Thatcher Demko stood tall and the Canucks did get a pair of crucial goals, but that was not a convincing win versus San Jose.
Well that’s over. Thank goodness.
What else can you say when a team manages to avoid a 0-0 shutout?
Demko was outstanding when called upon, with a couple standout goalmouth stands against a flurry of Sharks shots. And he almost had a second consecutive shutout.
A win is a win, and the Canucks are 5-1-1 in their last seven, but what ugly hockey.
This game had little going for us most of the night. There was little in the way of action either way.
But in a playoff chase, here we are: the Canucks are doing what they need to do.
Demmer’s delight
The last time the Canucks had back to back shutouts was January 2015: Ryan Miller stoned the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 on Jan. 15, then the next night in Raleigh backstopped Willie Desjardins’ Canucks to a 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
We were so, so close.
Nonetheless, Demko continues to look like his old self.
Ugly hockey
The Canucks want to create opportunities on the inside.
But nothing they did on the power play suggested that — let alone on five on five.
That’s not an inspiring shot chart.
It’s also about the breakouts too, though, and while there have been flickers of improvement there, there was little evidence of it Thursday.
It was the chat, wasn’t it?
It hasn’t been an easy season for Joshua, but he finally scored another goal.
And more importantly, he seems to have cleared some clouds from over his head.
I had a nice little exchange with him in the dressing room on Tuesday morning. It was nothing big, but he had a big smile as we greeted each other.
Maybe, like the rest of his team, that was all he needed: a little emotional sunshine in his life.
Close the space out?
Rather than standing in the crease, should Derek Forbort have rushed at Tyler Toffoli instead?
Toffoli, by the way, now has 20 goals. And that’s more than any Canuck.
Enthralling
This screen shot I took part way through the second really summed the feeling of things at this point:
The Canucks and Sharks really tried to kill the puck in the neutral zone. It’s what the fans want: Neutral zone board battles!
Remember this guy?
What happened to the shot? Seriously?
NEXT GAME
Saturday
4 p.m., Scotiabank Arena, TV: ESPN Pacific, Radio: Sportsnet 650