Conor Garland led the way for the Vancouver Canucks with a two-goal, three-point outing, while Kevin Lankinen made impressive saves between the pipes to help the Canucks to victory against the Buffalo Sabres.
Head Coach Rick Tocchet liked seeing his team rally together and execute in key moments.
“Lanks with that save in overtime, those are big-time plays for you. Obviously, Gars and Hughes – Hughes had the puck the whole time in overtime – you’re always looking for key moments from guys and those are key moments,” Tocchet said.
“The overall game, there’s ebbs and flows. I thought we hung in there it was a good road game, but the key moments are the big things that stick out for me.”
Garland said their group has to fight every game and liked the special teams’ performance as the Canucks’ penalty kill was five-for-five.
“The power play [had] a timely goal, I messed up on the first one to start the period, so it was nice to rebound right after that, get another opportunity and get one in there,” Garland said. “Hate giving up the lead, but great fight in overtime there just to get another point – it's a big point for us. It’s a tough road trip, but [we are] happy with our start.”
Lankinen stopped 31 of 34 shots he faced, including two game-saving stops in a row in overtime. Tocchet said the trust the team has in Lankinen is incredible.
“The guy’s on the doorstep, they had two or three chances and what I like about Lanks, he just stood tall, looked big, he wasn’t flipping. You could tell that he was seeing the puck really well,” Tocchet said.
