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Canucks score with 25 seconds left to beat Sharks

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Nov 3 2024, 4:38 am
Canucks score with 25 seconds left to beat Sharks
Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

After suffering their worst loss of the Rick Tocchet era, the Vancouver Canucks needed a bounce-back performance.

They certainly didn’t walk all over the San Jose Sharks, like they on this day last year during a 10-1 win.

In this contest. Pius Suter scored his second of the game with 25 seconds left to give the Canucks a narrow 3-2 win over the Sharks.

The game was knotted throughout the third, until Jake DeBrusk scored his first goal as a Canuck with 4:22 remaining.

“Yeah, I was actually shocked, its been too long” DeBrusk said when talking to Hockey Night in Canada’s Scott Oake postgame.

“You obviously wanna get your first one with your new team as fast as possible. It’s ones of those things that just didn’t happen. You try to stay with it, the guys had my back.”

“To do that in a game at that point and give us the lead, it’s kind of what I do.”

However, the Sharks didn’t go away quietly, and Mikael Granlund scored with 1:18 remaining before Suter’s game-winner ended it.

Even after Suter’s go-ahead goal, Sharks forward Fabian Zetterlund had a glorious chance to tie the game yet again, but whiffed on it as the clock bled down to zero.

Suter showcases Canucks deep offence

There aren’t many sports that are as team-orientated as hockey.

It’s a big reason why Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers have yet to win a Stanley Cup. It’s also explains why the Canucks have managed to pick up points in eight of their first 10 games, despite the struggles from players like Elias Pettersson.

Conor Garland has gone from the third liner to being the Canucks’ top player at even-strength. Further down the lineup, Nils Höglander has chipped in with some goals. Kiefer Sherwood and Teddy Blueger have stepped up with timely offence, and seem to have chemistry on a line with Danton Heinen.

Now, it’s Suter’s turn. After scoring twice tonight, he leads all Canucks with four goals in his last six games.

His goal late in the second period was a crucial one for the Canucks, as Höglander fed him with a nice backhand pass after Garland’s disruption in the corner sent the puck sliding into the slot.

If the Canucks want to be considered a Stanley Cup contender, the rest of the offence will have to find another gear. They’re currently averaging three goals per game, which puts them in the bottom-half of the league.

But, the roster building from Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin has raised the floor of this team. There are enough talented players that, odds are, someone will step up offensively. Much like Suter and DeBrusk did tonight.

Unconvincing start for Canucks

Okay, so the Canucks won this game.

But, they did barely beat the Sharks, who are now 3-8-1 with a NHL-worst -18 goal differential.

The Canucks did come out strong, with J.T. Miller’s line and Blueger’s line in particular producing some good shifts.

However, they didn’t get a goal in the first, and then the Sharks started to come on.

San Jose basically played the Canucks even over the final 40 minutes, outshooting Vancouver 20-18. Nico Sturm even opened the scoring for the Sharks after catching Erik Brannstrom, who was playing on his off side, up too high in the defensive zone.

The Canucks season through 10 games can be viewed through two lenses. If you’re an optimist, you’d point out that they have points in eight of their first 10 games. However, they’ve also won only four games in regulation, with three of those coming against bottom feeders (Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and the Sharks).

It’s still early, but the Canucks start to the 2024-25 has been imperfect.

Thankfully, they face another bottom-dweller on Tuesday night, as they take on the Anaheim Ducks.

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