‘Trust the process’: Top Canucks elevate in wake of injuries for hard-fought win

VANCOUVER — At the end of seven games in six cities over 11 days, with seven players injured and as much downtime as, well, 7-Eleven, the last thing the Vancouver Canucks needed on Sunday night was some overtime. Against Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.

But after losing a two-goal lead for the second time in 27 hours, the Canucks survived the Edmonton Oilers†superstars — probably the best two players on this planet — on the first three-on-three shift and then played keep-away with the puck on the next one until Brock Boeserâ€s purposeful shot was tipped in by Kiefer Sherwood at 1:42 of OT for a 4-3 win Vancouver desperately needed.

On Monday, the Canucks will rest.

Before playing the New York Rangers on Tuesday when J.T. Miller visits Vancouver for the first time since his blockbuster trade across the continent last January.

After all they endured the last 11 days, including the loss of captain Quinn Hughes on Saturday, the Canucks emerged Sunday night from their first National Hockey League torture test with four wins from the seven games and 5-5-0 record for the season.

Itâ€s not what they were hoping for, but better than it might have been under the circumstances.

“Weâ€re battling our asses off in here,†goalie Thatcher Demko said after getting mobbed on the ice by teammates. “I’m really proud of the group today. It’s a hard game against a really good team, and coming off losing three in a row. And to give that effort, you know, it’s really inspiring.

“Obviously we know the injury situation we’re in right now. But I think it’s not something you can dwell on. You start feeling bad for yourself, it’s easy to let even more games slip away.â€

The Canucks fought back to .500 after Hughes, their best player, was added to the injured list following Saturdayâ€s 4-3 home loss to the Montreal Canadiens, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit and won a game Vancouver dominated at even-strength.

Naturally, Hughes†replacement on defence, minor-league callup Victor Mancini, left Sundayâ€s game late in the second period. Coach Adam Foote told reporters after the game that Mancini was being evaluated.

Foote announced Hughes†lower-body injury about three hours before faceoff, calling it “day-to-day,†although the 2024 Norris Trophy winner is not expected to play Tuesday.

Acquired Friday from the Chicago Blackhawks in the wake of injuries last Sunday to centres Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger, Lukas Reichel played his second game of the weekend for Vancouver and looked dangerous, registering two shots amid several scoring chances and going 8-5 on faceoffs.

Boeser, who missed two games last week after he was granted a leave for personal reasons, finished with a goal and two assists on Sunday. Other top Canucks, like Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson and defencemen Marcus Pettersson and Filip Hronek, also elevated their games.

“You just trust the process and, you know, stick to the blue-collar mentality that we’re trying to build,†Sherwood told reporters. “I mean, the games are coming fast here so weâ€ve just got to dig in. Every day is a new day. It would be nice, you know, if we can just keep rolling and get on a nice streak, but it starts with one. Weâ€ve got a big game against New York coming up, so weâ€ve got to buckle in and stay ready.â€

“We had some tough injuries, especially at a premium position (centre), but we fought hard,†Garland said. “You know, most of the season is going to be like this. I know it’s a tough stretch with a lot of travel but, you know, we’re not blessed with a lot of teams surrounding us (geographically). So we’ll travel a lot, and we’ll have stretches like this throughout the year — kind of crazy until February (and the Olympic break). So weâ€ve just got to be taking care of our bodies, be pros, be smart and work at your craft when you can.â€

On the winning shift in OT, the Canucks controlled the puck for nearly a minute after Jake DeBrusk won a battle for it in the defensive zone while Draisaitl and McDavid were buzzing. Without Hughes and Mancini — and after Hronek played the opening shift — Foote deployed three forwards for the winning goal: Sherwood, Boeser and Garland.

“I thought it was a great overtime shift,†Garland said. “Great play by Jake on the wall to get the puck to Petey. Having those guys (McDavid and Draisaitl) out there in the O-zone for an extended period doesn’t really bode well, so it was good to get them off, and then we could attack their second group.â€

Like most teams 10 games into the condensed Olympic season, the Canucks could use some practices. But those roll around about as frequently as full moons these days.

As Demko said, the Canucks†effort on the weekend was outstanding. The team is pulling together its five-on-five game. The special teams still need work, but at least the Canucks tied the Oilers on power-play goals, Petterssonâ€s blistering one-timer that made it 2-0 offsetting Draisaitlâ€s tying goal on the power play with 5:03 remaining in the third period.

“I think the work that we put in in the pre-season is probably going to start becoming second nature for us,†Demko said. “At the end of the day, it was a new coach (and) we have a lot of younger guys. I wouldn’t expect us to be firing on all cylinders the first 10 games of the year.

“But I think we’ve shown some glimpses of it at times, and we’ve played some good games, too. Weâ€ve put together a good 60 minutes a few times now. So I think it’s just going to get smoother as you build those habits, and get that repetition over time.â€

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