Canucks Takeaways: DeBrusk, Hughes heroics highlight resilient OT win
Posted December 2, 2024 7:16 am.
Jake DeBrusk is on pace for 35 goals. All of them on the road.
The first-year Vancouver Canuck epitomizes more than anyone his team’s feast-or-famine existence home and away this National Hockey League season.
The winger went goalless in the first nine games of the $38.5-million free-agent contract he signed in July to leave the Boston Bruins for the Canucks. But five games into Vancouver’s current six-game road trip, DeBrusk has scored seven times.
His post-and-in overtime wrist shot Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings was his third of the game, gave the Canucks a comeback 5-4 win (after another blown third-period lead) and a 10-2-0 road record this season.
The team is 3-5-3 in Vancouver.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!This marathon Canucks road trip feels like it might never end, and maybe they wish it wouldn’t.
After Tuesday’s trip finale against the Minnesota Wild, the Canucks play nine of their next 11 games at Rogers Arena.
DeBrusk should pack a lot of confidence and positivity home with him. His team-leading 10 goals have all been scored in the Canucks’ last eight road games. DeBrusk has scored in seven of them, and failed to score in the only game Vancouver has lost during that stretch.
He won Sunday’s eventful game by taking the puck from Elias Pettersson as the linemates crossed inside the Detroit blue line, then zipped a quick-release shot off the inside of the far post behind third-string Red Wings goalie Ville Husso, who hasn’t stopped much in the NHL this season but was 5-0 lifetime against the Canucks.
DeBrusk scored power-play goals 43 seconds apart early in the second period, the first on a redirect of Pettersson’s shot-pass, the second on a rebound from Quinn Hughes’ shot.
It was a historic day for the Canucks, as the first of Hughes’ three assists broke Alex Edler’s franchise record of 310 assists by a defenceman. Edler accumulated his over 925 games for Vancouver. Hughes did it just a smidge quicker — in 388 games.
Canuck goalie Kevin Lankinen also set an NHL record with his 10th straight road win to begin a season, breaking the mark set by Glenn Hall in 1965 and matched last season by Cam Talbot. The Red Wings’ starter on Sunday, Talbot took himself out of the game with an injury at 6:38 of the second period.
But for Lankinen to get the record, the Canucks needed a tying goal with 3:20 remaining in regulation from Erik Brannstrom, whose one-timer from the top of the left wing circle was also teed up by Pettersson. Vancouver had surrendered two goals in 2 ½ minutes early in the third period to fall behind 4-3.
That dismal stretch of hockey by the Canucks followed an outstanding second period and a dominant final 16 minutes. The inconsistency in that reflected Vancouver’s season, but so did the Canucks’ resiliency at the end. A team that has struggled to find and maintain its A-game is now 13-7-3.
HUGHES AEROSPACE
Few players fly around the ice and dominate with the puck like Hughes, the Canuck captain who has eight points in his last three games and leads the team in points with five goals and 23 assists. His ice time Sunday of 31:04 included almost 10 of the final 14 minutes and 2:58 of the four-minute overtime.
Besides Hughes’ three assists, he had 10 shot attempts and a 68 per cent shot share while on the ice at even strength.
But if you really wanted the snapshot of Hughes’ game, it was during a third-period shift of sustained offensive-zone pressure when the defenceman was traversing the zone with the puck just inside the blue line while being hounded by Red Wing Tyler Motte. As Hughes was about to skate the puck into another Detroit player blocking his path, he passed it to himself off the side boards, then collected it, spun and relayed the puck to a teammate to continue the pressure. There are moments like this from Hughes every game.
A PIUS OF WORK
Is there a Canuck who gets less adulation for consistently playing about NHL-average than Pius Suter, the team’s Swiss Army Knife who during J.T. Miller’s leave of absence has been effectively centring Vancouver’s second line after spending most of October on the fourth unit?
Yes, that was a long question, but Suter deserves some airtime after the game he had. His breakaway goal late in the second period, which put the Canucks ahead 3-2, was his ninth goal of the season. Only DeBrusk has more. Suter has scored 14 or 15 goals in each of his first four NHL seasons but seems likely to blow through that ceiling over the next 59 games.
Besides scoring, Suter did all the other Suter things: checking, making smart plays with the puck, keeping body position, winning his matchups (five-on-five shot attempts were 20-4 when he was on the ice) and killing penalties. Detroit’s power-play was 1-for-4 and generated another goal from power-play pressure, but Suter wasn’t on the ice for either and had 2:45 of unblemished shorthanded time against the NHL’s No. 4 PP.
Coach Rick Tocchet even started Suter in overtime so he could win the faceoff, which he did, giving the Canucks the first 90 seconds of possession.
ROAD WARRIOR
Nobody outplays his size like Conor Garland. At five-foot-nine and 165 pounds, he is often the smallest guy on the ice. But the Canucks’ play-driving winger never acts like it.
On his way to a career year with eight goals and 21 points through 23 games, tied with Pettersson for the scoring lead among Canuck forwards, Garland was on his way to the Vancouver dressing room in the second period after throwing himself up against the glass while trying to keep the puck in on a rim-around during a power play. The puck split Garland’s ear.
He played the third period in a blood-stained jersey and finished with 19:43 of ice time.
