After watching two of the most boring periods of hockey I have seen played this season, perhaps I am a bit jaded about the Canucks latest overtime loss. I think we’re very clearly past the point of moral victories, and I am not sure blowing a 2-0 lead over the Utah Club Of Hockey Enthusiasts would ever have been considered one, even in the Jim Benning Years.

Still, for the optimists out there, you can walk away with at least one point for your favourite team. Dakota Joshua had himself a goal-of-the-week highlight reel breakaway. Thatcher Demko was having a very solid game until a couple of weird goals did him in. Tyler Myers remains committed to the chaotic lifestyle, so we’ll always have that.

I don’t know. It just feels like there is a pallor around this team right now, and blowing a lead late like this feels like it’s adding to the pile. Whether real or imagined, the strife surrounding the team has taken on a bit of a life of its own, and it really feels like some consistent hockey from this group would go a long way to quieting some of that noise.

And even if you remove the Jerry Springer aura surrounding the locker room right now, you are still left with a team that is very clearly in need of some additions to the club should they want to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup this season. It’s hard to imagine that Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford are watching the team and saying, “Yes, yes, this is what we envisioned.” as anyone not named Quinn Hughes handles the puck like a grenade on the backend.

I also feel like “At least we’re not Buffalo” isn’t the sexiest war cry to implement? I just feel like this team can aim higher; that’s all I’m saying.

It just feels like something needs to be done to shake up this club because regardless of where you land on the state of the locker room, regardless of what your views are on the make up of the roster, I think we can all agree that this team has been woefully inconsistent this year. They’re playing like a disgruntled teenager right now, angry that you asked them to help put away the dishes one night, screaming that they hate you and never want to see you again, only to turn around and happily watch TV with you the next night as you talk about that time you went camping, and Tyler Myers threw up in the fire pit.

It’s good times until it isn’t, and it’s hard to get a gauge on anything with the team as of late.

So, while all we can do is wait and see what plays out, it’s hard to deny that this team just doesn’t feel like it’s in a great place right now. Again, clearly not Buffalo, don’t let me take that away from you, but the vibe surrounding the team right now just feels off. Maybe it’s the flu. Maybe that pesky altitude was hard to adjust to. Maybe Elias Pettersson left JT Miller on read. Whatever the reason, it feels like this team needs a reset.

All we can do is wait to see what form that comes in.

Let’s hit up some gifs, shall we?

Best it’s GOTI time

Saved by a tv time out. Gives the boys a chance to settle in and regroup. #canucks

— just a guy. (@jaycee24_) December 19, 2024

Utah controlled the flow of the game, mostly due to Vancouver’s vaunted deployment of the Rick Tocchet GOTI system in which you sit back and defend the high-danger spots until Quinn Hughes does something cool on offence.

Which meant a lot of the first period was Vancouver sitting back, trying to keep Utah to the outside while the “Two youts” My Cousin Vinny scene ran through my head. It’s the kind of game that makes you nervous because you wonder how many times they can play with fire before they get burned. And some nights, the team doesn’t work as hard as it should when they use the GOTI system. They don’t rush to block shooting lanes, they don’t try and block shots. But Wednesday night, you could see the effort was there.

A good example of this was when Quinn Hughes got walked but Teddy KGB was there to slide in and block the pass down low:

Again, not the sexiest hockey to watch? Also not the most inspiring? Like if your buddy needed to get pumped up about asking their boss for a raise, I would never show them clips from this game. Showing someone clips of the first two periods of this game would just send them spiralling into an existential crisis and would clearly end with them sleeping on your couch for a month.

The GOTI system can just feel very reactive at times instead of proactive.

Best sauce it or toss it

Another brutal start #canucks

— mark (@VanWykMark) December 19, 2024

The Utah Club of People Who Partake In Iced Sports almost made it 1-0 on a Hail Mary breakout pass from their own end halfway through the first period:

There is going to be a bit of grief on Demko for all three goals, but overall, he had a solid game. And despite the Canucks defending the GOTI at all costs, Utah still managed to get some really good looks at the Canucks net, as shown above.

And yes, the Canucks had one shot through 10 minutes of play.

This game was very boring for the majority of the night; let me be very clear about that. The jersey might say Utah, but it has Arizona DNA running through its blood.

Best boxing day

Just tuned in, 1 shot in 10 minutes against Utah, WE ARE SO BACK! #canucks

— 44 (@canuckinsanity) December 19, 2024

In the first period, the Canucks were very subdued. Very passive. It’s what Moj would call “a flaming pile of **** ***** *** *** **** **** *** ***** **** ****.”

It really was a lot of the Canucks just trying to box out the Utah Club of People Who Enjoy Cold Sports and hoping Thatcher Demko could make the saves:

See, just two teams enjoying the game of hockey in the most tedious way imaginable. Point shots and grinding in the crease, what more could you want?

Best trolling

Shoot the fucking puck Garland #Canucks

— Scarbacon (@scarbacon) December 19, 2024

At one point I could have sworn Conor Garland was trolling us because he did indeed get into a prime position to shoot but then he stopped short like Frank Costanza:

On one hand, Garland doesn’t have an intimidating shot, so I kind of get it. When you commit to the mini-hockey stick, Kyle Wellwood lifestyle, what you make up for in dangles and control, you lose in pure shot power.

So the odds of him over-powering Karel Vejmelka with a clap bomb or wrist shot laser were probably pretty low. Pulling up and going full Hank Sedin, hey, maybe you find an open trailer for a good shot. Unfortunately for Corolla, four Utah Humans Committed To a Hockey Lifestyle players skated back hard on defence and basically out GOTI-d Garland.

So, in terms of optics, of a team struggling to generate even a second shot on net, this was not a play that endeared itself to the fan base.

Best don’t blame Thatcher

Per Natural Stat Trick, the high-danger scoring chances are 6-1 in Utah's favor through the first period.

The score remains 0-0.#UtahHC #Canucks

— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) December 19, 2024

As I said, Thatcher Demko had a pretty, pretty good game, all things considered. The three goals had their issues, but this game could have easily been 3-0 for the Utah Collective of Persons Who Enjoy Skating With Sticks were it not for Thatcher making some timely saves.

One of which was in the form of a Logan Cooley breakaway, set up by old friend Dylan Guenther:

Not a great read defensive read by Vancouver, as two Canucks jumped up to engage in the board battle, and they got burned as a result of it. But hey, Demko was there to bail them out.

And again, it’s not my favourite way to watch hockey, when the Canucks go full “defend the GOTI at all costs” because it does feel like hanging on by a thread at times. If Noah Juulsen doesn’t block this Michael Kesselring shot, the Canuck might have found themselves down a goal as well:

It was an odd blend of the Canucks trying to defend hard, but Utah also finding time and space, but then Utah taking too long to make their shot decisions, which allowed Vancouver’s hustle to get them back into blocking shooting lanes. I don’t know if you could call it good hockey, but it was by definition a game of hockey, we cannot deny that.

The period also ended on a good chance from Mikhail Sergachev, which Demko just got enough of to force the puck wide:

Again, you will notice a distinct lack of highlights from the Vancouver side, and that is because Utah outplayed them. Or, at the very least, controlled the play. Maybe your love of 50 Shades of Grey makes you appreciate the consensual beating the Canucks took in terms of scoring chances after one period. But it felt like an uninspiring period of hockey, especially coming out of their last home win against Colorado.

We just never seem to know what team we’re going to see night to night with Vancouver.

Best signs of life

Looks like the Canucks may be waking up. Maybe. OK maybe one eye is now open. #Canucks

— Josh The Zamboni Guy (@JoshZamboniGuy) December 19, 2024

As with all things good in Vancouver, it usually starts off with Quinn Hughes. And the Canucks finally got a decent shot on Karel Vejmelka when a Quinn Hughes zone entry ended with the puck bouncing onto his stick:

Not exactly how they drew it up, I’m sure, but at least the Canucks showed signs of life in the second period and forced TV viewers to acknowledge that the Utah Collective of Athletic Men Who Wield Sticks do, in fact, employ a goaltender.

Best I can do is a high-danger scoring chance

Someone SCORE already… #Canucks

— Vincent S. (@OffExchangeBuys) December 19, 2024

The next big chance for the Canucks came halfway through the second period when Kiefer Sherwood found Pius Suter on a give-and-go for the semi-breakaway chance:

Matias Maccelli defended Suter exceptionally well on this play and didn’t give Pius a lot of options on the shot, resulting in no shot on net. But again, at least it showed that Karel Vejmelka is a real person and not just a computer-generated name 20 seasons deep into your EA Sports franchise draft.

Best divorce is ugly

The #Canucks move JT Miller up to PP1 instead of Elias Pettersson and he immediately gives up a shorthanded 3-on-1. 😬

— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) December 19, 2024

JT Miller gets custody of the PP1 on Wednesdays, so he found himself in the prime spot while EP40 had to settle for PP2 duty. Again, it could very well be pure strategy behind this move, but I could not think of worse timing for optics than right now in terms of not even letting JT or Elias play together on the powerplay.

Again, it could very well be harmless. There is nothing wrong with trying to give yourself two efficient power play units. It’s just objectively hilarious that this strategy is being deployed right now amongst all this noise.

And as Daniel pointed out, the end result for JT wasn’t great?

I have watched a lot of JT Miller in Vancouver, and you can tell when he’s feeling it versus when he’s not. And against Utah, I didn’t find JT Miller to be as engaged mentally as he can be. Don’t get me wrong, he can still make big plays and be an effective contributor on offence, but you can see it in his defensive side of the game when he’s just not as engaged. Usually, this presents itself in the form of letting up on back checks or casually observing in the defensive zone.

Like against Colorado, we saw him get beat by Cale Makar along the boards, and JT immediately stepped up and threw a hit to cut him off. It was a very good defensive play and you could see he was firing on all cylinders.

In games like Utah, he can be missing that extra step in his game. At times, he’s more willing to use a “let god sort them out” approach, saving his speed bursts for the offensive side of things.

Best cashing in on that PP2

Mr. Langley with the first goal.#Canucks

— Canadian Ski Bum (@ThomasLK007) December 19, 2024

As everyone expected, Danton Heinen got the Canucks on the board with a power play goal:

Utah scouts should have prepared their team because everyone knows Danton is at his most dangerous when he’s trying to take a shot across his body like he’s Brett Favre marching down the field for a first down.

Inexplicably the Canucks found themselves with the lead, despite a lack of offence, but give them credit for cashing in on the power play.

Best turning things around

My God I think Miller just murdered that puck #Canucks

— Jason McCauley (@TheMightyChin1) December 19, 2024

Now, sitting back for a couple of periods used to be the bread and butter of the 2011 team, mostly because they were so good they knew they could be lazy for half a game before turning up the heat and winning the game 6-1. Sorry, Atlanta, that Tobias Enstrom goal was neat and all, but the Ryan Kesler Express is about to take this one over.

And initially, I thought maybe the Canucks had a bit of that strategy in mind, where after getting that first goal, it would loosen them up offensively. It didn’t really play out that way, but at least we got to see JT Miller try and murder a puck right after that goal?

Now I know what you’re thinking: Are JT Miller and the puck having issues? Can they co-exist? And you know what? I don’t know at this point.

Best back to the grind

Oh those posts. Gotta be good to be lucky! #Canucks

— Snowstar444 (@snowstar444) December 19, 2024

Tyler Myers decided to give a sneak peek of the chaos that would come in the third period by making a pinch that resulted in Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson having to figure out defence:

Alex Kerfoot finds Michael Kesselring – whose name just makes me think Phil Kessel opened up a new smart technology doorbell company – after Jake DeBrusk leaves Mikey all alone to double-team Kerfoot. This is one of the things the Canucks tend to do when they’re struggling, where they overload coverage, which leaves players open. It tends to make me yell at my screen “okay what are we even doing here” as I look to my left and right. It feels a lot like someone merging into your lane without looking, it really makes you shake your head and mutter under your breath a lot.

The end result is Elias takes away the pass, but Kesselring almost scores on the shot, ultimately hitting iron.

Best going for broke

Like how that pp was going to end the period. Should continue that energy going into the 3rd. #Canucks

— Connor Lachemann (@lunchboxlach) December 19, 2024

JT Miller can still be an effective player on nights when I don’t think he has it in the defensive end, and I won’t question his efforts in the offensive zone:

Dude is out here diving, trying to bat in rebounds, if for no other reason than to prove to the courts that he deserves full custody of Quinn Hughes and the PP1. I can respect that.

Best Mr. Joshua; I do declare

THOSE SMELLING SALTS WORKED!!! JOSHUA #canucks

— terv (@terv) December 19, 2024

If this were a just world, the game would have ended after this Dakota Joshua goal and the Utah People Who Whack at the Biscuit would have folded their club out of a sign of respect about what a fantastic goal this was:

If you re-watch the play, and as John Shorthouse noted on the broadcast, Dakota set this entire play in motion by delivering a hit in the corner of his own zone, before skating hard down the ice and scoring on the breakaway. It is the very definition of a 200-foot goal.

The skill shown on this goal is also a nice glimpse of the player Vancouver offered the new contract to: that tantalizing blend of power and dangles.

Watching from the other angles, you can see him using a maneuver I assume he learned in Hogwarts as he waves his stick enough to fool Vejmelka into thinking he was going backhand. The end result of whatever spell Joshua cast ended up with Vejmelka sliding helplessly out of his crease as Dakota walked the puck into the net:

We now have two top contenders for active stick of the year. Kiefer Sherwood defending that 2-on-1 a couple of games back, and now Dakota Joshua waving his stick in the air until Vejmelka panicked and hit the save button.

Best embrace the chaos

Reminder that Clayton Keller was taken two picks after Olli Juolevi #Canucks Thank you Bennning.

— Bieska LaLongo (@BieskaLaLongo) December 19, 2024

With the Canucks trying to lock the game down the rest of the way, the Chaos Giraffe showed up out of nowhere and asked if he could borrow $200 and crash at your house for a couple of nights.

The result? Utah got their first goal of the night when Tyler Myers drifted off Clayton Keller for no explainable reason, to try and double-cover Erik Brännström’s check:

I don’t know if Tyler Myers is just a very sporting fisherman who believes in catch and release, but I’m not sure why the play there was “leave one of their best players all alone in front of my goalie.”

Part of me just assumes Rick Tocchet will blame Erik for this, but it was just a really bad play from Myers; it truly was. The Canucks had everything under control until CG57 released Keller and let him skate all alone to set up shop in the blue paint.

Again, it’s just such a reversal of the game against Colorado where it felt like everyone was boxing out their man and guarding the crease with vigor. Then you watch this game, and all of a sudden, the Chaos Giraffe is making a risky double-team play and ignoring the blue paint, and you find yourself just sort of nodding and going, “Okay, I see. Okay, okay. So that just happened.”

Best small gains

Is it just me or is Petey moving his feet a lot more tonight and cruising less? #Canucks

— Tyler’s Neck (@chaosgiraffe57) December 19, 2024

It wasn’t the greatest game for Elias, who seems contractually obligated at this point not to score points when JT Miller is in the lineup. Once again, he found himself off the score sheet.

But, like last game, he still had a couple of plays where he set up a linemate, and it felt like he could have gotten some points.

His puck control on this play almost resulted in a play down low that could have ended up being a goal:

That’s a solid shift from Elias, and his hard work generates a scoring chance out of nothing, which is what you want from your top players.

It’s just, again, that whole “can’t score with JT Miller in the lineup” thing feels like it’s not helping the team out right now?

It just feels like, oh I don’t know, it would be really beneficial if both players could score at the same time.

Best to be fair

The chaos giraffe strikes again🙃🙃#Canucks

— Tony (@DaRealZoachy) December 19, 2024

To be fair, Tyler Myers got nailed with a “cross-checking” penalty, and I put that firmly in quotes because it’s one of those things the refs only call when they feel like giving a team a power play. It’s the kind of cross-check that happens a hundred times in a game, and it doesn’t get called until Tim Peel feels like making a call.

That being said, Tyler Myers cross-checks can be very visual, so it makes it easier to call them on him. His cross-checks can shove a guy across the ice, as giraffes often underestimate their own power.

The end result was a blooper of a shot beating Demko on the power play:

The shot deflects off of Teddy KGB, ending with a knuckleball of a shot on Demko that beats him far side.

Because the puck slowed down and looked like such a biffed shot, it visually looks like Demko was worse on the shot than he actually was. It’s the same thing as baseball players swinging at Tim Wakefield pitches; it just ends up making you look silly most of the time.

And even if Demko stays centred in his net and doesn’t commit so much to the initial shot, that puck is probably finding the back of the net as it really does go in the far corner. That puck was on a mission and it was to make your night less enjoyable.

And you know what? It succeeded.

Best closer look

A closer look at the Tyler Myers cross checking penalty.

🎥: Sportsnet | NHL#Canucks #UtahHC pic.twitter.com/i6GGMxNruD

— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) December 19, 2024

Again, that’s a pretty nothing-burger play to me, but the NHL is gonna NHL, and the Chaos Giraffe is gonna Chaos Giraffe.

Best running on empty

come on garland‼️‼️‼️ #Canucks

— Camila Palavecino (@Camila_P_Alvial) December 19, 2024

The usual reliable Corolla Garland has hit a bit of a bumpy ride as of late, as his offence has dried up as of late (which, to be fair, so has most of the team).

Still, it was just a few weeks ago when it felt like this goal would have been automatic for Corolla:

If Garland had scored there, that would have easily been up for goal of the year for the Canucks. He dives headfirst to knock the puck back to the point, then skates hard to the crease and almost mini-stick scores while sliding on his knees; that’s the kind of fan fiction I would create for Reddit.

“Okay, so picture this; he dives like Superman and gets the puck to the point, then he races to the crease, and, while sliding on his knees, hits a rockstar pose like he’s belting out a solo on his guitar before sliding it past the goalie. I’m pretty sure we can get some song rights from Metallica.”

Alas, Ian Cole — that rat bastard Ian Cole — denied us hearing Ride the Lightning while Garland scored.

You would think a guy who played in a city would respect it enough to let them have this moment. But no, Ian Cole couldn’t do that. Ian Cole had to play good defence and knock the puck away from Garland.

It’s just a really big jerk move from Ian Cole.

Best saving the day

This game decided to become entertaining in the third #Canucks

— Sartaaj Bhullar (@SartaajBhullar) December 19, 2024

Truth be told, the Canucks were a shot away from getting out of this game with no points at all:

A huge save by Demko got this game to overtime in the first place and is also another reason why you should walk away from this result feeling slightly unsettled. It was not a great game for Vancouver, all things considered.

Best overtime magic

Remember when a 3rd period lead was basically a guaranteed win? Those were good days #Canucks

— Ashton Ryder (@AshtonRyder6) December 19, 2024

Despite it being a pretty brutal game to watch, the last few minutes of the game, along with overtime, was absolute madness. If you watch anything from this game, just load up overtime; it’ll be worth it. Even Crazy P couldn’t ruin your viewing of the extra frame.

And the Canucks, they had their chances. JT Miller once again tried his diving shot trick, but was denied:

Demko had to make two big saves, one off a slapshot off the rush, and one on a shot from the slot that just dribbled wide:

Brock found Elias Pettersson for a good look on net, only to be denied:

Demko once again was asked to make a breakaway save after JT Miller took a few minutes to pick up his stick, and Jake DeBrusk loses his pants on the zone entry,

I have discovered that Jake DeBrusk on defence is all vibes. That is my main takeaway from tonight.

But finally, the Utah Jazziest Hockey Club in the World ended it on an odd-man rush with mere seconds left in the game:

That was the first goal where you felt kind of sad watching it go in – a bit of Dan Cloutier on that one. It just feels like fully locked in Demko stops that shot. Again, he was a big reason Vancouver got the point that they did, but that was the goal where you really kind of felt like he might have had it.

It’s also a goal that shows the “live by JT Miller, die by JT Miller” creed of using him in overtime hockey. I feel like when he’s on the ice he’s either winning you the game or is on the ice when the other team scores. He had been on the ice for 55 seconds and there was a spot for him to go for a line change after that pass to Quinn Hughes, but he chose to stay on the ice, and with 25 seconds left, he took the puck and made another charge into the offensive zone.

And hey, maybe if he makes that pass to Garland, we’re all laughing about what a heroic play it was. That’s kind of the thing with Miller, when he goes for it, he can score in a lot of those situations. And it almost worked there.

I just feel like making that kind of pass with 20 seconds left, where if you don’t get the goal, it’s going to Mason Raymond the puck out around the boards and out of your zone, that’s very high risk.

And the Canucks paid for it because Utah ended the game on the counter-rush off that miss.

Again, some people are fine with that trade-off. They’d rather see you go for broke and if you lose, at least you went out on your shield. And after watching a couple of incredibly boring periods of hockey, I can also kind of get behind that. At least it was fun to watch.

It’s just a personal quirk of mine where I really, truly loathe shots/plays that have a high chance of zipping the puck right out of the offensive zone – it drives me absolutely nuts, especially when you’ve got two gassed plays out on the ice in overtime.

Every time I close my eyes I can almost see Jake Virtanen taking a terrible shot from a terrible angle and the puck just going right back the other way into the Canucks zone.

End of the day, Utah walks away with two points, and we’re left to over-critique every shift, as is tradition.

See you tomorrow?

Best solution

miller and pettersson have the opportunity to do the funniest thing possible pic.twitter.com/pHdPwEWEsi

— Vanessa (@bigsportsvan) December 19, 2024

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