previous three games.
Tocchet said Aman needs to play games, even if it’s in the American Hockey League. But there’s now a chance he’ll be doing that for another organization.
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