VANCOUVER — Quinn Hughes still can’t talk and J.T. Miller chose not to. But on a memorable night at Rogers Arena — especially for a Thursday in December — nobody’s game spoke louder than Kevin Lankinen’s.
The Vancouver Canucks goalie, who had accumulated three shutouts in his National Hockey League career as a backup before signing as a free agent during training camp, made 27 saves in a 4-0 win over the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
It was Lankinen’s third shutout this season, his 14th win in 21 starts and, significantly, his first appearance since Thatcher Demko emerged from his eight-month injury to reclaim the Canucks’ net.
Thursday was also the night Miller returned from a 10-game leave of absence, and the Canucks’ leader contributed two assists. And captain Hughes, who hasn’t spoken to the media since getting a mouthful of Brandon Hagel’s stick when the Tampa Bay Lightning visited Vancouver on Sunday, contributed another pair of assists to put him two behind Cale Makar in a blue-line scoring race that also looks a lot like a duel for the Norris Trophy.
Yes, it was some night for the Canucks, who had been starving their fans of memorable wins on home ice this season.
They were just 4-6-4 at Rogers Arena before Thursday, but are now 15-8-5 overall despite a myriad of challenges during the opening third of the regular season.
“Yeah, I think it was a big statement win for us,” Lankinen said. “Obviously, getting J.T. back was a huge boost for the team, and the way he came in and what kind of effort he put in was a big part of the win tonight. It’s just huge. We’re just really happy to have him back.”
It was a big statement win, too, for Lankinen, who wants to earn as many starts as he can between now and April and is suddenly competing for playing time with one of the best goaltenders in the league in Demko, who made his season debut in Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues.
“I think every night is important,” Lankinen said. “I try not to think about things or overthink. I just play when I’m asked to and try to play my A-game every night I get the chance. And I was happy that tonight we were able to get the win. Just as a whole, great team effort.
“At the end of the day, it’s a team game, it’s a team effort. I keep coming back to just the way we defended. Even in the third period, like guys were on the bench making sure that we give them nothing, we want to shut them down. And just that kind of chemistry and team building is huge. I think that will bring some momentum moving forward.”
On a one-year contract at $875,000, Lankinen has been the bargain-of-the-season so far among all the free agents who changed teams over the summer.
“Honestly, I didn’t know he was this good,” Canucks centre Teddy Blueger said. “He’s been sensational for us, and to have him and Demmer as a tandem is pretty incredible.”
The one-two punch in net could rival the twin threat the Canucks have back at centre with Miller rejoining the team and taking some of the scoring burden — and tough matchups — off centre Elias Pettersson.
Miller’s presence in the lineup spilled all the way down to the fourth line, as Blueger moved back to that spot between speedy wingers Danton Heinen and Max Sasson.
That unit generated the Canucks’ two first-period goals as Vancouver won wire-to-wire to sweep their two-game season series against the Panthers.
Sasson hit a trailing Carson Soucy, whose shot ramped up Panther Aaron Ekblad’s stick and beat goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 1-0 just 2:23 into the game. Heinen doubled the lead at 18:41, getting inside position on defenceman Nate Schmidt and redirecting Sasson’s excellent shot-pass to the top of the crease during a three-on-two rush. Pushed down one spot by Miller’s return, Blueger assisted on both goals.
“We want everyone to contribute,” Blueger said. “On different nights it can be different guys. But obviously. . . there is a little battle for ice time. Guys want to play as much as they can. But as long as you have a healthy competition, it kind of pushes everyone and keeps everyone accountable for their game, which I think is good for our team.”
Miller, who logged most of his five-on-five shifts against Aleksander Barkov, helped set up the other two Vancouver goals. He went 12-8 on faceoffs and finished with 14:17 of ice time in his first game since Nov. 17.
Reunited with Miller, Brock Boeser made it 3-0 at 4:53 of the second period after a geometry-defying end-boards rebound from his own miss left the Canuck with a semi-open net from a sharp angle. And Jake DeBrusk, another free-agent win for Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin, made it 4-0 at 12:55 of the third period when he deflected Hughes’ power-play point shot for his 14th goal of the season.
“It brings a big lift to our team,” Boeser said of Miller’s return, “and just makes our team a lot deeper when he’s in the lineup. Yeah, it was awesome. It doesn’t surprise me. He’s such an elite player, and he shows what he can do night in and night out. He was great for us.”
So was the defending in front of Lankinen. With rugged defenceman Derek Forbort also back from injury, the Canucks were stout in their zone, smart with the puck, sound in the neutral zone. They looked comfortable in the third period, allowing only seven shots against a powerhouse opponent that hadn’t been shut out this season.
“We played to our identity,” Blueger said. “We executed well, played together. We were all connected defensively and through the neutral zone. I think it’s kind of a combination of things coming together, and it’s just something we need to build on. I think if we get those details dialed in, we’ll give ourselves a chance against any team.”
The Canucks play the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
