Golden Knights 3, Canucks 2 (OT): Proving a point with third-period comeback

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Bruce Boudreau was reminded that the post-season points deficit could climb from eight to 10 points Sunday, which is beyond a double-digit dilemma at this critical point of the season.

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“Could be six,” the Vancouver Canucks coach quickly responded before puck drop.

Optimism has never been lacking from the Vancouver Canucks coach, who was counting on his club to make three meetings with the Vegas Golden Knights in a span of nine days meaningful.

Sweeping the series is crucial to leapfrog ahead of Vegas. Anything less could cripple any lingering playoff dreams. Coming back from a two-goal deficit in the third period Sunday to force overtime before falling 3-2 on a Shea Theodore goal showed some backbone.

After all, Tyler Myers shot wide from the slot in the dying seconds of regulation and Bo Horvat was denied to start the extra session.

The Canucks initially responded to the hype and hope by being outshot 7-1 when the Golden Knights opened scoring before seven minutes elapsed Sunday at Rogers Arena. That total grew to 10-1 when it became a two-goal hole, and instead of getting to goalie Robin Lehner, who had missed 12 games with two injuries, they were looking like they would go quietly into the night.

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After all, Jack Eichel won an offensive-zone draw and Alex Pietrangelo moved in from the point to go high stick side on Thatcher Demko. Jonathan Marchessault then followed from the slot with a ripper.

However, JT Miller worked his way into the high slot in the third period and unloaded his career-high 29th goal of the season to make a game of it. It took some time, but it was a result of what Miller had preached in his pre-game address.

“It’s the first time in a couple of weeks that we feel rested,” he said. “We have a chance and anything can happen. Nothing changes for us. We know we have a job to do.”

Horvat then clicked for an unassisted power-play goal to make it 2-2 on a weird sequence. He lost the offensive-zone draw, but the puck hit the stick blade of Alex Martinez and tricked past Lehner.

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Meanwhile, Brock Boeser looked like he would be lost to what appeared to be a second-period wrist injury on a sideboards collision with former Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton.

Boeser was doubled over and favoring his wrist and left the ice for medical evaluation. However, the winger did return for the third period.

Here’s what else we learned as the Canucks fell to 32-29-9 on the season:

IT’S NOT GO FOR BO

The Canucks vastly improved penalty kill — 21-for-24 in the previous 10 games — is a result of using skilled and smart players in pivotal pairings. Horvat with Elias Pettersson has been effective defending with positioning and anticipation to spring away for odd-man rushes.

Horvat had a pair of short-handed chances in the first period that could have shifted momentum.

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First, he broke away on a 2-on-1 with Jason Dickinson with Pettersson serving a double minor for high-sticking. Horvat was open on the wing but Dickinson, who returned after missing 16 games with a lower-body injury, couldn’t shuffle the puck over in time.

Horvat was then sprung again in the same frame on a solo dash but was denied by Lehner.

ANOTHER POOLMAN SETBACK

We’re still not sure how Tucker Poolman developed migraine headaches that sidelined the Canucks defenseman for 26 games.

He returned Sunday in a third-pairing role with Travis Dermott, but didn’t take a second-period shift and then left the bench and did not return. He would play just seven shifts and 4:25 and the Canucks later said he had suffered an upper-body injury.

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On Jan, 27 in Winnipeg, Poolman played nine shifts and 7:54 of ice time in the first period during a 5-1 road triumph. He didn’t return for the second period that night and the play-by-play log showed he didn’t take a hit in the opening period. The Canucks added no clarity about what occurred against the Jets.

Poolman had several setbacks on his road to recovery and Boudreau was hopeful that the free-agent acquisition — four years at US$10 million — could return to added a needed down-low presence.

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