Sabres 3, Canucks 2

It was the return of Thatcher Demko to the Vancouver goal crease!

First Period

The building was quiet in the first period, and for good reason. This one was a snoozefest early on.

Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring on the Sabres’ fourth shot of the night, and this was one that Demko wanted back:

1-0 Sabres.

Before the end of the first, the Canucks got their first power play of the game after Tom Willander took a high-stick to the face. If you didn’t watch the game, I want you to watch this play and tell me how you think the officials dished out the penalties. Your hint is that Willander was bleeding.

If you guessed double minor for Jack Quinn, and a minor penalty to Willander for high-sticking, you’d be correct. And no, I won’t blame you if you need to go watch that replay again. What a silly call.

The Canucks did get a power play out of the ordeal though, and Kiefer Sherwood didn’t waste much time to make good on it, scoring his first goal in 11 games:

1-1 with just over 10 seconds to go in the first.

Some takeaways from the first:
-Really liked some of what I saw from Nils Höglander tonight. It’s good to see him getting more comfortable.
-Who is the Canuck you’ve noticed the least lately? For me, it’s Evander Kane.

Second Period

The Canucks started the second period with some great jump in their game, and it was fitting that Max Sasson pulled away and capitalized on a breakaway attempt to give the Canucks their first lead of the night:

2-1 Canucks.

The Canucks busted out the shoddy defensive zone coverage once again, and this time it was Tage Thompson who took advantage of that.

2-2. 

With just over five minutes to go in the period, Filip Hronek took a penalty, giving the Sabres their second power play of the game. Buffalo wasted little time in capitalizing, scoring their third goal of the game on their 12th shot:

3-2 Sabres. 

With 46 seconds left, the Canucks went to the power play once again, and were once again looking for a late goal, having already gone 1-for-1 on the night with Sherwood’s tally late in the first. That didn’t happen, so they entered the third with over a minute of power play time to work with.

Some takeaways from the second:
-Quinn Hughes just makes so many things happen whenever he’s on the ice. I hope amidst all the trade speculation and sad times in Vancouver that people are still allowing themselves to enjoy watching the greatest defenceman in franchise history do magical things.
-Brock Boeser missed a couple defensive assignments tonight, including covering Zach Benson in the bumper while the Canucks were on the PK.
-I noticed Evander Kane more in this period than I did in the first!

Third Period

The third period started with utter chaos, as Thatcher Demko raced out to play a loose puck and rifled his clearing attempt off of Tyson Kozak and scrambled back to his crease. Thankfully, the puck stayed out and the Canucks continued to trail by only one.

Unfortunately, that killed some precious moments off of what was left of their power play.

They didn’t have to wait too long for their next one though, as Nils Höglander drew a slashing penalty with over 13 minutes to play. The Canucks generated some decent looks — there was Brock Boeser’s hard pass thorugh the crease to Jake DeBrusk and Filip Hronek’s point shot that hit the crossbar — but they couldn’t score, moving to 1-for-3 on the night.

That stood as the final.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!