NEW YORK — There are a lot of pre-season bets on the Vancouver Canucks that would have made you rich.
Forty games and 26 wins into the National Hockey League season, the Canucks aren’t long shots anymore. But at Belmont Park on Tuesday, when the team visits the Islanders, it will have a chance to complete the New York triple crown for the first time in franchise history.
They have never swept the Islanders, Rangers and New Jersey Devils on the same road trip.
On Monday, the Canucks dusted the mighty New York Rangers 6-3 at Madison Square Garden, which is actually round and smelled back of house like manure after the bull riding contest on the weekend, but remains one of the most famous and glamorous sporting venues on the continent.
This came after Vancouver’s 6-4 win Saturday against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, which is less glamorous but no less daunting since the Canucks hadn’t won there since 2013.
That’s 12 goals in two road games against teams that were expected to challenge for the Stanley Cup — and the Rangers still are one of the favourites — over two hours in which the Canucks trailed for a total of 53 seconds. That was the duration of the Rangers’ early lead before man-on-a-mission J.T. Miller tied the game from Elias Pettersson’s pass at 4:31 of the first period, and Nils Hoglander put Vancouver ahead for good by converting Nils Aman’s goalmouth feed at 6:45.
It was on the Canucks’ big post-Christmas road trip one year ago — to Florida, rather than New York — that the organization hits its nadir in the dysfunctional final weeks under previous coach Bruce Boudreau. Less than 12 months later, the Canucks on this trip appear to be validating their status under Rick Tocchet as one of the league’s best teams.
“Yeah, you should enjoy this,” Tocchet said after Monday’s win. “But to be a really good hockey team, consistent all the time, you’ve got to just make sure they stay even keel. I’ve got to give the guys credit. I don’t think we’re strutting around like we’re, whatever. But you should enjoy it and have confidence. I mean, the Rangers pressed, and we did a couple of nice plays under pressure. That’s what I like. . . not backing off.”
The Canucks didn’t back off against the Rangers, and haven’t backed off from the rest of the league.
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After going 13-6-1 in their first 20 games, they just completed the next 20 at 13-5-2. When they finish Tuesday’s game at UBS Arena, the Canucks’ regular season will be half over.
They’re not afraid of how high they’ve climbed. They’re one point out of first-place overall and quite comfortable there. Well, not comfortable, just not intimidated. They feel like they belong at that altitude.
“I think with this group, we just go in expecting (to win), just kind of knowing that we can beat anybody,” defenceman Carson Soucy said. “Off-nights are still going to happen; they happen with every team. But we put ourselves in a good spot for the first half. Yeah, I think this group just has confidence. And we should. We’ve got unbelievable players in here up front and on the back end, so we have confidence that we can beat anybody.”
On Monday, with the Rangers surging and trailing only 3-2 late in the second period, and that famous Madison Square Garden crowd getting louder by the shift, Pettersson scored a sublime goal at 15:33. Hoglander, his friend and fellow Swede, scored one that was nearly as impressive at 16:47.
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On a rush that Rangers defencemen Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller managed to turn into a semi-breakaway from a three-on-two, Pettersson stopped to let the second large defender slide past him, fired point-blank into Igor Shesterkin, collected his rebound and then calmly steered the puck around the Ranger goalie’s pad and tucked it in as Vincent Trocheck tried to check the Canuck from behind.
It’s like the game at that moment slowed for Pettersson while accelerating for everyone else.
“When I watch hockey, even myself, it feels slower playing than watching,” he explained. “It’s like when you’re playing, like, you’re in the zone or whatever. That’s how I see it.”
Pettersson has seven points in two games, so it’s hard to relate to what he sees.
After a Rangers turnover, Hoglander scored his second of the game to make it 5-2 by taking Pius Suter’s pass slightly behind him, dragging it through his legs and away from former Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, and beating Shesterkin with a backhand between the pads.
A healthy scratch earlier this season, Hoglander now has 12 goals. It felt like Pettersson’s line, with Miller and Brock Boeser, generated nearly that output in the last two games. But the Lotto Line amassed “only” eight goals (and 17 points) in the two games since Tocchet reunited them.
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“It’s not stale but just sometimes you need (to give) a team a little bit of juice, even your star players,” Tocchet explained of his motive. “And when you put those guys together, you didn’t really have to say anything. They knew, ‘Hey, get me on the ice in certain situations and let us go.’ And you could tell. Every once in a while they look at me like ‘We’re ready to go again.’ So I like that. They want the responsibility to be in those situations for us.”
Thatcher Demko made 39 saves for the Canucks — 19 more than Shesterkin provided the Rangers — although the scoring chances were close to even at five-on-five.
Quinn Hughes had only one assist for the Canucks but he and defence partner Filip Hronek were plus-five as Vancouver built its 5-2 lead through two periods. They finished plus-four.
Surely, this was a win worth celebrating.
“I wish I could, I wish I could,” Hughes said. “I wish I could tell you I was having the best year of my life and, you know, everything was rainbows and whatnot. But there’s still a lot of stress. My mind is already thinking about tomorrow, unfortunately.”
The chance to complete the New York triple crown.
“No team, no matter how good you are, ever plays perfect,” Canucks defenceman Ian Cole said. “It doesn’t happen. How do we fix things, how do we move forward, how do we get better? That’s what the mindset is. Are we able to grab it and win hockey games. . . grab it against the best team in the National Hockey League? Listen, there’s a lot of positives. Right now, (the Rangers) are the best team in hockey. But we think we’re a good hockey team, too.”
