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Canucks lose another defenceman to injury in Colorado

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Nov 23 2023, 6:15 am
Canucks lose another defenceman to injury in Colorado
Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports

Through 20 games this season, the Vancouver Canucks have been both solid and lucky.

On Wednesday night in Colorado, that luck ran dry on a couple of different levels.

The Canucks lost 5-2 to the Colorado Avalanche, despite outshooting the Avs.

This team has managed to score goals at ease this season, and they faced a goaltender in Alexander Georgiev who had a paltry .888 save percentage entering the contest.

However, Georgiev ended up being the difference in the game, especially when the Canucks were at their best in the first period.

Not only did the Canucks luck run out on the scoresheet, but they lost another defenceman just over a week after it was announced that Carson Soucy would miss the next 6-8 weeks.

Mark Friedman left the contest after a scary-looking incident midway through the second period.

Friedman lay motionless on the ice for a few moments before very gingerly getting to his feet. When he finally did get up, it appeared as if his eyebrow was split open, and he had blood on his visor.

Suffice to say, he did not return to the game.

After looking back at the incident, there’s question to whether this was incidental contact, or a dangerous play by Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin.

Based on the way the game was called, it was a bit surprising that Nichushkin wasn’t handed a penalty. His teammate, Josh Manson, was given a five minute major and a game misconduct after cross-checking Brock Boeser in the face earlier in the second period.

While some might argue that the Canucks were fortunate that Manson was tossed for that incident, that was about as far as their luck extended in this contest.

Makar outshines Hughes

Arguably, the two best players in the NHL this season faced off in this contest.

Quinn Hughes entered the night leading the league with 30 points on the season. Cale Makar entered the contest leading the NHL with an average of two points per game in the month of November (nine points in 18 games).

Both players flashed their brilliance tonight, but it was Makar who had the loudest impact.

With the Avalanche leading 3-2 in the third period, Makar poked-checked Miller way up at the blueline in his own zone. By doing so, he sprung himself on a breakaway and made no mistake, scoring on Thatcher Demko to seal the victory for Colorado.

Demko got a piece of it with his glove, and you could tell he was angry after the goal as he slammed his stick against his own post.

Hughes didn’t have that same game breaking impact, but as always, he had his moments. He danced through the Colorado zone at different points of the game, and has a marvelous defensive break-up in his own zone with the game on the line.

Despite the Avs broadcast team calling Hughes “Cale Makar without the flash,” it was still another night where Hughes was one of the best players on the ice.

Hey, being one of the best is better than the Avs broadcast team can say.

Miller and Hoglander continue to produce

Two Canucks continued their impressive stretch against the Avs.

Hoglander, who’s been one of the main reasons why the Canucks have one of the best bottom-six forward groups in the NHL, opened the scoring for the Canucks in this contest.

It was Hoglander’s fourth straight game with a point, which is officially the longest point streak of his career.

He’s also now tied for the team-lead with six even-strength goals. Only Hughes and Ilya Mikheyev have as many even-strength goals as Hoglander.

Miller was the other Canucks’ goal scorer in this contest. He tied the game up midway through the second period.

He’s now on a nine-game point streak, with seven goals and 14 points during that span. Miller did have a 13-game point streak for the Canucks back in 2021-22, which came close to tying the franchise record of 15 straight games with a point. That record is jointly held by Petr Nedved (1991-92) and Todd Bertuzzi (2001-02).

Trevor BeggsTrevor Beggs
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