Game Recap
In the first period, San Jose’s Nico Sturm got a double minor just over a minute into the game, putting the Canucks on the power play. Vancouver capitalized as Brock Boeser scored his seventh goal of the season from the left side off a pass from Elias Pettersson.
On the same power play, Boeser sent the puck from the Canucks blue line that ricocheted off the end boards as J.T. Miller was speeding to collect the puck. Miller was able to get the puck and backhanded it into the net for an early 2-0 lead as the Canucks were a perfect 2-2 for shots on goal.
Quinn Hughes had the secondary assist on both goals and got involved in the scoring action at 8:00 on the clock with a shot from the point.
On their third power play of the period, the Canucks worked the puck around, leading to Andrei Kuzmenko finding Boeser on the right side of the goal who swatted the puck in after it bounced of a San Jose stick.
Vancouver closed out the first period 4-0.
In the second period Carson Soucy cradled a pass from Pettersson and found Ilya Mikheyev waiting on the right-side goal line who made no mistake, giving the Canucks a 5-0 lead. Tocchet said it’s a plus for the team that they are able to slowly work Mikheyev’s minutes up and they’re able to win games while doing so.
“He’s one of the hardest working guys I’ve seen. Eight, nine months that he’s endured to come back, I’ve been managing his minutes because I don’t want to overplay him,” he said.
Andrei Kuzmenko charged the net from the blue line off a pass from Pettersson, showing Kaapo Kahkonen some nifty stickwork and scoring the Canucks sixth goal of the evening. Kahkonen was a bit shaken up after Kuzmenko’s knee made accidental contact with Kahkonen’s body as he glided past the net and Mackenzie Blackwood finished the game in net for San Jose.
Sam Lafferty put it in fourth gear from the neutral zone and went from right to left with the wraparound which bounced off a Sharks’ skate and into the net.
Pius Suter created an odd-man rush for the Canucks with Hughes quarterbacking the play down the ice, finding Suter who perfectly timed the wind-up and scoring his first goal of the season. The Canucks held a commanding 8-0 lead going into the third.
In his 500th NHL game, Anthony Beauvillier scored his first goal of the year. Carson Soucy sent Beauvillier a pass from the blue line, setting him up for the one-timer.
Conor Garland took a shot on goal which deflected off the crossbar and in relentless pursuit of the puck came up with it from behind the net, finding Beauvillier on the left side who whipped it into the net for his second of the night, making it 10-0 for Vancouver.
He said it felt good to get on the scoresheet and come away with the win for his milestone game.
“It was pretty special doing it the way we did, it was pretty cool. A lot goes back to being that little kid and sacrificing and people have helped me get there and I couldn’t be more thankful for them,” Beauvillier said.
