Jeff Misenti
The Vancouver Canucks lost 4-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights at the T-Mobile Arena on Monday night, spoiling what was Evander Kane’s 1,000th NHL game.
They wasted a second lead before the third period was even half over. With Shea Theodore and Reilly Smith scoring 1:17 apart late in the second. Cole Smith added an empty-netter to round out the scoring.
According to NHL.com, this was John Tortorella’s debut behind the Vegas bench after Bruce Cassidy was fired on Sunday, and the Golden Knights badly needed something to change.
Vegas had lost three straight and six of seven coming in, yet still found enough life to rally after trailing 1-0 and 2-1.
The report on ESPN noted the win kept the Golden Knights in third place in the Pacific, just one point behind Edmonton.
The Canucks had some bite
I’ve seen enough Canucks’ losses this season to know that this one was a little different. This one had more bite. The team played with more edge and urgency than it has shown in most games since the Olympic break, even if the result looked familiar by the end. The effort was definitely better.
At 12:19 of the first period, Kane gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead on a clean backhand finish after Jake DeBrusk sent him in on a 2-on-1. It was a nice moment.
After Vegas tied it on Rasmus Andersson’s goal at 7:48 of the second, Brock Boeser answered on the power play at 12:17 by deflecting Filip Hronek’s point shot past Adin Hill.
For a while, it looked like the Canucks might carry that one through the period. They didn’t.
Then came the stretch that changed everything. Theodore tied it 2-2 at 17:17 after Ivan Barbashev won a race to the puck and found him alone in the slot, and Reilly Smith put Vegas ahead at 18:34 on a one-timer from the right circle.
The Golden Knights raised their game after the opening period, and the shot-attempt gap told the story better than the scoreboard did for long stretches, 67-33 in Vegas’ favor. Kevin Lankinen had to be sharp just to keep the Canucks close.
Lessons learned
Adam Foote said afterward that Vancouver did not back down, and Sportsnet quoted him saying the Canucks matched Vegas’ hardness and competed all night.
Sportsnet also pointed to the growing pains on the blue line, and one example was hard to miss when Elias Pettersson Jr. misplayed the two-on-one that led to Theodore’s goal. Young defenders learn by getting burned sometimes but it still hurts to watch it happening in real time.
The Canucks pushed in the third, but not enough got through. Hill finished with 22 saves, Cole Smith hit the empty net at 18:50, and Vancouver dropped its sixth straight game.
The stat that stands out is that Lankinen made 30 saves. He gave the Canucks a chance, far longer than the skaters in front of him deserved.
