The Sedins’ impending retirement just got very real.
Somehow it all felt theoretical until Tuesday night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Sure, they had the letter on the Canucks website, a press conference, and a cavalcade of well-wishers and mushy tributes, but it wasn’t until seeing them on the ice, knowing it was one of just three chances left to see them play in the NHL, that reality came crashing in.
They played like it was one of their final three games too. They dangled. They cycled. They passed to themselves off the back of the net and passed to teammates you could have sworn they couldn’t see. For one game, it was like they reversed the hands of time and were playing at their peak again.
They even, true to form, set up a rookie defenceman with his first NHL goal, something that is a bit of a tradition for the Sedins.
And then the present caught up and smacked them in the face with an offside review that took the goal away. I propose that we either go back seven years to 2011 or jump ahead however long it is until they’ve done away with the blue lines and offsides no longer exist. The latter seems more doable, perhaps with cryogenic freezing or traveling near the speed of light, whereas traveling backwards in time is likely impossible.
All I’m saying is that you can have bogus offside reviews that take 15 minutes to resolve if offsides don’t exist in the first place.
I traveled through time at the usual speed as I watched this game.
- This is it for the Sedins. They made it clear in the morning before the game that they wouldn’t be playing in the World Championships. Maybe they’ll play the occasional alumni game, but Thursday and Saturday will be the last chance to see the Sedins play real, competitive hockey. If Tuesday night was any indication, you owe it to yourself to tune in.
- It was something special: the Sedins tried things they haven’t tried all year, likely because they’re low-percentage plays with a high risk of failure. They tried them anyway. One-on-one toe-drags; bank passes off the back of the net; one-handed shots on goal; endless cycling down low. It was all there. It was magical. It was supernatural. It was wizardous.
- Three minutes into the game, the Sedins busted out one of their patented puck possession shifts in the offensive zone. Daniel Sedin entered the zone at exactly 3:00, danced around Shea Theodore, but lost the handle on his scoring chance. No matter: it led to a full minute of near-continuous time in the offensive zone, with the Knights only getting it out briefly. Henrik had the best chance to score on a wraparound and the Rogers Arena crowd gave them a rousing ovation as they left the ice.
- Unfortunately, the Golden Knights opened the scoring not long after that shift, as Alex Edler left Brandon Pirri wide open in the slot. The Canucks have given up a goal in the first five minutes every time they’ve faced the Golden Knights. It’s like Vegas is executing a perfectly-timed Zerg Rush on a complete newbie who just figured out how to build a barracks.
- Though this was absolutely the Sedins’ night, it was two young players who nearly stole the show. Jake Virtanen and Nikolay Goldobin, like the power supplied by Olivia Newton-John, were electrifying. Goldobin’s game-tying goal was gorgeous, as he took Brandon Sutter’s drop pass, then chipped it and ripped it, first beating Cody Eakin then Malcolm Subban.
- Goldobin’s on a three-game point streak and has seven points in his last nine games. It’s hard to know what to make of point production at this time of year, but like “Free cake in the break room,” it’s an encouraging sign.
- The Golden Knights paid tribute to the Sedins by attempting their own versions of “The Shift” throughout the game. At least, it seemed that way with their dominant puck possession for most of the game. The only Canucks with a positive corsi at 5-on-5 were Virtanen, Goldobin, and the Sedins. Everyone else was at or below a 50% share of shot attempts.
- Ashton Sautner and Alex Biega struggled the most out of the three defence pairs, which might put a slight damper on the Sautner hype, if any existed. Sautner definitely has some third-pairing potential, but the Canucks are unfortunately loaded with defenceman with third-pairing potential. It might get hard for him to distinguish himself among that group.
- Of course, Sautner then cranked up the hype machine again when he sent a laser beam into the top corner of the net off a great Sedin setup. Sure, the goal was called back on a marginal offside over 30 seconds prior to the goal, but the shot itself was brilliant, as he spun around in the slot and whipped the puck over Malcolm Subban’s shoulder.
- I hate that Gerard Gallant challenged that goal. Hate it. Not only was it Sautner’s first career NHL goal, but both Sedins would have had assists on it on what was clearly a special night for them. To take that away based on a matter of inches at the blue line was completely unnecessary, particularly in a game that had so little at stake for the Golden Knights, who have already clinched the Pacific Division and were resting several of their stars, including Jonathan Marchessault and David Perron. Just let it go. Let people enjoy things.
- Down 4-1 in the third period, the Canucks mounted a pretty spectacular comeback, although it required some shoddy goaltending by Subban. He couldn’t handle Alex Edler’s point shot and Bo Horvat quickly took it from backhand to forehand to deposit it in the net. The best part of that goal is that Daniel Sedin got a secondary assist. That brings him up to 53 points on the season, just two points behind Brock Boeser. I know Boeser leading the Canucks in scoring in his rookie season is a great story, but wouldn’t it feel right to have a Sedin back at the top one last time?
- If it wasn’t for him getting injured and missing so many games, I would probably vote for Brendan Gaunce as the unsung hero this season. I don’t think people really realize just how extreme his usage has been, starting the vast majority of his shifts in the defensive zone and playing against tough competition, while limiting shots and goals against. The problem is his limited offensive game. Except his spinning pass to set up Brandon Sutter’s 4-3 goal was a sublime piece of playmaking. Is it possible that there’s an untapped well of offensive potential in Gaunce?
- I mean, probably not, but hope is neat.
- I have no idea what Subban was doing on Goldobin’s second goal. Alex Biega’s point shot was off-target, but Goldobin dragged it back towards the goal. Still, it had no chance of going in, except that Subban basically slid into his own net. It looked like a stock goaltender animation in an EA game that triggered at the wrong time, aka. The number one reason I had to buy a new Playstation controller. Turns out they don’t hold up to being chucked across the room multiple times. Manufacturer’s defect, in my opinion.
- The shots at the end of regulation? 33-22 for the Knights. You couldn’t make that up if you tried. It wouldn’t even occur to you to make that up. It’s not the first time something similar to this has happened, of course. As Jyrki21 pointed out on Twitter, Anson Carter had 33 goals and 22 assists in his season with the Sedins.
- Ben Hutton is healthy, evidently fully recovered sitting in favour of Ashton Sautner is a hell of a thing. Or rather, Hutton sitting in favour of Sautner, Alex Biega, Michael Del Zotto, and Derrick Pouliot is a hell of a thing. I strongly feel that a healthy, confident Hutton is in competition with Troy Stecher as the third best defenceman on the Canucks behind Chris Tanev and Alex Edler. Evidently Travis Green does not feel the same way.
- It was great to see the Sedins in the shootout, even if it went exactly how nearly all of their other shootout attempts have gone: they always attempt to make the goaltender get out of the way so they can slide the puck in along the ice. It never works. Daniel is the only one of the twins with a shootout goal and it’s just one in 15 attempts. Still, it felt right to see them get the chance to win the game.
- Henrik actually has the record for the most points without a shootout goal. Here’s the craziest thing about that stat: he’s 2-for-3 on penalty shots in his career. His two penalty shot goals were nice goals too, particularly his last one, where he deked Chris Mason right out of his net. Somehow he could do that, but never score in the shootout.
