Canucks 4, Blackhawks 1: Just what the doctor ordered

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Two days after the Vancouver Canucks put on an atrocious performance against the Buffalo Sabers, all eyes were on how they would play the Chicago Blackhawks in the penultimate game of this season-opening six-game road trip.

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The Canucks started slowly but grew in their efforts as the game progressed, earning a 4-1 victory over the host Blackhawks.

It wasn’t a perfect game, they gave a lot of quality chances, but against another weak opponent, a loss would have looked terrible.

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Thatcher Demko was strong on the net; a good thing since the Canucks were still struggling to generate a lot of offense near the net.

But they scored goals when they needed them and closed the game well in the final draw to take the victory.

“A good hockey game. Not many mistakes made by our group. I thought we handled the puck well, ”Canucks head coach Travis Green said after the game. “I played a smart game, a difficult game. A tough game when we needed it and, you know, there are always certain things you have to do in the game, there is always a price to pay to win and I thought our team did it tonight. “

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The Canucks scored goals from Jason Dickinson, Tanner Pearson and Brock Boeser, as well as Conor Garland in an empty net, while Chicago’s only count came off Alex DeBrincat’s stick.

This is what we learned …

The measuring stick

“There is an air of intensity. A lot of guys are pissed off, ”Dickinson said of Tuesday’s Buffalo disaster.

So for him, opening the scoring was appropriate, pulling the trigger on a hard-working setup from below by Matt Highmore and Nils Höglander.

It’s an intriguing line, by the way. At first, Highmore and Dickinson have played solid hockey, and Höglander’s two-way prowess suggests he should elevate that line’s ability as well.

Power play dexterity

It’s nothing new: For the Canucks to have a proper playoff chase, their power play must be elite.

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Going into the game, they had a league average of 20 percent. It needs to be better.

Getting more goals like Boeser, who persisted in collecting his own rebound to lift the puck over a sprawling Kevin Lankinen, will get them where they need to be.

It was Boeser’s first goal of the year in his second game since recovering from an injury that he never exactly identified, but acknowledged that it had affected his skating.

“I feel like I’m skating well and I’m not thinking about the injury or anything. So it is always a good sign. I feel like I am up to date and I keep moving forward, ”he said.

“Obviously it’s nice every time you score a goal, but as long as you work hard and play the way we have to play, I always think the opportunities will come. We had some opportunities, Petey, Millsy and I, so we need to make sure we keep working hard and we will have our chances. “

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Stand up and grind

During the first half of the game, the Canucks had failed a shot attempt from closer to the net than head-to-head points. (Even Dickinson’s target was farther than the left spot.)

But Pearson’s goal saw the Canucks finally penetrate the crease area with some success. They never really got a shot from the top of Lankinen, but they did their best, as Pearson struggled to keep a screen in front of the Chicago goalie for about 30 seconds before being in position to throw a point from Quinn Hughes.

“I’m not surprised Pearse (scores like that),” Green said. “We have talked about that. We are a team that has to get to difficult places if we want to win. We have some skill in our group, but you can’t play from the outside in. ”

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Dashing Quinn Hughes

“He’s pretty slick … he creates a lot of room for himself,” Pearson told Sportsnet during the second intermission about Hughes’ offensive creativity.

He made multiple sneaky moves to push the puck onto the ice at other times in the game, showing no ill effects from any “lower body” injury that had kept him out of the game at Buffalo.

It was Hughes’s 100th career point, a reminder in every way of how important he is to this team’s offense. Adding a century of points from 133 games played makes Hughes the fastest defender to do so in Canucks history.

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Sliding doors

DeBrincat was highly rated by Canucks scouts in his 2016 draft year.

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He finished 39th overall against the Blackhawks. The Canucks had the 33rd overall pick that year, but it was traded along with Jared McCann to the Florida Panthers for Erik Gudbranson.

With McCann maturing into a very solid NHL player and DeBrincat a top scorer, you have to think that the Canucks would like to remake that trade.

The PK problem

DeBrincat’s goal came as a result of the Canucks being unable to stop cross passes.

Your penalty system is meant to be passive. That should allow them to remove passes.

But neither Tucker Poolman nor Tyler Myers, two long-range players, were able to prevent Patrick Kane’s pass to DeBrincat, giving Chicago a lead in the first period.

However, in the third period, the Canucks finished off a Chicago power play, preserving the victory.

Coach watch

Chicago has now given up 20 goals in five games. Coach Jeremy Colliton was booed when introduced during his first home game.

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The whole team was booed on Thursday.

How long will Colliton last? And how much pressure should be on GM Stan Bowman, who built this team and is also the subject of a lot of talk relating to allegations of sexual assault by a Blackhawks coach on a former player a decade ago when he was in his first. season as general manager?

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