Seeking their first win of this nascent campaign, the Vancouver Canucks arrived in South Florida and put up a solid effort against the short-handed but still impressive defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
Thanks to standout performances from Quinn Hughes and game-winning goal scorer J.T. Miller, and the sturdy form of netminder Kevin Lankinen, the Canucks were able to secure a narrow victory, defeating the Panthers 3-2 in overtime.
There was very little that was pretty about Thursday night’s tilt. The Panthers played their brand of stress hockey, albeit with less skill than they typically have in their lineup, and largely imposed their preferred tempo on the contest. Vancouver, however, found their footing in the third period, forced overtime and ultimately found a way to secure their first victory of the year.
Here are three takeaways from an early season win that felt unduly important for this Canucks team to secure.
Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller put the team on their back
Looking for their first win on Thursday night, the Canucks needed an assertive, grab-the-bull-by-the-horn type performance from one of their best players. And it was their captain, Hughes, who stepped up in regulation.
This was a game that Hughes had on a string. In the opening 40 minutes of the contest alone, Hughes had 13 shot attempts, eight shots on goal and scored his first of the season.
Quinn Hughes steps into a slapper to give the Canucks the lead. 👀 pic.twitter.com/AunLgyULAn
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 18, 2024
That goal was a perfect example of the sort of assertive individual performance that Vancouver requires to sprint past its early season stumble out of the gates. When the first shot was blocked, Hughes just hammered the puck again, with this shot finding the back of the net. Simple, skilled, assertive hockey — reminiscent of the form Vancouver showed throughout last season.
Beyond Hughes’ attack-minded approach throughout Thursday night’s game, the club was also incredibly reliant on their Norris Trophy-winning defender to control play at even strength. Though the Panthers’ attack lacked some teeth in the absence of Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, Florida’s pressure game still played and permitted them to control this game for much of the evening. Their edge was especially sharp in minutes when Hughes took a breather.
In Hughes’ 23:18 minutes on Thursday night, for example, Vancouver outshot the Panthers by an 18-to-9 margin at five-on-five. In all other minutes, Vancouver was outshot 18-to-11.
Then in overtime, it was Hughes who regrouped and fed Miller. Miller skated in, caught his check flat-footed and beat Bobrovsky cleanly with a perfect wrist shot. It was Miller from Hughes, as the Canucks called game and secured the two points.
Most career OT goals, #Canucks history
Daniel Sedin 16
J.T. Miller 10
Brendan Morrison 9 pic.twitter.com/hsABbK85HW— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 18, 2024
Narrow margins and the game of millimeters
This was a hard-fought, tightly contested bruiser of a hockey game. It was also a game in which the difference between these two teams could actually be measured, and it arguably came down to a difference of a couple of millimetres.
First off, there was the Teddy Blueger goal on which Vancouver opened the scoring. The goal was scored on a wraparound that Bobrovsky appeared to stop initially. It was only after a lengthy review that it became apparent that the puck had slid fully across the blue line by less than a centimetre or so.
Teddy Blueger’s wraparound baaaaarely crosses the goal line. 1-0 #Canucks pic.twitter.com/vmUC513V1C
— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) October 17, 2024
Later on in the contest, Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues had a very similar play — albeit on his forehand, instead of on his backhand — that Lankinen actually was narrowly able to keep from crossing the line. Again it took a lengthy review to sort it all out.
On nearly an identical play the Canucks were credited with a goal, and the Panthers were not. The difference between the plays was, truthfully, indiscernible without the benefit of multiple angles and slow-motion replay.
If American football is often said to be a “game of inches” on Thursday night in South Florida, the game between the Panthers and the Canucks had even tighter margins than that.
Kevin Lankinen stands tall
The Canucks had some solid moments on Thursday night. Certainly, the opening stages of the third period favoured Vancouver by a wide margin, as the Canucks pushed hard, sensing an opportunity to get their first victory of the season.
For the most part though, the Panthers generated slightly more scoring chances and were the more dangerous-looking team at even strength, even as the absences of Tkachuk and Barkov — and the finishing spark that those forwards provide — were felt.
On the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions, Vancouver required a big performance from their goaltender on Thursday night. For the second time in as many starts, Lankinen was up to the task and then some.
The Canucks goaltender, signed in the middle of training camp, was immense in his second start. He looked calm and composed, avoided puck-handling errors and gave Vancouver every shot to win their first game of the year.
When he was beaten, it required something special — a no-look Anton Lundell wrist shot on the power play, a bad angle shot Jesper Boqvist shot off of a brutal defensive breakdown — and on every shot he had a realistic chance of getting in the way of, Lankinen stopped ably.
With Thatcher Demko still without a timeline to return, Vancouver needs some steadying performances in net from the battery of Lankinen and Artūrs Šilovs. So far, Vancouver’s goaltending has been good enough for the club to win in three of four contests so far, which is a solid rate. Lankinen, however, has verged on the exceptional in the early going. He’s certainly set a high bar and put in the more confidence-inspiring performances of the two depth netminders.
(Photo of J.T. Miller: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
