Welcome to “pray the season finale of White Lotus doesn’t get ruined for me” night, aka the Canucks 77th game of the season. I’m going to do my best to go over the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden tinged Knights without too many sidebars from myself where I openly wonder who Mike White murdered Sunday night.

The latest loss doesn’t mathematically eliminate the Canucks from the playoffs just quite yet, so the Canucks post-season corpse is still twitching on the ground in front of us. I feel like it’s just cadaveric spasms at play here, but the numbers guys tell me that we still have to wait a game or two before we celebrate the end of this season.

The game against Vegas on Sunday night was basically the same play we’ve seen many many times this season, in that the Canucks basically deployed a strategy seemingly built to ensure they don’t lose TOO badly. Despite having some pushback from the depleted Vancouver roster in the first and second periods, they set up shop and parked the bus for the majority of the third period, practically rolling out the red carpet for Vegas to secure the two points.

Which on one hand, you can kind of understand it. Vegas is a top tier team, and the Canucks are out here hoping Teddy Blueger can go on a heater against his former team. It’s not exactly a fair fight in the talent department at this point.

But on the other hand, the season is over, so if you want to take some chances going for some offence, what better time than now, on home ice, where you have provided so little entertainment this season? Crazy P can only bang his drum and scream at you, demanding you cheer on the boys making a successful line change so many times before you question every decision in your life that led you to this moment.

We’re at the point where I don’t even care whose fault it is. Is it Rick Tocchet hockey? Is it the team “getting nervous” again, a group of professional hockey players seemingly reverting to peewee levels of preparation? Is the team going on a full mutiny and pushing back on coaches orders, demanding that NO, they will not attempt offensive hockey, this was a team decision damn it? Is it something as simple as they just aren’t good enough, and everything else is Mike White noise?

I don’t know, and again, I don’t really care too much. It’s clear we won’t have a better picture of what this team is until next season. All we’re doing at this point is running out games and seeing which kids showcase a glimmer of NHL potential so that you can build up your optimism on the future around Aatu Räty having a good night in the faceoff circle or whatever.

It’s something we’ve done many times here in the past, so it’s not new to us. This year’s Victor Mancini is 2018’s Ben Hutton. The names may change, but the result is the same: The Canucks roster is flawed and we have no idea when it’s going to get better.

Your hopes are based on Quinn Hughes continuing to be a generational player. It’s based on Elias Pettersson finding his smile again and hoping the A535 rub can come through on that knee. It’s based on Thatcher Demko patching his body back up. It’s based on the Canucks management having an off-season in which they figure out a game plan.

That being said, the one thing I remember being hammered home during the Benning years is that sure, the Canucks might get some hits on some young players, but there are 31 other teams doing the same thing. Small gains are nice, but it just feels like this team needs to find a way to hit a couple of homeruns on incoming talent, and fast, if they want any shot at success during the Quinn Hughes window.

All I know is I don’t think this market can handle another season of whatever this year was. Not just the off-ice drama but the on-ice entertainment as well. It’s just been such a tedious season. Some due to bad luck, but a lot of it is for sure self-inflicted by the team. I mean, I know the fans will always be here, Canucks Nation is sick in the head that way, but you have to hope there is light at the end of the tunnel somewhere that can prevent a repeat of this.

The important thing to remember, though, is I still don’t know what happened in the season finale of White Lotus. And damn it, that matters. Because I’m at least pretty positive I’ll see more shots fired in that than I did in the third period from Vancouver.

Let’s make some gif money.

Best high stakes

#Canucks playoff odds heading into tonight's game against Vegas pic.twitter.com/fYy95jbekR

— Adam Kierszenblat (@Adamkblat) April 7, 2025

It all depends on how you frame the numbers, you see.

If the Canucks had won, you could have proudly said they doubled their chances of making the playoffs.

But since the Canucks lost, you can dismissively say all it did was hurt their chances by a single percentage.

Best hot starts by hot guys doing hot things

What a shift!! Shots! Big hold at the line. Hoglander bats it in for a 1-0 lead. 🚨🗣️woooooo!! #canucks

— just a guy. 🇨🇦 (@jaycee24_) April 7, 2025

The Canucks, fresh off of their attempted murder of the Anaheim Ducks, which in no way is me once again wondering who might have died on the White Lotus finale, had a good jump out of the gate on this one. Which gate, you ask? No idea. All I know is they jumped it with a real joie de vivre, the kind not seen since Future Shop used to tower over Granville Street.

And leading that charge was the line of Brock Boeser, Nils Höglander and number one centre Pius Suter. The first chance of the game came courtesy of Boeser jumping on a loose puck after a spirited session of forechecking and D&D caused the Vegas Knights to tire in their zone, leading to this scoring chance in the slot:

Brock and Nearly Nils then combined their powers once more when Höglander pressured Jack Eichel at the Canucks blue line, causing a turnover that led to a partial Brock Boeser breakaway:

With the puck still firmly cemented in the Vegas zone like a disagreement with Nicky Santoro gone astray, the Canucks’ top line continued to work away until eventually a rebound in the blue paint led to Höglander scoring the first goal of the game:

A couple of things of note on this goal:

Marcus Pettersson makes a brilliant play to keep the puck in the zone on an attempted Vegas zone exit, making him the best Pettersson of the period.
Nils Höglander has had quite a journey this season, from the lows of being stuck in Tocc Pen, to now looking once more like a top six player for the Canucks next season. He is one of the only players to escape Tocc Pen without being traded, and in the first period alone, he showcased the value he can bring to a team. From playing hard on the puck to finding a way to generate scoring chances to making good defensive reads and, hell, that little sparkle in his eyes when he tries to pull off a dangle, it’s a far cry from the beaten-down player we saw earlier this year.
How far has Nils come this season? Rick Tocchet actually used Höglander as a shining example of what the other guys on the team should aspire to. “A lot of guys can learn from Höggy. You got to move your feet and know that the puck is coming to you before it’s coming. That’s where Höggy’s really improved.”

Best say this but with numbers

Nils Höglander since Jan 1:

– 16 points (all at 5v5) in 33 games

– 59.9% of expected goals (best among VAN forwards)

– #Canucks outscored opponents 21-7 at 5v5 during his shifts

— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) April 7, 2025

Best defensive hockey is more of a guideline than a rule

Sooooo we just not playing defence then? #Canucks

— Rohil Patel (@rohilpatel15) April 7, 2025

Before the Canucks were scored on, they continued that proud hockey tradition of almost making it a two goal lead just seconds before disaster.

In this case, it was Dakota Joshua winning a battle for the puck and making a very skilled spinning pass to Aatu Räty all alone in the slot, who got a shot off that Kiefer Sherwood almost tucked in the rebound on:

Alas, apparently sweeping the leg is allowed if you’re a goalie and not entered into the All Valley Karate tournament, which meant Aidn Hill’s ninja kick was deemed fair play.

On the ensuing counter rush, Ivan Barbashev would make the Canucks pay after Mark Stone unleashed his own skilled pass, even if it was kind of maybe offside:

If you found yourself watching this goal and becoming concerned about the life choices Fil Hronek made on this play, don’t worry, your gut feelings were correct. Like a candle in the wind, so to does the Canucks defensive coverage sway back and forth at random times for reasons nobody is quite aware of. It feels like this season that has happened with a higher regularity than you’d expect, as there have been many instances of Canucks defenders just sort of floating away from their side of the ice in a McBarge-like quest to sink spectacularly and raise a lot of questions.

In this case, Hronek isn’t moving his feet at the Vegas zone entry, and when he does finally kick it into gear, he sort of lunges over to Quinn Hughes’s side of the ice. Which hey, look, we’ve all been there when you don’t trust a co-worker. The boss wants Marty to get that spreadsheet done by 5 pm; we both know that isn’t going to happen unless you step in and help out.

But in this case, Marty is played by Quinn Hughes, and he is the last guy who is going to need your help dealing with anything hockey-related. Taxes? Sure, maybe, he might have some complicated forms to fill out. But hockey? Nah, you’re good fam, just stick to your side of the ice.

The end result is a man named Ivan caused pain and suffering in Vancouver, perhaps none more than Kevin Lankinen, who had to endure that terrifying moment only goalies get to experience, where you’ve completed your save animation only to realize the guy held onto the puck way longer than you thought he could.

Now, was that goal offside, you ask? From the one angle, it sure looks like it could be. But with the skate not having to physically touch the ice of the blue line to be considered onside now (as long as it’s above the line it’s still good), and with the usual “but it only looks that way because of the angle, you see” discourse you always run into on replays of looking at line based challenges, I will submit to the court that it’s probably not as clear cut as our one gif proclaims it to be.

Were the Canucks in a reasonable spot of possibly making the playoffs, maybe you challenge there. As it stands now, I find it hard to get too riled up over the Canucks coaching staff taking a cautious approach on an iffy play.

Best heel kick

That's just one of those "yup, sums up the season" goals right there. #Canucks

— Dave Hall (@davehall1289) April 7, 2025

Nicolas Roy would get the second goal of the night for Vegas when his basic pedestrian vanilla-flavored slap shot would rebound off of Kevin Lankinen and then off of the back of Mancini’s skate, right into the net:

There’s not too much to break down on this goal aside from looking at Kevin and mumbling something about “big rebounds,” to which I assume he would mumble something about “get a real job,” and then things would get real tense in the scrum.

Overall, though, it’s just some bad luck at play. Vitorrio Mancini is doing his best to box out the front of the net, which I applaud him for, and the puck just ends up hot dropping into the net like it’s heading back to Superstore at Verdansk.

The main issue here is that a team like Vegas can generate goals like this. Or they can generate goals out of skill and talent. Vancouver tends to generate such little offence that they don’t really line themselves up for a lot of lucky goals. Lucky to be good and good to be lucky and all that.

All I know is that back in 2011, I saw a Vancouver team do what Vegas did on this night. You float through a couple of periods so you don’t use up too much energy, and then when the third period comes around, you step on the opponent’s throat. I miss those days. That’s what a talented team can do.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to watch the Sedins last goal on home ice again.

Best new branding

CANUCKS TO THE PISSERPLAY #Canucks

— Hawkeytown (@Hawkeytown_) April 7, 2025

The Canucks best chance on this power play? A Quinn Hughes point shot that Boeser got a piece of. Which is essentially how the majority of the power play chances are generated now. Long gone are the days of the one-timer from the Petterzone. No more JT Miller back passes to Quinn. Bumper spot? Nah, forget it fam, that hasn’t happened since Bo left town.

Instead, we get point shots into traffic at 5-on-5 and with the extra man. This is how we live now. This is who we are.

Which is why it isn’t too shocking that a Conor Garland shot from the half-wall led to a counter attack from Vegas that ended with Brett Howden hitting the crossbar after the puck deflected up off Hughes’s stick:

It’s like, the shot into traffic might actually be their best option, as a Conor Garland shot doesn’t inspire fear in anyone, but also that’s a sad state of affairs if that’s what this has come to. You see other teams pulling off goals with nice passes and clean finishes, and then you sit back and get to watch Dererk Forbort launch one into some skates, hoping for a bounce.

One of the better stories for Vancouver, however, has been their penalty kill in the second half of the season. Perhaps they learned from their own offensive struggles on how to use that power for good, or perhaps JT Miller pointing at areas of the ice he wishes other people to defend was overrated, either way the Canucks work while shorthanded has been tremendous and Sunday night was no different. Facing off against a team that has power play conversion numbers being compared to the power house Islanders, Canadiens and Oilers dynasties, going 2 for 2 while shorthanded was nothing short of heroic for the Canucks.

The best chance from Vegas on their end of period power play was a shot from Pavel Dorofeyev, set up by a good pass from Mark Stone:

Lankinen however, said no to that chance, and the Canucks closed out the period without further incident. It was a solid game from Kevin, who stopped 32 shots on 35 shots, a nice outing for a goalie who has struggled in recent weeks. Not to be confused with a goalie who always struggled, Kevin Weekes.

Best RKO outta nowhere

Mancini with a hard run to the net there, gotta like that (a dman, too!).#Canucks

— Dragon Was Slayed (@522IntoOvertime) April 7, 2025

We still have a ways to go before we know what the Canucks have, if anything, in Vittorio Mancini, but you can certainly see the physical tools that intrigued the Canucks. It’s not just his size and physicality, but also his random bursts of offence like here, when he decided to turn into Bobby Orr for a play:

Dude snakes a pass and tries to return it for the pick six out of nowhere.

Again, one play does not an NHL regular make, but just in terms of that “flashes of something” you kind of hunt out from new players this time of year, Mancini has shown a few of them.

Best saving grace

LANKINEN HOLY SHIT 😱 #Canucks

— 𝕏 – Max⚡️Power (@kuzmenkosbanana) April 7, 2025

Vegas was clearly the better team on the night, which is why it was important that Lankinen brought his A-game in this one. And it was hard to argue he wasn’t doing his best to keep his team in it, as he first made a massive trio of stops, ending with a save on Reilly Smith on the goal line:

And finishing with an absolute robbery on Brett Howden off of a rebound:

Do I love that initial rebound? Of course not. But if I grumbled “questionable rebound control,” Kevin would grumble back “questionable use of time playing video games at night,” and we’d be locked into an argument again.

The important thing again is that it was a tremendous save that in no way spoiled White Lotus.

Unless it was a metaphor for failing to land your shot, resulting in horrible repercussions.

Did Chelsea die? Did Rick cause this? Is Howden Rick in this scenario??

Don’t answer that.

Best standing up for what you believe in

If they overturn this I’ll eat my Italian sandals #Canucks

— MDWhite (@White3D64197) April 7, 2025

Put the knife and fork down user who I assume isn’t Mike White tweeting about the Canucks game after murdering people in White Lotus, the Aatu Räty goal stood, despite Vegas challenging for goaltender interference:

This was the last Canucks goal of the night and wouldn’t you know it, it was the result of shooting a puck into traffic and praying things went your way.

In this case, it was a Fil Hronek shot into a layered screen from Dakota Joshua and Aatu Räty that ended with Aatu banging home a puck past a fallen Adin Hill.

And as much as we all know that you can’t get too carried away with glimpses of greatness from your young guys at this time of the year, I will say that it feels like Räty has cemented his spot as the fourth-line centre for this team. His faceoff prowess alone gives him a heads up on any competition, and his play on the ice has noticeably improved this season. His offensive instincts are starting to show themselves in his game, and he has been a reliable player for the Canucks down the stretch.

Best Grant Fuhr award for glove save theatrics

Someone call 911, there was robbery at Roger’s Arena. Hill just ROBBED Suter. #Canucks

— The Line Change (@LineChangeVAN) April 7, 2025

Speaking of the Aatu Räty and speaking of the bumper on the power play, both made a cameo in this next clip, featuring a very slick glove save from the Vegas Knights goaltender:

You make a quick save like that, then yeah, you can put some sauce on your post-save theatrics. Raise that glove to the sky like you windmilled the puck out of space; have at it, my friend.

The Canucks power play ended the night going 0 for 2, but they clearly could have scored on this play. I like the fact that yeah, it involved a shot from the bumper spot, as that is something the Canucks have missed dearly since Horvat left town.

Best glimmers of greatness

Our kids , playing well #Canucks

— Don (@EDDIE_TRECE) April 7, 2025

Speaking of glimmers of hope, here is defensive in nature Elias Pettersson shutting down a 2 on 1 in ways that Quinn Hughes can only dream of:

Just a solid hockey play from a player who has performed admirably in his NHL stint this season. He doesn’t get wild; he doesn’t randomly slam the slip and slide button like 2019 Tyler Myers. Instead, he just shows patience and smarts in breaking up the play.

Then you had Drew O’Connor trying to show why he should be relied on next year by out-working the Vegas Knights and almost generating a goal out of pure willpower alone:

Linus Karlsson, another guy who went from the fast track of the “hey remember that guy who played here for a couple of games?” to “you know what, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of this guy,” makes a nice pass on that play as well. He’s another guy where you heard about their offense shining at the AHL level but didn’t really see it in action until recently.

And while not the young guys, the Canucks first line of Boeser, Suter and Höglander got the last real dangerous scoring chance for the Canucks near the end of the second period:

Once again, it featured Marcus Pettersson making a good play to keep the puck in at the blue line, and this time, he fed Boeser in his house, only to see the shot go just wide.

But despite that nice play from MP3, the official award for best Pettersson of the second period went to D Elias Pettersson for breaking up the 2-on-1.

Best that being said

Aatu Räty has the lowest ice time on the #Canucks in the game at just 6:53 through two periods.

He has a team-high three shots on goal, two hits, and is 5-and-0 in the faceoff circle.

— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) April 7, 2025

“I believe that children are our future. Unless we stop them now.” – Homer Simpson

Best third period of slumber

Jack Eichel RIPS one off the iron.

— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) April 7, 2025

With all the Canucks offensive highlights out of the way, let’s head over to the third period where Jack Eichel hit a post early on:

I assume the team saw this post and retreated into a shell, holding on for dear life, trying to grind out a point or two so they could double their playoff chances to 2%.

Best man on pear action

Need someone to clip Mancini so effortlessly separating Pearson from the puck #Canucks

— Jake (@RimJutherford69) April 7, 2025

Hey, like I said, the physical tools are there:

For a team that has struggled with boxing out the crease and separating guys from the puck, Mancini certainly brings a needed element to the table.

What it will come down to is his ability to think the game at the NHL level.

That and doing a lot of Italian hand gestures anytime he breaks up a play.

Best sitting back

#Canucks hanging on for dear life

— bavel_puree (@rickcochrane_re) April 7, 2025

Nicolas Roy almost scored in the middle of the final frame when the Canucks set up shop and just sort of watched him do this thing?

Kudos to Roy for the hard work on that play, but this was pretty indicative of how the Canucks handled this period. A lot of sitting back. A lot of holding on for dear life. And then a sprint to try and dump the puck in across center ice so they could try and get a nice line change in without icing the puck.

The Canucks did this for the entire period.

It was not pleasant to watch.

Best Pettersson Award

The official winner of the Best Pettersson of the Night award?

Marcus Pettersson won the third period by taking away the shooting lane on this Vegas rush, deflecting a puck into the stands:

Final Tally:

MP3: 2

D Petey: 1

Best parking the bus

Shots are 10-2 for #VegasBorn over #Canucks in third period so far.

— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) April 7, 2025

Speaking of line changes, you would think the Canucks would be better at them, considering they make up around 90% of their third period offense.

Instead, you had moments like this where Vancouver couldn’t get the puck in deep and still went for the line change, leading to Vegas deploying the “speed kills” offensive strategy:

Dorofeyev gets a nice shot on net, and then William Karlsson almost scores on the rebound. Rinse and repeat.

Now, I would grumble about “questionable rebound control” one last time, but then Kevin would grumble about “do you even own an iron?” and we’d once again find ourselves getting riled up.

The important thing was the big push back from the Canucks, in which with the time winding down, and the need for a big moment sitting right in front of them, Jake DeBrusk deployed his soccer skills to keep a puck in the zone, booting it over to Teddy Blueger who then…chose to get the puck on net for a faceoff:

This was also one of their better offensive forays of the night? Seriously, this was one of the few moments where you got to confirm whether or not Adin Hill fell asleep in his own net or not.

This season has been boring, I don’t know if you’re picking up on that.

Best finishing touch

It was a matter of time…VGK owned the #Canucks in the 3rd. Time for a quick answer…

— Curtis Reid (@DonkeyFish44) April 7, 2025

Despite somehow surviving a Teddy Blueger onslaught of offense, Vegas managed to shake their nerves and respond with the final goal of the night after the entire Vancouver Canucks get caught watching William Karlsson going for a spin:

Victor Olofsson is all alone in front of the net after Raty releases him, and with Mancini leaving his spot in front of the net, it ends up being an easy goal for Vegas.

In a perfect world, Raty continues trying to control the stick of Victor, but he just sort of signs off for the night near the end of the play. Which again, wouldn’t have been so horrific if Mancini had guarded the blue paint instead of floating around to the side of the net, trying to add a third guy defending Karlsson, something that was absolutely not needed at all. Again, Quinn Hughes was on the case, my man. Just stay in your lane and do your job. If Cap is there, don’t you dare, or some other kind of rhyme like that.

Just a bad breakdown all around, which again, will happen when all you do is defend all period. If you don’t offer up any pushback of any kind, a good team will just keep hammering the puck down your throat until you finally make a mistake, like Vancouver did here.

And with that, the Canucks chances of making the playoffs have essentially come down to “half the NHL teams were snapped out of existence by Thanos, how quickly can Vancouver get the band back together?” levels of occurring.

My only hope is that the team plays out the season going for a little bit of offence because man alive, we have had enough parking-the-bus hockey to last us a lifetime at this point.

Nobody is going to get mad if you lose 6-2 at this point, I promise you. Nobody is going to renew season tickets because of that “spirited 3-2 loss to the Vegas Knights” versus losing in a blowout. It’s the Dodson Rule at this point. Nobody cares. Just go out and have fun.

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