Canucks grind out gritty win over Ducks during Podkolzin's season debut

The month of March and moral victories have been synonymous for Vancouver Canucks fans in recent years.

Thankfully, those days are gone, although there was one moral victory worth celebrating on Sunday night.

The Canucks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 on the road, and they did so during Vasily Podkolzin’s season debut.

“A 2-1 hockey game, it’s a grindy kind of game,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters postgame. “Most of the guys were like ‘okay, lets just grind it out and win this game.'”

Nils Höglander, who was drafted 30 spots after Podkolzin in the 2019 NHL Draft, opened the scoring early with his 19th goal of the season. The goal was set up after a dazzling display with the puck by Quinn Hughes.

Quinn Hughes doing Quinn Hughes things. ✨ pic.twitter.com/n5LeHdJ8OH

— NHL (@NHL) March 4, 2024

“I thought Hogz was one of our best forwards tonight,” Tocchet said. “He had some jump, had the puck on his stick a lot, and drove their D wide.”

Höglander now has 19 goals on the season, which is a career-high. He’s scored all of them at even strength. Only one Canucks player has ever hit the 20-goal mark without registering a power play tally. That was Gerry O’Flaherty, who did so back in 1975-76.

Alex Killorn tied the game shortly after Höglander’s goal, but Conor Garland’s second-period marker stood up as the winner.

Although the final score wasn’t all that impressive, the Canucks did control the pace of play throughout the night. They outshot the Ducks 14-3 in the first period, and 31-19 overall.

It was a much-needed victory for the Canucks, who had lost six of their last seven games and were on their worst slide of the season.

Podkolzin finally cracks Canucks lineup

Progression isn’t always linear, and that’s certainly the case with Podkolzin.

Two years ago today on March 3, 2022, Podkolzin netted his 10th goal of the season against the New York Islanders. At the time, it was his third goal in five games.

Late in that 2021-22 season, Podkolzin looked like he would never go back to the AHL. He was a reliable 200-foot player as a rookie and was beginning to find his scoring touch.

His progression went sideways after that. He struggled to find his footing in the NHL, and spent the entirety of this season in the AHL, until now.

Against the Ducks, Podkolzin showed flashes of what made him successful as a rookie. He was strong on the puck, had a good defensive zone breakup, and helped drive play on a line with Elias Lindholm and Conor Garland.

“I thought Podz was pretty good,” Tocchet said. “If he can hold onto pucks for us and get on the forecheck, that’s something we’re looking for.”

DeSmith finally gets a win

Casey DeSmith is probably thrilled that this game didn’t go to overtime.

The 32-year-old is tied for 8th in the NHL with five overtime or shootout losses this season. He’s the only goalie with fewer than 25 games played to suffer five extra time losses.

Although the Ducks pressed in the final minute, DeSmith was able to shut the door.

“It’s tough to be a second goalie behind Vezina candidate,” Zadorov said following the win, “but he’s been great for us when he’s been in the game.”

It was DeSmith’s first win in almost two months, as he went 0-3-1 in his last four starts. He hadn’t won a game since helping the Canucks defeat the New York Islanders 5-2 back on January 8.

In his last start, DeSmith allowed eight goals during the Canucks’ 10-7 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

The Canucks need DeSmith to be sharp if they want to keep Thatcher Demko rested entering the playoffs. If the Canucks want to keep Demko below 60 starts, they would need DeSmith to play at least five of the Canucks’ final 19 games.

Demko will likely get the nod in the Canucks’ next game, as they look for revenge against the Los Angeles Kings at the Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.

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