The pre-game ceremony inducting Matthias Ohlund into the Canucks Ring of Honour was exactly what it needed to be. Like the man being honoured, it got the job done efficiently, while still making an impact that will be felt for a long time. Somewhere, Alex Tanguay is still wondering what hit him.
You could tell the normally stoic Ohlund was feeling the emotion of the moment, as his eyes got classy with potential tears, but he maintained enough composure to force them back into his tear ducts. Even Alex Edler was overcome with emotion, forming an actual expression with his face as he gave gifts to Ohlund’s wife and daughters.
Ohlund’s friend and former roommate, Trevor Linden, provided the voiceover for the opening video, then one of his ex-coaches, Rick Bowness, presented a silver platter from the Tampa Bay Lightning in recognition of his time in Tampa.
Instead of a painting or some other decoration to go on Ohlund’s wall or in his trophy case, the Canucks donated a play MRI scanner to help kids who might be scared to go through an MRI. This type of therapeutic play has been proven to reduce the need for sedation, so it serves a very practical need. It’s the perfect gift for someone who cared so much about others.
Finally, Victor Hedman and Henrik Sedin, both of whom benefited from Ohlund’s mentorship, came out for the ceremonial faceoff, which Ohlund’s youngest daughter helped adorably conduct. It got really dusty in here before I watched this game.
- It was fitting that Ohlund’s former team put forth such a gritty, hard-fought effort while suffering from some major injuries. But enough about the Lightning.
- Seriously, though, the Canucks played a great game. You could tell that none of the Canucks wanted to let Ohlund down on his big night, but it was particularly true of the Sedins, who played with more urgency than we’ve seen all season. Daniel had a team-high six shots on goal, while both Sedins had the power play humming like DiCaprio and McConaughey in The Wolf of Wall Street. Unlike DiCaprio, the Sedins didn’t score.
- For a moment, it looked like the Canucks had opened the scoring when Loui Eriksson tipped in a Ben Hutton point shot after Jayson Megna threw a great hit to keep the play alive. Regrettably, Megna had gone offside 43 seconds earlier, negating everything that happened afterwards when the Lightning challenged the goal. The upshot is all the players on the ice will have 43 seconds of extra life after they die, allowing them to return to earth for exactly 43 seconds, enough time to relay a (terrifying) message to a loved one, enact revenge for their untimely death or play one round of this incredibly pointless puzzle game.
- It seemed right that Hedman actually opened the scoring on Ohlund night, converting on a backdoor pass from Valtteri “Double Consonants” Filppula. Nikita Tryamkin got the secondary assist after pointlessly chasing Jonathan Drouin behind the net instead of staying out front, then hitting the knob of Ryan Miller’s stick as he tried to get back in position, preventing Miller from making the blocker save. I love the way Miller haplessly threw up his hands after the goal, exasperated and defeated at the same time, like Peter Quill disappointed that no one recognizes the name "Starlord".
- The Canucks tied it up in the second period thanks to Markus Granlund, who pressured Slater “Koekkoek for Koakkoak Pops” Koekkoek on the forecheck, forcing a turnover to Loui Eriksson, who quickly tapped it back to Granlund. While falling to his knees, Granlund found Brandon Sutter with a perfect backhand pass and Sutter drilled it like an overzealous dentist through Andrei Vasilevskiy.
- In the second intermission, Sutter said that Granlund heard him “out of the corner of his ear,” so I guess we’ll have to call him Markus “Square Ears” Granlund from now on.
- Troy Stecher had another strong game, leading the Canucks in corsi and quarterbacking the power play effectively, but it’s a defensive moment I want to point out. At one point J.T. Brown appeared to have a step on Stecher and was about to cut to the net. Most defencemen would have their stick stretched out, trying to cut off the angle and force Brown wide, but that lets the forward know exactly how much room they’ve got and gives them the opportunity to push the stick aside with the inside skate.
- Instead, Stecher kept his stick back and waited until the exact moment Brown started to cut to the net, then reached in and poked the puck away, sending it out of play. It was such an intelligent piece of defending that illustrated why Stecher can be effective defensively at a smaller size.
- The Canucks took the lead before the end of the second with a bit of role reversal: Alex Burrows took the point shot and Luca Sbisa cleaned up the rebound, putting the puck top shelf like the stock boy at a sporting goods store. People have said before that Burrows could be a defenceman; maybe Sbisa should be a forward?
- Favourite moment of the game: Jannik Hansen’s soccer-style slide tackle to keep the puck in the zone after he broke his stick.
- Second favourite moment of the game: John Shorthouse enjoying the alliteration of the Lightning when they had Koekkoek, Kellorn, and Condra on the ice. “Then Tyler Johnson spoils everything by getting the puck momentarily.” Actual quote.
- The Lightning tied things at two after a frustrating shorthanded shift from Sutter and Eriksson, both of whom had a chance to clear the puck down the ice but instead tried to carry it through the neutral zone. Each of them lost the puck, leading to Cory “Traded for Ben Bishop” Conacher getting the puck in a dangerous area. He was given an AHL-like amount of time by Luca Sbisa, so he made like his AHL-self and actually scored.
- Fortunately, the Canucks got a little luck later on, as Ol’ Square Ears attempted to shoot the puck into the zone on the power play, but instead hit Eriksson. The puck deflected directly on Vasilevskiy, surprising everyone, particularly Vasilevskiy, who kicked the puck right back into the slot. Bo Horvat was Johnny Canuck on the spot, picking up the rebound and ripping it upstairs like Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack.
- Alex Burrows capped things off with an empty net goal after Horvat picked off a pass along the wall. As empty net goals go, it was pretty good.
- It’s tempting to look at this strong performance by the Canucks, see Chris Tanev back in the lineup and Erik Gudbranson scratched with a wrist injury, and draw some conclusions. In all honesty, though, Tanev looked rusty. I’d love to see Hutton and Tanev paired together more in the future, but there’s a reason the Canucks were out-shot 7-3 with Tanev on the ice at 5-on-5 and 10-2 with Hutton. Give them some time to develop some chemistry together, though, and we could really have something. Like synthesis or decomposition.
