Postgame: Conor Garland’s 400th career game was one of magic

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Do the Vegas Golden Knights scar you?

In my series covering the seven best teams in the Western Conference, I ranked the Vegas Golden Knights 5th out of 7; saying that they’re the most perplexing team of the bunch. Last night’s game was a prime example of what I’m talking about: They have the finishing talent to pick apart opposing goalie’s, but aren’t strong enough in any one area of the game.

Vancouver, on the other hand, also heavily relies on finishing talent but are so good defensively that they’re still able to out-chance their opposition with relative ease on most nights, which was the formula that won them last night’s match 4-2, along with strong performances from the squad’s top guns. It was also a night chalk-full of milestones and highlights, making for one of the better games of the season, in all honesty.

This was a fun one and I can’t wait to get into it.

Jack Eichel is terrifying

There are very few players in the NHL that actually scare me. It’s a short list, but Jack Eichel is a lock; his illusiveness and fluidity combined with a canon of a wrist shot, defensive acumen, and elite playmaking are enough to do it for me. He kind of has that x-factor ability to singlehandedly take over a game whenever he feels like it, which is exactly what he did at the start of the first period.

Eichel scored two quick goals to get the ball rolling for the Golden Knights; the second one in particular was an absolute gem courtesy of Jonathan Marchessault, who made Tyler Myers and Carson Soucy cross signals and sent a dime of a pass onto the stick of Eichel.

But, luckily, the Canucks still won this game 4-3, so take that, Jack! You don’t scare me anymore.

Just give him the Norris, already + the powerplay comes alive

Quinn Hughes is the only option for this year’s Norris Trophy. I don’t want to hear another very well educated and informed writer talk about Cale Makar’s points-per-game anymore, Hughes has popped in terms of both the underlying numbers and the points themselves, and his impact on the Canucks has been far greater than Makar’s on the Avs, this season.

Hughes was, yet again, the Canucks’ best player last night (solely based off the numbers) and I give him full credit for getting the team’s powerplay back on track; assisting on the goal to get the Canucks on the board and scoring one, himself.

The Orlando-born defenceman now has 88 points through 78 games (17-71-88) and became just the third defenceman in league history to record 200 assists in a three-year span.

Would you like to guess who the other two were?

To understand the caliber of player the Canucks have here, he’s doing stuff that hasn’t been seen in 30-40 years. We are currently watching one of the greatest defenceman the game will probably ever see when it’s all said and done in his prime: He’s torching everything and everyone around him and is consistently the best player on the ice in any given game.

It shouldn’t even be a discussion as to who the best defenceman in hockey is this year; it’s Quinn Hughes and it’s not particularly close.

He did it…

It’s always nice to see a player finally reach his ceiling.

Brock Boeser – after two years of family tragedy, trade rumours, and a clear struggle to focus on hockey – has eclipsed the 40-goal plateau for the first time of his career.

This goal was peak Brock Boeser, creating time and space for himself and firing a wicked wrist shot from distance. Also, shoutout to Elias Pettersson, who was in Logan Thompson’s grill all night and factoring (sometimes indirectly) on the first three Canucks goals.

There is not one player who deserves a career year on this team more than Boeser: Everyone goes through rough stretches in life but this man has faced tragedy after tragedy for several years, now. So, seeing him absolutely come to life and being a key contributor of the Canucks’ best season since 2011 is the best case scenario for everyone involved.

Duke was watching last night’s game with a smile on his face, I’ll say that much. Brock Boeser should be incredibly proud of the season he’s put together; one of the best stories of the NHL season.

J.T. Miller is a 100-point scorer

What a difference a year makes. In yet another incredible turn of events, J.T. Miller has gone from being singled out as a tumor to the Canucks locker room to being the team’s emotional leader and leading scorer.

I won’t lie, I wanted the Canucks to trade him before his 7-year deal kicked in on July 1 of last year, but I can admit when I’m wrong: J.T. Miller is, undeniably, one of the best players in franchise history. His three assists performance in last night’s outing was enough to get him to the 100-point mark for the first time. Even disregarding the points, Miller has shown solid play-driving chops when played alongside of other quality play-drivers, and that was the case last night with his line winning the matchup against Jack Eichel.

Let’s collectively agree that this team wouldn’t be anywhere near where they are now without Miller this season. And now on to more obvious observations…

Conor Garland’s 400th career game

I don’t know if you heard, but last night was Conor Garland’s 400th career game.

The guys in that locker room love each other, don’t they?

With Miller and Joshua rocking those brilliant custom made shirts (courtesy of Miller), Garland fed off the good mojo and put together one of his best games of the campaign: Not only scoring the goal to get the Canucks on the board, but the game winner to boot.

And there were people who wanted this guy TRADED in the summer. Am I ever glad that I didn’t participate in such foolish discussions. It doesn’t matter who he’s put alongside of, Garland is going to drive that line and occasionally find the scoresheet. With 42 points (18-24-42), Garland has put together one of his best seasons whilst producing at a lower clip than in years prior. He’s blossomed into one of the smartest two-way, middle six wingers I’ve ever seen: The way he uses his 5’8″ height to his advantage by patiently tracking defenders and then pouncing the moment they get possession is always fascinating to watch.

Having someone like Garland that can play on all four lines and give you close to the same amount of value no matter what is such an advantage for the Canucks; he’s essentially a scoring winger version of Pius Suter, both are smart defensive players, but Garland has more of a knack for scoring goals in tight and driving play.

I think Garland should remain a Canuck for the rest of his career if he wants to stay, and I think the fanbase is open to that idea, too.

Canucks fans love a guy that will give it their all no matter the circumstance, and that’s Conor Garland’s M.O. You just can’t not love how this guy plays.

Arturs Silovs remains undefeated and the Canucks took this one home 4-3; a resilient effort after allowing two goals in just over eight minutes of play.

The team has shown well whenever they’ve spread the talent out, but the team’s top guys made up the top six in last night’s game, and it was those six players (plus Quinn Hughes) that won them the game. It leaves me with more questions about how they should go about deploying the roster on April 20, but only time will tell.

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