Hey, I’m back. Yes, I’m just as shocked as you are that I was given a second crack at Stanchies duty. But when the McBarge capsizes and Wyatt’s Bat-Signal goes off, he needs to put on his cape and come to the rescue for the Vancouverites. So, I was happy to help out in any way I could.

The Vancouver Canucks finished off their New York trip tonight against the New York Islanders, with this game having massive playoff implications for both the Eastern and Western Conference standings. Coming into tonight’s game, Vancouver sat fourth in the Wild Card, one point behind the Calgary Flames and five behind the red-hot St. Louis Blues. New York sat just one point out of the playoffs, trailing the Montreal Canadiens by one point.

It won’t be easy, but after the last two games, they’re making me somewhat… b… I don’t want to say the word. But it starts with a B and ends with leave.

Their game against the New Jersey Devils was much like their game against the New York Rangers. They managed to come back in the third period but couldn’t hold onto their lead in those games. But tonight, the Canucks walked into the third period with a lead and didn’t let it go.

But what’s most impressive about these last two wins is how they’ve done it and who has done it. The fact the Canucks have won back-to-back games with a centre core of Pius Suter, Teddy Blueger, Nils Aman and Aatu Räty when points mean everything for the standings is nothing short of impressive. It’s like if the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs lost Jim, Jim and Jim. Nobody would expect Shoresy and the gang to compete in the NOSHO.

Without Elias Pettersson, Nils Höglander and Filip Chytil, the Canucks have scored nine goals. And the only two goals from a top-six forward are from Suter and Conor Garland. Tonight especially, the Canucks got five goals, all coming from depth players.

Teddy Blueger, Aatu Räty, Derek Forbort and Kiefer Sherwood were your goal scorers tonight en route to a 5-2 win over the Islanders. Who had that on their bingo card? Imagine parlaying those four goal scorers together? We could afford to build like 14 new McBarge’s and free Wyatt from his heroic duties.

I can’t believe we’ve gone this long without even mentioning the real saviour of the night (sorry, Wyatt), Thatcher Demko.

It has been an uphill battle for Demko this season with all of his injuries, but coming back right when his team needed him and performing as he has has breathed new hope into the locker room and the fan base. It’s like if Aquilini went to Demko’s hotel room and convinced him to come back to the team to save their season, or the team would fold. As Nat does with Michaels to save the Blueberry Bulldogs.

Can you tell I’m watching Shoresy right now?

The Canucks wasted no time to see if Demko was going to be on his game tonight or not and by golly was he ever. That save to start the game on former Canuck Bo Horvat set the tone for the rest of the game. He wasn’t perfect, allowing two goals on 28 shots, but had he not been been perfect in the first period, we might not be talking about a Canucks win tonight.

Before we get into the GIFs, I thought I should share that this was my 10th game coverage article here on CanucksArmy. Coming into this game, I had a personal record of 0-9. The Canucks lost all nine games I covered them. And damn it, we finally got one in the W column. I finally have something to show for all this work. Maybe now my grandparents will put my picture on their fridge next to my more successful cousins.

Anyways, enough yappin’. Let’s get into the game.

Best free pre-game advice

#Canucks vs Islanders. One team will win. One lose. I’ll tell you that for free!

— jleeKCA (@JleeKCA) March 26, 2025

You know, I just never thought about that. Gotta tip your cap to him for calling it!

Best getting Demko’d

Demko demkoing #Canucks

— SoapVox (@soapvox) March 26, 2025

As we mentioned above, the Canucks wasted no time finding out exactly what type of Demko they were going to get in this matchup. And it just wouldn’t be a Stanchies without an early CG57 sighting:

Myers winds up for a one-time slap shot at the point that misses the net. But the chaos comes when the puck goes through the legs of Ilya Sorokin and straight to the DOC in the slot. His shot was blocked and sprung the Islanders on an odd-man rush the other way.

Marcus Pettersson loses positioning on Horvat, who thinks he just needs to tip the puck on net to beat Demko. But no. Not against the East-West moving Demko, who goes full banana split to kick out his right leg and rob his former captain. Had Horvat given some elevation on the shot, that’s a goal 10 times out of 10. But he kept it low, like me trying to flop-shot a golf ball 20 yards from the green and just sending it onto the next tee box.

It’s embarrassing yelling fore with a 60-degree wedge.

Best definition of insanity

Dump, chase, nothing, demko crazy save

Dump, chase, nothing, demko crazy save

Dump, chase, nothing, demko crazy save

Dump, chase….. this is Canucks hockey #canucks

— kevin (@kevinlambert23) March 27, 2025

I wish I had more clips for you in this first period, but it really was a relatively boring and uneventful opening frame for the Canucks. It felt like the team was just in a never-ending cycle of not being able to clear the zone, finally being able to, and just dumping the puck back in the zone for a change and then defending again. And when they did have an opportunity to attack, they could rarely successfully set up.

The first half of the period was decent. They generated some offensive zone time but didn’t really create any intimidating chances. Linus Karlsson had two shots, and Dakota Joshua and Kiefer Sherwood had one each through the first 10 minutes. However, that was it.

Speaking of Joshua, I felt he had some buzz early in the first period, and looked like the true power forward he is. He was great at using his big frame to box out Islanders defenders along the boards and in front of the net to gain offensive positioning. He’s clearly not producing at the same level as we saw last season, but there’s been so much going on for him and with the team that his linemates are constantly changing. I think we can all wash our hands of this season and expect a more impactful bounce-back next season.

The second half of the period was all New York. Sherwood logged his shot at the 10:16 mark, but then the Islanders dominated. They registered the next seven shots before Brock Boeser broke the streak with 11 seconds remaining in the period.

It was all Demko putting the Canucks in his Dora backpack to carry the team and just praying for one of them to take out the map to find where the offensive zone was. Heck, if you close your ears, you could even hear him start to sing the “I’m the map” song to will his team into giving him a little bit of a break.

I’m sorry in advance for getting that song stuck in your head. But I had to listen to it too, so we suffer together.

Best getting Demko’d x2

Horvat is getting Demko’d 😅 #Canucks

— Max⚡️Power (@kuzmenkosbanana) March 27, 2025

To make it better, here’s Demko robbing Horvat yet again:

But if you could, please just watch Elias Pettersson on this play.

He collects the pass with the amount of space of a $4,000 a month apartment in Yaletown – so like a shoebox in terms of a living space but a lot on the ice – and fires his shot wide. The speed with which he collects takes him behind the net as Noah Dobson takes him and Horvat on another odd-man rush.

I just cannot stop watching Pettersson on this play. HE NEVER LEAVES THE SCREEN. He turns on the after-burners with his long strides to get back up in the play, passing the rest of the Canucks players who were way ahead of him. It’s powers that I can only relate to from when I got in trouble for wearing my Heelys in high school and escaping by Heelying away down a ramp to get out of trouble.

Would it be social acceptable to wear Heely’s as a 28-year-old man? Cause if it is, I know what I’m asking Quads for for Christmas. We can get matching ones with lightning bolts on the side!

Anyway.

We’ve got to appreciate the effort from D-Petey to get back on this play, especially with just Garland back there to defend the 2-on-1 and Forbort nowhere to be found? But it’s yet another Demko East-West save on Horvat, punching out his blocker to keep the game scoreless.

Best morning routine

Demko my word man!! He definitely put his face in a bowl of ice before coming back from injury cause he's locked the fuck in #canucks

— Rutherford's – "Embrace the Hard" 🏒 🥅🏒 (@Jhammy51) March 27, 2025

If only Ashton Hall had posted his morning routine on TikTok sooner, maybe Demko would have come back for the playoffs last year.

Regardless, whatever his pre-game routine has been for the previous two games, keep it up Demmer if you’re going to keep making saves like these:

I’m certainly no expert, but wasn’t it obvious what the Islanders were trying to do here? Anders Lee tried to pass it to Anthony Duclair in the slot once, but Suter got down and blocked it. Don’t you think he would try the pass again when he regains the puck? DeBrusk glides toward him but can’t make a play from behind, and Quinn Hughes just kind of stands there. Luckily, Demko had such a quick reaction time to track the shot and stop this one.

Demko looking around after the save to count how many teammates he has around him not helping him, like AJ Brown does when he scores a touchdown while getting double-teamed.

Last time AJ Brown played Pittsburgh:

🔥 6 catches
🔥 156 yards
🔥 3 TD

📺 Eagles vs. Steelers this Sunday on NFL Game Pass on DAZN pic.twitter.com/QBL8QefQkb

— NFL on DAZN (@NFLonDAZN) December 14, 2024

I can’t help but wonder how this game would have gone had Demko not bailed the Canucks out as often as he did in this first period. If Demko let one or two of these high-danger chances in, would that have deflated the confidence in the team? Luckily, we’ll never know the answer to that question. Just like I’ll never know if my Stanchies jokes land with you.

It’s probably best to not know the answers to some questions.

Thinking of it, outside of the last play, we haven’t really spoken about Quinn Hughes in this period. Quinn Hughes didn’t really Quinn Hughes until late in the first period:

He does his best to shed Hudson Fasching, which, his name kind of sounds like a law firm, doesn’t it?

Hudson & Fasching, turning trials into triumphs.

Husdon & Fasching, the lawyers that listen.

Your legal journey starts here, at Hudson & Fasching.

Anyway, like that annoying Bell Fibre commercial in the Art Gallery, Fasching doesn’t go away.

He somehow manages to keep up with the swift Hughes throughout the zone, resulting in Hughes losing the puck.

Later in the shift, Hughes would show a little fatigue and mishandle the puck in his own zone by sending it too far out of reach. Lee then corrals the puck and gets a weak shot on net for an easy Demko save.

As mentioned, it wasn’t Hughes’s best game to date. But it was nice for him to have a game off of carrying the team and logging 30+ minutes. He still played 24:03, but that’s the second-lowest ice-time he’s seen since returning from injury on March 12. It’s crazy to say that 24 minutes is a “break”, but it really was, all things considered.

Best eyes on the prize

I’m only interested in watching lek rn #Canucks

— MR27 (@matthew68601912) March 27, 2025

After Jonathan Lekkerimäki’s best game in the NHL, I think we all were hoping to see more from him. He scored a “true goal scorer’s goal” to tie the game in the third period and iced the game with his deceptive shootout winner. Rick Tocchet said after the game that he needs to find a way to get him more minutes. Well, he got more minutes, technically, playing 2:07 more. But he wasn’t surrounded by the talent necessary for him to succeed.

The focus for Tocchet and the Canucks is to win games and get into the playoffs. I get that. But don’t you want to see your most talented prospect play a more important role and be put in an opportunity to succeed? As I say from my couch in my man cave to last year’s Jack Adams award winner. Maybe things are different if the Canucks are trailing and they need that offensive spark. But give the people what they want and put him higher in the lineup, damn it!

However, he did have one shot attempt in this game. So I feel obligated to show you:

Lekkerimäki fails to dump the puck in but is able to find the puck along the boards and attacks the middle of the ice. Hmm. I could be wrong, but didn’t Tocchet say he wanted players to attack the middle of the ice more? Well, he does just that and uses his smaller frame to box the defender out before sliding the puck just wide.

All in all, everybody outside of Thatcher Demko had an uninspiring first period.

Best sleeping through your alarm

Thatcher Demko and D-Petey are the only ones who knew they had a hockey game tonight #Canucks

— Dani (@Dani12345D) March 27, 2025

Things get better in the second period, I promise.

Best sure would

You want a #Canucks goal? WE SHERWOOD🏒🥅🚨😏🙌🏼.

— Sarah Laug (@nucksaid) March 27, 2025

Sherwood sure would break the ice in this game:

DeBrusk gets the puck along the wall and chops it back to Filip Hronek at the point. The Islanders give Hughes way too much room for him to step up in a shooting lane. If you watch closely, Sherwood taps his stick on the ice, asking for a Sedin-level slap-pass, which connects perfectly and tips it past Sorokin.

It was a great play from both Hughes and Sherwood, but let’s talk about Räty and his effort on the forecheck.

Räty comes in with speed and lays a hit on Ryan Pulock. The puck squirts out to the left, and Räty wins the race and fires the puck back around behind the net as he braces for a hit on former Abbotsford teammate Marc Gatcomb. Had it not been for Räty’s tenacity on the forecheck, the Islanders probably have a routine zone exit and this goal never happens.

Best season summary

canucks letting in a shorthanded goal with a one goal lead is so accurate of this season

— pen (@_wanted_dead) March 27, 2025

After a Bo Horvat penalty, the Canucks had the opportunity to extend their lead. However, not even an extra man on the ice can save the Canucks from a squandering a lead:

The puck pops out along the wall for Hughes to leak down and grab. With a pressuring Islander, Hughes sends a quick pass to Lekkerimäki, who wasn’t ready for it and perfectly goes onto the stick of JG Pageau. Hughes goes to pressure the puck carrier, hoping that Lekkerimäki can keep up with Casey Cizikas. He can’t catch up in time, leading to the Islanders tying up the game.

After last game, Hughes spoke about Demko’s massive 2-on-1 save in overtime and said, “That save he made in overtime, you know, classic me, playing a 2-on-1 like sh!t, but can’t say enough about Thatch.” I can’t really blame Hughes on this one. He has to skate toward the puck carrier to cut off his angle at a breakaway and needs to trust his teammate to keep up with the other Islander. You get a pass on this 2-on-1 from me, Quinn.

(Not so) Fun fact, this was the Canucks’ sixth 5v4 goal against this season, tied for sixth most in the NHL. An even funner fact (I know it’s not a word, sue me), the Boston Bruins have allowed the most 5v4 goals with a whopping 10. Hopefully that makes you feel a bit better?

Best chaos gonna chaos

Myers again with an another egregious turnback PP turnover.

— Canucks Quest (@CanucksQuest) March 27, 2025

Quite literally seconds after the shorthanded goal, Myers misplayed the puck in the defensive zone, leading to nearly another Islanders chance a man short:

I see what Myers is trying to do. It’s what the Canucks always do shorthanded and pass it back in the zone. But he doesn’t get enough angle on the bank pass to Garland, which makes for an easy retrieval for Kyle Palmieri, who fakes out the diving Garland and rings one off the crossbar.

It honestly felt like Myers was like, “Hey, chaos is my job. Hold my beer,” and worked his magic.

Best anybody but him

canucks how do you get scored on by TONY DEANGELO of all people

— fern 🌿 (@canuckfern) March 27, 2025

There aren’t very many players that every team, no matter the fan base, gets up in arms as much as when Tony DeAngelo scores against you:

After trying his best Quinn Hughes impersonation, trying to walk the line and break Boeser’s ankles, DeAngelo is able to sneak to the slot area after the Pierre Engvall shot and roofs it past Demko to give the Islanders the lead.

I’m not going to joke about politics in here. But if I were, I’d probably say something about DeAngelo’s goal actually being worth 1.25 goals with the 25% tariffs on a Canadian team. So, technically, the Islanders now lead 2.25-1.

But I’m not making that joke.

I’m not.

Best Camry Garland

make a bunch of Toyota Camry references just to spite Wyatt

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) March 26, 2025

For a Stanchies, there really hasn’t been a lot of Corolla Garland talk. Probably because Jeff was onto something. He was more of a Toyota Camry tonight than a Corolla:

The DOC springs Camry, and Hughes catches up with him.

At first glance, I questioned why Camry looked off Hughes here. But slowing it down, he really didn’t have an opportunity to get the puck to Hughes with a diving Alexander Romanov.

What I’m even more confused about is Camry’s decision to attempt a spinning backhand shot.

The shot gets on net, but it kind of looks like Camry panicked and accidentally pressed the circle button and did a spin-o-rama shot on the net.

After leading the Canucks forward group in points for a times in the season, Garland has seemly gone quiet. Now, he’s still producing points, but just by the eye test, it doesn’t look like he’s his dangerous self offensively lately. He did sit out with an injury earlier this month, so he’s probably still dealing with something, but just something I’ve noticed.

I’m sorry for the Camry references. I had to do it for Jeff and for science. Let’s see if Wyatt reads this and gets mad at me. He will go back to Corolla moving forward.

Best we won the trade

HORVAT WHO? THIS IS RATY'S TEAM NOW! #CANUCKS

— 44 (@canuckinsanity) March 27, 2025

Räty was very noticeable on the forecheck in this game. And he was rewarded for it later in the second period:

A Marcus Pettersson point shot causes a scrum out front, where Räty gets a few wacks at it but can’t connect. Sherwood takes the back out to the point and tees Pettersson up for another shot on net, where Räty is able to get a stick on it and tip it past Sorokin for the Canucks second tip-in goal of the game.

What a celebration after the goal, too. It must feel nice to get one on the team that traded you away. Like when you see your ex’s new partner is uglier than you.

Räty finished this game with one goal, three shots, two hits, a plus-2 and went 5/10 in the faceoff dot. Like Lekkerimäki, this could be a nice trial run for Räty to see if he can become a mainstay in the Canucks lineup next year. Perhaps a lesser Pius Suter replacement if he prices himself out of Vancouver?

Best move over Quinn

DEREK FORBORT?!?!?! OFF THE RUSH?!?!?!?!?! #Canucks

— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) March 27, 2025

Trust me; I had to clean my glasses to make sure I was seeing this correctly. But I can confirm, Forbort scored off the rush:

What made Forbort decide to jump in the play? I would understand it more if there were a few seconds left in the period because there’s no threat of the Islanders taking it the other way. But as soon as DeBrusk gets the cross-ice pass from Suter, Forbort bolts into the play. Not expecting him to be there, no Islanders really cover him, and Forbort has a clear lane with speed to receive the DeBrusk pass and wire a wrist shot far side on Sorokin.

That’s now back-to-back games where Forbort has contributed offensively and at critical moments. His saucer pass to Lekkerimäki in the slot tied the game against the Devils, and now he jumps in and scores off the rush tonight.

When Tocchet talks about getting more goals off the rush, I don’t think he was talking about Forbort being one of the contributors. But here we are. I’m not complaining. Spoiler alert: this goal stood as the game-winner.

The Canucks now head into the third period with a lead for only the third time in the last 10 games. This was Forbort’s second goal of his Canucks career, and they wasted the first one against the Dallas Stars.

When you get contributions from a bottom-pairing defenceman, you just cannot afford to waste those goals. I was afraid they would do it again tonight. I was so afraid they were going to waste another Forbort goal that I stood up off my couch when the Canucks came out for the third period and said out loud, “I am so afraid they’re going to waste another Forbort goal.”

But guess what? They didn’t.

Best eye workout

Silovs testing out new contact lenses on the bench #Canucks

— MDWhite (@White3D64197) March 27, 2025

Goalies are funny.

Silovs hasn’t played a game since March 15 against the Chicago Blackhawks. He’s got to do what he can to stay locked in, including these intense eye exercises:

Or, and what I think is more likely, Silovs was chasing that pesky eye-floater you can never seem to catch:

Best jinx

I was just bitching about Blueger. And look what he does. Huge goal early in the third. #Canucks

— Corey (@Coreyoke1) March 27, 2025

Not only did the Canucks not waste a Forbort goal, Blueger actually extended their lead early on in the final frame:

After the 2-on-1 pass attempt gets blocked, Corolla (see, I can adapt) chops the puck away and finds Blueger in the faceoff dot. Honestly, with where Blueger is, you’d expect Sorokin to have that save. But it just wasn’t his night, I guess, after this was his fourth goal against on just 19 shots, and his coach, who is a Hall of Fame goaltender, pulls him.

So, let me get this straight.

Sorokin, who’s considered a top goalie in this league, gets pulled on 19 shots with goals from Kiefer Sherwood, Aatu Räty, Derek Forbort and Teddy Blueger? Now that’s a tough look for a playoff-hopeful team.

Best fook ya

Demko is a legend already what a fookin save #Canucks #VANvsNYI

— Hawkeytown (@Hawkeytown_) March 27, 2025

Demko fooking came to play tonight. While his performance in the third period alone was impressive enough, this might have been the biggest save of his night:

Horvat collects the puck after the dump-in and immediately sends a pass to Duclair in the slot. With good pressure from Linus Karlsson, he isn’t able to get a solid shot off, but he does still get the puck toward the net. Lee manages to out-muscle Marcus Pettersson and gets a quick backhand shot on net right in front of the net, and Demko gets the top of his pad on it to maintain the two-goal lead.

Had this gone in, the Islanders would have been down by one with over 10 minutes remaining, with all the momentum on their side. That’s a scary situation to be in when facing just as desperate of a team, and regulation wins so much more for playoff tiebreakers.

Best Cheap Kief

We have Keifer Sherwood for another year at 1.5mil. Can you say STEAL

— CanucksX16 (@CanucksX16) March 27, 2025

What better way to cap off tonight’s game than with Sherwood’s second three-point game of the season?:

Now, it’s probably so tempting for the DOC to spin and fire the puck at the open cage. But the DOC does what smart DOCs do and plays it safe. He passes it to Suter, who gets by a diving Horvat and finds Sherwood for his second goal and third point of the game.

Was it a perfect game for the Canucks? Absolutely not. But with depth contributions offensively and outstanding goaltending from Demko, the Canucks walked away with the much-needed two points and regulation win.

The Canucks scored five goals, and Hughes only had one assist. He didn’t need to take the game over for the Canucks to win, which is very rare to see this season.

Vancouver is now three points back of the St. Louis Blues with a game in hand. Is it becoming more of a realistic option for the Canucks to pass the Minnesota Wild at this point? They’re five points back with the same amount of games played, but they are an injured team that’s limping into the playoffs.

It’s a one-game at a time mentality the rest of the way for the Canucks. Their next test is Friday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

We’ll be back on Friday.

Sponsored by bet365

Recent articles from Tyson Cole

Breaking News