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Canucks thriving playing Tocchet hockey score another blowout win

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Oct 28 2023, 5:56 am
Canucks thriving playing Tocchet hockey score another blowout win
Simon Fearn/USA TODAY Sports

Vancouver Canucks fans are not used to seeing this.

The Canucks now have five wins in their first seven games after a dominant 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.

Last year, they didn’t register their fifth win until the 17th game of the season.

“Obviously, we all wanted the start,” head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after the game. “I was just worried that guys would get too tight.”

“But, I felt that we’re sticking with the process.”

The Canucks have dominated at home early on, outscoring the opposition 13-1 during their first two home wins.

“You look at the good teams around the league, like, it sucks sometimes going to play in those buildings,” Thatcher Demko told Daily Hive after the game. “They’re going to come out strong every game and that’s what you want to establish here.”

Much like the way the Canucks have started this season with a bang, they also wowed fans at Rogers Arena by smothering the Blues early in this game.

The Canucks outshot a tired St. Louis team, who played the night before, 19-3 in the first period.

Still, they only had one goal from Quinn Hughes to show for it.

The floodgates started to open in the second period, and the Canucks were up 4-0 before the midway mark of the game.

Hughes’ scored again to double the lead early in the second period. It was his first multi-goal game since February, 2020. It’s only the second multi-goal game of his career and the first since his rookie season.

“I feel a lot more dangerous than I have in the past,” Hughes told reporters after the game. “I’ve talked about about last summer but it’s starting to kick in for me right now.”

The Canucks captain feels good, and he certainly isn’t lacking confidence.

“I thought I could have had a couple in Philly and Tampa, but I got the lucky bounce on the one tonight.”

Aside from Hughes playing like one of the best defencemen in hockey, there’s a ton to like about the Canucks right now.

Hughes’ partner, Filip Hronek, has looked phenomenal in the early going.

“I don’t see too much of them, they’re in the offensive zone the whole game,” Demko quipped post-game.

Even though Demko barely faced any shots early on, he had to make some big saves later in the contest, and ended up registering his first shutout of the season.

It was just his fourth career shutout in 172 career NHL games.

“I mean, I don’t think I’ve had too many of those, so it’s nice to get one,” Demko said.

On offence, Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller are continuing to look like one of the best 1-2 punches at centre in the NHL. They combined for five points on the night.

Ilya Mikheyev has scored in back-t0-back games after returning to the lineup from a torn ACL just last week.

Phil Di Giuseppe, one of the best underdog stories among Canuck players this season, also scored for the second straight game.

Seriously, everything is working right now.

Is it too good to be true?

The Canucks will get a stiff test on Saturday night against the New York Rangers, which will be a battle between two of the NHL’s best teams so far this season. Like the Canucks, the Rangers have a 5-2-0 record.

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