Rangers Blaze Past Canucks as Brodzinski Nets Two in Thrilling Victory
The Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers met for the first time since J.T. Miller was traded to the Rangers after nearly five seasons with the Canucks. Following an overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues, a high-stakes game in the race to playoffs, Vancouver needed a win. However, despite the team’s efforts, the Rangers came out on top, finishing 5-3 after three periods. Here’s a recap of what went down.
Early in the first period, Kiefer Sherwood made a hit on former Canucks teammate Carson Soucy, marking his 384th hit of the season. This set a new NHL record for most hits from one player in a season. The Canucks dominated the first period in terms of shots on goal, outshooting the Rangers 11-1. The first point of the game and the only goal of the first period came from Dakota Joshua, scoring off of his own rebound. The goal was assisted by Quinn Hughes and Nils Aman, marking the 400th career point for Quinn Hughes. There were no penalties for the first period.
The second period was full of penalties, with Drew O’Connor and Sam Carrick both drawing penalties for roughing their respective teams early in the period. While the Canucks continued to outshoot the Rangers during this period, Adam Fox found the goal to put the Rangers on the board and tie the game. The goal was assisted by Braden Schneider and Brennan Othmann. The period brought several more penalties, including a holding call on Matt Rempe and roughing on Igor Shesterkin. Unfortunately for Vancouver, Elias Pettersson went down the tunnel after a potential injury during a faceoff and did not return for the rest of the game. Despite the loss of the forward, the Canucks maintained a 24-5 shooting advantage by the end of the period, but the score remained 1-1.
The third period was off to a rocky start for the Canucks when it was reported that both Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander would not be returning for the last 20 minutes. Scoring opened less than two minutes in with a goal from Jonny Brodzinski, assisted by former Canuck J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafreniere. The Canucks continued to rack up shots throughout the period, and Drew O’Connor tied the game back up at 2-2 with a goal assisted by Nils Aman and Victor Mancini but was shortly met with a goal from K’Andre Miller assisted by Vincent Trocheck and Adam Fox to return to a Rangers lead. Keeping Canucks fans on the edge of their seats, Brock Boeser put the puck in the net to tie the game up once more, assisted by Jake DeBrusk. Sadly for Vancouver, the Rangers came to life and pulled ahead. Jonny Brodzinski found the net again with an assist from Alexis Lafreniere and Carson Soucy, pulling the Rangers ahead by one, and with 17 seconds left in the game, J.T. Miller scored an empty netter assisted by Adam Fox to win the game for the Rangers.
While the Canucks outshot the Rangers 39-12, they just couldn’t keep up. Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen had just a .636 save percentage, while Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin had a .923 save percentage. This loss was not only disappointing to fans after the upsetting loss to the Blues just days prior but really brings into question if the Canucks have what it takes for the final push to playoffs. With the loss of Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander and not knowing if and when they can return to the ice, Canucks fans are worried about what the rest of the season has in store for the team.
