Canucks Roll Over Blackhawks with Balanced Attack in 6-2 Victory

The Vancouver Canucks had all four lines rolling as they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 at Rogers Arena.

Half a dozen players had multi-point nights, and 11 players tallied at least one point.

Head Coach Rick Tocchet said he liked that every line contributed and spreading the minutes out helps the team, especially in a back-to-back when the Canucks will play again in less than 24 hours.

"Every game, you’ve got to treat it like a playoff game. They're [Utah] a team that did a practice today, and they’re a rush team. They're really good off the rush, I know it's a quick turnover, but we’ve got to really dial in on how we're going to defend that rush, because if we can defend the rush, we'll be okay,” Tocchet said.

Hughes broke the ice on the scoreboard. He said it was good to get the win and was happy to see his teammates get rewarded on the scoresheet for their hard work.

“Those guys really have done a great job for us all year long and I'm glad that they got rewarded, and we're going to need them to keep going. We’ve got 16 [games] left now and it's going to have to be all of us,” Hughes said.

Elias Pettersson had a goal and an assist and said scoring six goals gave the group confidence that they can score in bunches. He said coming back with a strong third period after a softer second showed maturity and growth.

“The way we responded in the third is good,” Pettersson said.

“We were fired up; it was good to see. I think other than the second period I liked our game, and we just have to keep on building every game.”

Artūrs Šilovs stopped 17 of 19 shots he faced, and it gave him a boost to help the team seal the win. He said he felt fast in the crease tonight and his tracking felt good and even though it’s been a tough season he’s learned a lot.

“It's ups and downs. There's always a lot to learn from and I think for me, it's maybe not the best experience, but it's experience, and I think I can grow from that,” Šilovs said.

Goals

In the first period, Hughes drove down the left side, going far side on Arvid Soderblom for his 15th goal of the season.

Less than a minute later, on the rush, Kiefer Sherwood made a drop pass to Tyler Myers trailing, Myers ripped a wrist shot from the left circle for the goal.

The Canucks took a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes.

In the second period, Conor Garland and Pius Suter did work on a give-and-go off the rush, Garland backhanding the puck short side past Soderblom.

Blackhawks’ defenceman Alex Vlasic scored from the point, the Canucks holding a 3-1 lead going into the final intermission.

In the third period, the Canucks scored three goals, all with highlight reel passing.

At the half-wall, Nils Höglander made a quick pass to Elias Pettersson in the slot and with some fancy stick work, Pettersson let it fly with the flick of his wrist.

“It's easy to play with him – his speed, he’s strong on the puck,” Pettersson said of Höglander. “[We] always try to have him first on the forecheck and I read the next play, he's so good in the corner, so I'm just trying to get available, [just] like on the goal. He won the puck, and I tried to go up in the middle.”

Chicago defenceman Wyatt Kaiser scored in the middle of the Canucks’ scoring frenzy to bring the Blackhawks within two goals.

Nils Åman was rewarded for his defensive play in the neutral zone, Teddy Blueger chasing the puck down and making a quick pass to Sherwood net front who did a behind-the-back pass to Åman who snapped it in from the weak side for his first NHL goal of the season.

“I thought Åman and that line, they've got us a little bit of identity, Sherzy and Teddy. Åms hadn’t played for two, three weeks, it's tough. He's at the rink every day, he's out early, he's here late, he's a pro. He wants to be a regular in the NHL, I’ve got a lot of respect for him,” Tocchet said.

The Canucks would score less than 10 seconds later, capitalizing off the draw. With the Canucks winning the faceoff, Dakota Joshua came down the left side and made a pass across the crease to Garland who flipped it to Suter trailing in the slot, and Suter snapped it in.

Åman and Suter’s goals were eight seconds apart, tying the sequence for second-fastest goals in Canucks history, and fastest successive goals on home ice.

Up Next

It’s a hockey-filled weekend at Rogers Arena as the Canucks are back tomorrow to take on the Utah Hockey Club at 5 p.m. PT.