On a road trip that looked capable of knocking them out, the Vancouver Canucks spent most of the first two games on the ropes.
But the Canucks have shown during their injury crisis that they can take a punch, and Sunday in Tampa they shook the cement from their boots in the third period and stunned the Lightning with a 6-2 victory that gives Vancouver three out of four road points so far.
After just one shot in the first period and seven in the first two, the Canucks overwhelmed the Lightning in the final period with five straight goals, the first three over a span of 100 seconds to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead.
As the Canucks flew across the Everglades post-game for Mondayâ€s finale against the Florida Panthers, the trip suddenly seems capable of rejuvenating a team that needed a boost of something after playing most of the National Hockey Leagueâ€s opening quarter without one-third of their lineup.
Back in the lineup after sitting out Fridayâ€s 4-3 overtime loss in Carolina, where the Canucks were outshot 38-17, Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes had four assists in Tampa to lead his team back to .500 at 9-9-2.
Six times this season the Canucks have fallen a game below .500, but not once have they sunk two games under. That stubborn resolve and resilience have been on full display the last couple of games when the team could have been blown out twice but instead collected a win and an OTL.
And while puck luck and Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen were major factors on Sunday, the Canucks†victory was more substantial than that.
Outshot 13-1 in the first period and outplayed through 40 minutes, the Canucks suddenly sprang off the ropes in the third and took the fight to the Lightning, putting the home team under pressure and attacking the Tampa net.
Kiefer Sherwood tied the game at 4:11 on a power-play redirect from Brock Boeser that caromed in off Tampa defenceman J.J. Moser. Forty-three seconds later, Canuck Linus Karlsson battled to the front of the net to deflect Mackenzie MacEachernâ€s shot past Lightning goalie Jonas Johansson after a turnover by Max Crozier.
And at 5:51, Drew Oâ€Connor made it 4-2 by also getting in front of Johansson to deflect Hughes†shot after Oâ€Connor skated through defenceman Erik Czernak on a keep-in.
With Vancouver trailing 2-0 halfway through the game, we wondered if there was any Canuck who would step up and make a difference. By the end of the third, it felt like most of them had.
Jake DeBrusk, MacEachern and Marcus Pettersson, into an empty net, had the other Vancouver goals.
The Canucks†32nd-ranked penalty killing blanked the Lightning power play on two chances, while Vancouverâ€s man-advantage units went 2-for-3.
BIG WIN ON BOLD CHALLENGE
Even the unpredictable NHL situation room went the Canucks†way at 12:16 of the third period when a goal by Charle-Edouard Dâ€Astous that brought the Lightning within one was taken off the board after Adam Footeâ€s coachâ€s challenge for a high stick that preceded the apparent goal by 30 seconds.
It was the first challenge of the season by the Canucks†new video coach, Ian Beckenstein, and a bold call by Foote since he risked putting the Lightning on the power play with the chance to tie the game. But after a lengthy review, referees Jon McIssac and Peter MacDougall agreed that the puck had been played down with a high stick by Tampaâ€s Jake Guentzel.
It just wouldnâ€t be a Canucks game — win or lose — without another injury. On Sunday, it was key forward Conor Garland who left the game in the second period.
Garland, who appeared to hurt his wrist or arm blocking a shot in Carolina, challenged Darren Raddysh to fight just 1:42 into the game after taking a blow on the back of the head from the Tampa defenceman. The five-foot-10 Garland managed to throw Raddysh to the ice, but as the players got to their feet — and after the linesmen had intervened — the six-foot-one blue-liner landed a heavy punch on the Canuck.Â
After serving his fighting major, his first in 13 months, Garland played only six shifts before leaving the game. The circumstances of Garlandâ€s exit were uncomfortably similar to Oct. 28, when the winger was crushed by New York Ranger Sam Carrickâ€s open-ice hit at Rogers Arena, then played another period before leaving that game. Garland missed the next three games.
Until that first injury, Garland was the Canucks†leading scorer and probably their best player in October.
If Garland is hurt again, and especially if he has a concussion, it may at least simplify the roster decision general manager Patrik Allvin must make after the Canucks†signed checking centre and penalty-killer David Kampf to a one-year, free-agent contract on Saturday following the termination of his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 30-year-old with 536 games of NHL experience has joined the Canucks in Florida, but the team must move someone off their 23-player roster for Kampf to be activated for Mondayâ€s game.
With centres Filip Chytil (concussion) and Teddy Blueger (undisclosed) both out indefinitely and recent pickup Lukas Reichel doing almost nothing for the Canucks, adding Kampf feels like a blockbuster acquisition rather than a low-risk, budget signing of a bottom-of-the-lineup player the struggling Maple Leafs decided to dump.
“For us to upgrade our centre ice with a more experienced guy, very detailed defensively and a penalty killer, we were very pleased that David chose to come to Vancouver,†Allvin told reporters in a Zoom call Sunday morning. “We felt that he will upgrade our lineup.
“David has been a very reliable player in the league. I’m sure he wants to prove to everybody that he belongs in the league, and heâ€s still 30 years old, so my hope is that this is something that could be a potential long-term fit for us, for both sides.â€
Kampf averaged 14:15 of ice time and had a 51.7 faceoff win rate the last four years in Toronto, while contributing 31 goals and 54 assists in 301 games.
He should definitely help Vancouverâ€s dreadful penalty killing, but expectations about any offence he will contribute must be tempered.Â
His signing, however, could lead to improvements by a couple of other Canucks.
With Blueger and Chytil out, top centre Elias Pettersson has been starting more shifts in the defensive zone (39.6 per cent) than the offensive zone (29.3) for the first time in his career. Kampf will take on some of that defensive burden, which should allow Pettersson to focus more energy on creating offence. Kampf should also win more faceoffs than Pettersson, who went 15-12 in Tampa but is 48.1 per cent for the season in all situations while taking the most draws (435) in the NHL.
The other way Kampf could help, depending on how the Canucks configure their roster and whether theyâ€re willing to waive a player to the minors, is by allowing Reichel to switch back to the wing from centre, where he has trended towards invisible since his trade from the Chicago Blackhawks three weeks ago.
Reichel has one assist in 12 games and, almost incomprehensibly, zero shots on goal in the last five. Reichelâ€s ice time of 10:50 in Tampa was lower than that of anyone who wasnâ€t injured. He has also lost 60 per cent of his faceoffs.
“Lucas is still very young, and a very highly skilled, talented player,†Allvin said. “I don’t know if it’s really fair to judge him here after the 11 games at centre ice when he didn’t play much centre in the National Hockey League. I think it’s up to us and the staff here to continue to work with him. Obviously, what he brings with the speed and the skill set, being a hybrid guy that can play both wing and in the middle … I think there’s definitely tools there.â€
Allvin told reporters that Chytil is back on skates and has been recovering in Vancouver since getting concussed by Tom Wilsonâ€s blindside hit in Washington on Oct. 19. But Blueger, who was injured the same game and was initially considered out just day-to-day, was unable to accompany the Canucks on their three-game trip and may still not practise with the team on Wednesday after its return to Vancouver.
Mackenzie MacEachern: “We didn’t like how we really played in Carolina, and we didn’t have a great start to the game today. And the older guys and Footy kind of gave us a message after the first that it’s time to step up and see who we really are. And I think we kind of answered the bell there, which is good to see.â€
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