Canucks Celebrate Multiple Milestones In Victory Over The Vegas Golden Knights
Canucks rallied from 2-0 down to beat the Golden Knights 4-3 on Monday night.
Photo by Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports - Canucks Celebrate Multiple Milestones In Victory Over The Vegas Golden KnightsFor the first time in franchise history, the Vancouver Canucks (48-22-8) defeated the Vegas Golden Knights (42-27-8) in regulation at Rogers Arena. Conor Garland scored twice, including his 100th career goal, while Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes provided the rest of the offence on the night. Despite a rough start, Arturs Silovs was able to bounce back, stopping 20 of the 23 shots he faced, improving his record on the season to 3-0. With the victory, Vancouver hits 48 wins for the fifth time in franchise history, while their 104 points are tied with the 2002-03 team for the fourth most all-time in Canucks history.
On what can be called "Milestone Monday," the Canucks finally found a way to defeat the Golden Knights at home in regulation. There were plenty of individual milestones, including Boeser hitting the 40-goal mark, Garland scoring his 100th career goal, and J.T. Miller becoming the seventh player in franchise history to reach the century mark in a season. The power play played a massive role, going two for three, while the penalty kill came up big in the third. Arguably, though, the most important storyline from this game was that despite falling behind 2-0 just over eight minutes in, Vancouver was able to fight back, outscoring Vegas 4-1 from that point on. Ultimately, it was a good team win and one that should provide the team some confidence heading into the postseason.
Quotes
J.T. Miller on hitting the 100-point mark this season:
"I downplay everything, but it's pretty special. We have a lot of work to do here, and I can't keep going back to that. I mean, I'll have an extra beer tonight but other than that, it's going to be something I can maybe enjoy in the summer, but we have a lot of work to do right now. I'm playing with a lot of really good hockey players on a really good hockey team. It's hard to do; I'm just really happy we can enjoy it."
J.T. Miller on the Canucks play in the third period:
"We didn't back off. That's a good hockey team. They are going to come with speed with the puck, but I think we did a good job limiting the stuff on the inside. You know, the stuff we talk about. We tried to make it easy on the goalie, and when you do that, you limit the dangerous chances and the snowball effects. Like I said, we played a solid 60."
Conor Garland on playing in his 400th career NHL game:
"I think back to when I was in the minors. My first year in the minors was tough. I had four goals. Not many people probably thought I could ever come here, but when you make it, and you get your foot in the door, you never wanna have it slam shut on you. It's just about staying and playing as hard as you can for as long as you can. It's a nice night, cool for my parents back home, but 400 doesn't really mean anything, but when you come from where I came from, sometimes it means a little."
Rick Tocchet on the playoff-like atmosphere surrounding this game:
"This is kind of a little dress rehearsal. A little bit to what is going to come. We talked today, this morning to embrace this thing. Embrace the pressure and the noise and all the good things that come with it. Don't hide from it. I just thought tonight, we met it. We met pressure with pressure. It's a good step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go. It's just one of these games that you're happy with the team, and you get ready for tomorrow."
Facts and Stats
- Conor Garland scores his 100th career goal in his 400th career game
- Quinn Hughes joins Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey as the only defencemen in NHL history to record 200+ assists over a three-season span
- Quinn Hughes becomes the first Canucks defenseman with 40 career multi-point periods
- J.T. Miller becomes the tenth player in franchise history to record 150 career power play points.
- Brock Boeser becomes the tenth Canucks player and first since 2010-11 to record 40 goals in a season
- J.T. Miller becomes the seventh player in franchise history to record 100 points in a season
- J.T. Miller records the 400th assist of his career
- Canucks improve their record when leading after two periods to 40-1-4
Scoring Summary
1st Period
VGK: 1:51- Jack Eichel (28th) from Noah Hanifin and Logan Thompson (PPG)
VGK: 8:06- Jack Eichel (29th) from Jonathan Marchessault
VAN: 11:50- Conor Garland (17th) from J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes (PPG)
VAN: 14:26- Quinn Hughes (17th) from Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller (PPG)
2nd Period
VGK: 9:33- Noah Hanifin (13th) from Jack Eicher and Tomáš Hertl
VAN: 13:10- Brock Boeser (40th) from Elias Pettersson and Tyler Myers
VAN: 18:31- Conor Garland (18th) from J.T. Miller and Dakota Joshua
3rd Period
No Scoring
Canucks Next Opponent
Up next for Vancouver will be a battle against the Arizona Coyotes. Vancouver is 2-0 against the Coyotes so far this season, beating Arizona 2-1 less than a week ago. Game time is set for 7:30 pm PT from Rogers Arena.
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