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Third-best regular season in Canucks history comes to a close

Noah Strang
Noah Strang
|
Apr 19 2024, 2:28 am
Third-best regular season in Canucks history comes to a close
Terrence Lee/USA TODAY Sports

The Vancouver Canucks had their moments but ultimately fell short in a 4-2 loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. The game concludes what has been an amazing 2023-24 NHL season for the Pacific Division champions.

The 109 points they finished with is the third-best mark in franchise history, just behind the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.

The Canucks will participate in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and in front of fans for the first time since 2015.

“For our group, we just have to worry about Game 1,” said head coach Rick Tocchet after tonight’s game. “I think when you think big picture, I think that’s when people get nervous.”

The stakes were low in this game as both teams had already clinched their playoff spot. The Canucks sat four regular players for this game including Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Filip Hronek and Ian Cole. The Jets also sat plenty of regular players.

“Obviously missing some big players but I thought we were decent and I think everybody’s looking forward to the playoffs,” said Quinn Hughes after the game.

Elias Lindholm was perhaps the Canucks best player as he finished with a goal and was instrumental in both goals. It was a nice step for the player who recently returned from injury.

The visiting team got the scoring started in this game when a puck banked off Conor Garland into the net. It was the winger’s 20th goal of the season, making this the second time he’s hit that mark.

While Garland’s marker was unassisted, it was Lindholm who caused a turnover in the offensive zone that led to the goal.

The Jets tied the game later in the first period when Sam Lafferty and Carson Soucy had a miscommunication. Highly rated Jets prospect Brad Lambert got his first NHL point in his first NHL game.

The second period mirrored the first with each team adding another goal, although the Jets struck first this time. It was Lindholm who tied the game for the Canucks with a power-play goal after he deflected a Hughes shot from the point.

The Jets added two more goals, including an empty-netter to take this contest.

“It’s obviously not the easiest game to get up for, you’re looking forward to playoffs, you don’t want to get injured, want to take care of yourself,” said captain Hughes.

Thatcher Demko made 22 saves in the loss as he makes his way back from a knee injury. He will be the starter for Game 1 of the playoffs.

“Thatcher is the last guy I’m worried about. He made some massive saves tonight and he’s going to make some big saves throughout the series,” said Hughes.

“He was solid, played well,” said Tocchet about his starting goalie.

No matter the result of the final game, this was a very impressive Canucks season, especially so when you consider the mild expectations they started the year with. Too many players to list put up career-best numbers and the team was fun to watch on a nightly basis, something that hasn’t been true in years.

There were plenty of franchise records broken, many of them by Hughes. His 92 points are the most ever by a defenceman, breaking his own record, and his +38 is a new franchise-best.

The focus is now completely on Sunday for the Canucks when they will start their first-round playoff series against the Nashville Predators.

“The big prize now is playing on Sunday,” said Tocchet after tonight’s game.

“We’re going to be as ready as we possibly can be,” said captain Hughes about the big game.

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