Canucks, DeBrusk getting closer to their best

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Jake DeBrusk is on a scoring streak.

After taking nine games to score his first goal last season, DeBrusk waited another eight games to score his second.

On Tuesday, he scored his second goal of the year in Game 11 for the Vancouver Canucks — one game after finally notching his first. 

The main difference between the winger’s first season for the Canucks and last season for the Boston Bruins is that he is starting a seven-year, $38.5-million contract. Scoring Saturday in San Jose was a relief for DeBrusk. Scoring in Tuesday’s 5-1 thumping of the Anaheim Ducks looked more enjoyable, and maybe like the start of something.

“I just scored my first two goals of the season, so I don’t know if I can say I can get 30,” DeBrusk said after the Canucks’ most lopsided win of the season. “But it’s a long year, man. We’ve got 70 games left. It’s funny how you look at it. I’m here to win, and I could care less if I score five goals as long as we win. I really don’t care. 

“In saying that, you obviously want to feel good about your game and feel confident. And that’s something I took into consideration when I picked here. It was obviously about the amazing players that they have, and we haven’t really clicked the way that I know they want. And same with me. But we’ve been doing some good things, and we got rewarded with kind of a greasy one tonight. Usually, it starts off with a couple greasy ones before the nice ones come.”

DeBrusk tipped in Brock Boeser’s point shot in the final period of a game that saw the Canucks start sluggishly and then simply elevate and play at a level that is beyond the rebuilding Ducks. Shots were 36-22, scoring chances 22-7 and high-danger chances 9-1 for the Canucks, according to naturalstattrick.com.

It was a game when several of their new players, uneven in their transition to the Canucks after signing in Vancouver during the summer, came together to help drive the team.

Battering-ram winger Kiefer Sherwood, the best of the newcomers so far, had another standout game with one goal, one assist and three hits. Linemate Danton Heinen scored the Canucks’ final goal, a semi-gimme set up by Sherwood to cap an excellent night for the Heinen-Sherwood-Teddy Blueger line.

Newest defenceman Erik Brannstrom teed up Sherwood’s goal and had another solid game alongside Vincent Desharnais. And of course, fill-in starting goalie Kevin Lankinen continued his excellence, making 21 saves and allowing nothing else in his net after Owen Zellweger’s screened point shot drifted in on a power play at 5:35 of the first period.

And, for the record, in his 376^th game, Norris Trophy-winning Quinn Hughes had another performance that most mortals can only dream about, owning the puck, dictating play and finishing with three assists to become the third-fastest defenceman in National Hockey League history to collect 300 helpers. Only Bobby Orr (346 games) and Brian Leetch (368) got there faster.

DeBrusk’s goal that made it 4-1 – and his brief, jubilant celebration – hinted about things to come for the Canucks’ biggest summer signing and his new line with J.T. Miller and Boeser.

“I mean, the transition, everyone here has done a great job making all the new guys feel comfortable,” DeBrusk said. “I think it was more so just actually putting on the jersey and playing on the road, doing different things like that, the systems. And then you haven’t found the back of the net, and it just kind of keeps going on and on. Whether you get traded or signed somewhere, you want to get the first one as fast as you can. And if you struggle out of the gate, take eight or nine games or whatever, it was impossible not to think about it. That’s just the nature of the business.

“I obviously took a little longer, so I’ve got some time to make up.”

“It’s just funny how it works,” Heinen, who was teammates with DeBrusk in Boston, said. “One’s going to go in and then it’s going to be a weight off your shoulders. You can’t replicate that feeling of getting that first one or scoring, right? You wish you could. But, man, I wasn’t worried about him. He’s a guy that can get hot and they can go in in bunches. He’s handled (the transition) really well actually. It’s his first time going to a new team. I’m still figuring stuff out, too. It’s a learning experience when you haven’t done it before.”

After a bumpy October, the Canucks are finding some traction on this road trip, although Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings is likely to be more challenging than beating the Ducks or the San Jose Sharks.

Three of their four lines produced goals in Anaheim, and the team reduced to low single-digits the number of outnumbered rushes surrendered, as coach Rick Tocchet has been demanding.

Now 6-2-3, Canucks haven’t yet played their best hockey. But like DeBrusk, they’re getting closer.

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