The Go-To Guy: Laffing and Höwling, Kuzmenk(n)o, and a big Canucks win over the Coyotes

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What even was that hockey game?

No, genuinely, that game had a vibe to it unlike anything we’ve seen from the Canucks this season.

If you’re not in the know, the Vancouver Canucks extended their point streak to six games with a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes this past Thursday, which also just so happened to be Pride Night at Rogers Arena. It was a solid defensive effort from the boys in blue and green, and they didn’t have to be particularly sharp to get the win.

The Coyotes resembled a flock of chickens with their heads cut off. They would endlessly chase for the puck, running into anything that moved; yet had no idea what to do with the puck in transition. The Canucks are going to win against these types of teams 9/10 times. Their structure and team defence has been sound, and it was no different on Thursday night.

If you came for in depth analysis on a weird, weird game of hockey, then you came to the right guy.

Laffing to the bank + don’t mess with Nikita Zadorov!

The start of the first period was sluggish, with either side not really giving each other a whole lot of anything. The game would eventually open up after a few solid shifts from the fourth line.

Sam Lafferty and Nils Höglander were buzzing around all night, but Lafferty decided to set off every Coyotes player, as he absolutely labeled Michael Kesselring, leading to Liam O’Brien jumping off the Coyotes’ bench and proceeded to rain down punches on Lafferty.

A player who was unknown in the Vancouver market prior to this game instantly became public enemy number one in just a matter of seconds.

The Canucks went to work on the power play, and although they weren’t able to convert, something was different. Quinn Hughes in particular looked like a man on a mission.

Not too long after the power play, it was the fourth line again with a great shift which saw Lafferty lay another big hit, as he absolutely belted Logan Cooley to the ice as the Canucks were in transition.

And then, it happened. Liam O’Brien and Nikita Zadorov dramatically dropped the gloves and went for a donnybrook at center ice. O’Brien came charging in, but once Big Z got that hand free it was all over. To the delight of the Rogers Arena crowd, Zadorov fed O’Brien his lunch.

The Canucks would score just about a minute later, but because it was off the stick of Brock Boeser, it didn’t count. That’s definitely the standard the league’s officiating has set. Boeser is no longer allowed to score, he just has too many!

In all seriousness, I really don’t understand the call. J.T. Miller was directed into the blue crease, didn’t contact Connor Ingram, and that was enough for the refs to wave the goal off immediately.

Nils Höglander was creating havoc in front once again, redirecting a Filip Hronek blast that was stopped by Ingram. Shortly after, Hronek lobs the puck on a breakout, Höglander chases it down, and draws a tripping penalty.

Finally, the Canucks convert on the power play, and it was Elias Pettersson, the leader of the Höglem Globetrotterssons, who ripped a one-timer right off the faceoff to take the lead.

This fun was short lived, as one of Canucks faithful’s favourite allies in Travis Dermott scored against his former team to even the score at one apiece. For real, I’m happy for Dermott and I hope his success continues. He seemed like a lovely person and, as mentioned, an ally.

But dammit. Not now, Travis!

The Canucks definitely deserved better than a 1-1 score line after the first twenty minutes. They were razor sharp and didn’t give Arizona any runway, but that trend didn’t continue once the second period began.

The Kuzmenk-no show

The second period begun and Tyler Myers decided that he had enough of Zadorov taking all the chaos and took two(!) minor penalties at the start of the period. Fortunately, the Canucks PK was razor sharp… or maybe the Coyotes power play was just bad? Either or, both kills were successful and the game remained tied.

The Canucks struggled to find a rhythm after the two kills. Maybe don’t take two penalties to start a period!

If we wanna talk about not finding a rhythm, look no further than Andrei Kuzmenko. The poor fella has been absolutely going through it, and this was maybe the worst game of his young NHL career.

The analytics were actually pretty good, and if you know me, I lean on those stats like xGF% (expected goals-for percentage). If you were to only look at the numbers, Kuzmenko was perfectly fine, but you also have to factor in the fact that he didn’t play in the third period, with him even being benched during the team’s lone power play chance in the final 20 minutes.

Kuzmenko has completely lost his confidence. The turnovers, bobbled pucks, and lack of production are all there; but he isn’t even doing the game breaking stuff that made him such a joy to watch last season. I can’t think of a single moment over the last handful of games where he did something that made me think, “huh, that was cool.”

It looks like Kuzmenko’s days are numbered here in Vancouver, and with trade rumours swirling and the Canucks’ lack of cap flexibility, he seems to be the current roster player that is most-likely to be dealt, even if his value has been exponentially diminished over the course of this season.

The Canucks slowly but surely found their rhythm again, and that’s in large part due to another power play that looked dangerous, followed by another great play by Höglander, who landed a great reverse hit and threw it in front for Nils Aman.

The power play would get to work again after 5’9″ Michael Carcone tried to fight… 6’5″ Carson Soucy. Gutsy. This one didn’t look nearly as deadly as the others, and Kuzmenko just couldn’t get a bounce. It was seriously a nightmare game from him.

Finally, with mere seconds to spare in the 2nd period, Nils Höglander being the little buzzsaw he is, sets up a chance for Dakota Joshua, who showed great hands in tight to bury his career-high 12th goal of the season. 2-1 Vancouver.

Joshua has been such a good find for this team, and is yet another example of the organization’s razor sharp pro-scouting. On the other hand, MAN was this an impressive 60 minutes from Nils Höglander, and maybe his best performance of the season. I wonder if Tocchet will promote him to the 2nd line with Ilya Mikheyev and Pius Suter, as it seems more than likely that Linus Karlsson will draw into the lineup on Saturday vs Toronto after the game that Andrei Kuzmenko had.

The third period was a whole lot of nothing, although I do want throw a shoutout to Carson Soucy for a really sound game. I’ve been impressed with just the sheer competence he has shown so far in Vancouver. He’s been even better than I expected.

The Canucks dusted off their shoulders, packed their bags, and soundly claimed the victory.

Not a particularly thrilling win, but a win nonetheless.

The Canucks will now prepare for a Saturday night banger vs the Toronto Maple Leafs. Get ready for the 2024 Stanley Cup Final preview, and keep enjoying the wins as they come.

I can’t stress enough just how fun it is to see a winning team in Vancouver again.

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