Canucks Close Out Their Season Against the Golden Knights
In the last game of what can only be described as an underwhelming and disappointing season for the Canucks, they were once again unable to come out on top. The Canucks hosted the Vegas Golden Knights for the last game of the regular season before the Golden Knights faced off against the Minnesota Wild in the first round of playoffs. Despite a decent show from Vancouver, the Canucks were unable to find one more win in them to close out their season. Here’s how the Canucks lost their early lead in the game.
The Canucks came out strong at the beginning of the first period as Conor Garland and Nils Hoglander set Pius Suter up for his 25th goal of the season giving Vancouver a one-point lead. Other than Suter’s goal, the first twenty minutes were relatively slow. The Golden Knights had a two-minute power play after Suter was called for hooking against Alex Pietrangelo. However, the Golden Knights could not get past Kevin Lankinen, so the first period ended 1-0 in favor of the Canucks.
The second period opened with an early power play for the Golden Knights after a minor penalty against Jack Eichel called on Conor Garland. However, the Canucks killed the power play once again and the score remained in favor of Vancouver. Unfortunately for the Canucks, Teddy Blueger went down the tunnel after taking a hit and did not return for the rest of the period. With a couple of minutes left in the period, Victor Olofsson tied the game with assists from William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. Despite the efforts from the Canucks, they could not regain their lead in time, and the period ended 1-1.
Starting the final period, the Canucks took out Kevin Lankinen and put Nikita Tolopilo in goal. After gaining some momentum, the Golden Knights took the lead after a wrist shot fired by Pavel Dorofeyev, his 35th goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Victor Olofsson and Ben Hutton. Shortly after the Vegas goal, Brett Howden was called for hooking against Elias Pettersson, sending the Canucks on their first power play of the night. However, the Canucks could not get past the Golden Knights, ending the power play with Vegas still up by one. Almost immediately after coming off the power play, Brett Howden and Ben Hutton set Jack Eichel up for a tip-in goal to extend their lead to 3-1. To punctuate the game for the Golden Knights, Cole Schwindt scored an empty netter, earning him his first NHL goal.
The Golden Knights outshot the Canucks 30-17 by the end of the game as they won 4-1. Even though the Canucks lost this game and their season was nothing short of disappointing, fans still cheered as the game ended. In what was likely his last game, fans cheered for Brock Boeser and honored his time in Vancouver with chants and applause. Additionally, fans recognized the work of the team’s captain, Quinn Hughes as he shined throughout the season despite missing 15 games due to injury. It was a disappointing but apt ending for the Canucks season.
