Canucks vs. Kings: What we learned from the 4-1 victory

Article content

Brock Voser knew he had to keep working.

Article content

We knew he was around the pack, as he had nine assists on the season heading into a game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Arena on Friday night.

Article content

But he had no goals.

He hit the post many times, but he doesn’t get paid for hitting the post and setting goals, he gets paid for scoring.

Then he scored against the Kings and scored two goals to help the Canucks win 4-1. Elias Pettersson scored his two goals and the Canucks controlled play for much of the night.

“I want to get goose eggs out of there. It takes a lot of effort to get out of there. Late October.

Article content

Watching Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko was a massive nightly performance, but that was not the case this season.

He made a big save against the Kings on Friday, making 36 saves, including his third big save.

One of the reasons is that he has often struggled in the third period this season and has not been able to make big saves.

Article content

next game

Sunday

Las Vegas Golden Knights vs. Vancouver Canucks

7:30 PM, Rogers Arena, tv set: TSN, wireless: AM730

28 days left

Voser was itching to score the first goal.

After all, he pays to score.

And now he has his first win of the season.

Sometimes it’s hard work to keep it simple, like keeping your sticks on ice.

JT Miller found him at the backdoor of Powerplay, so that’s all he had to do.

A look of relief and a big, familiar smile said it all for Boeser as his teammates scrambled to celebrate with him.

And then he scored again, knocking the puck out of the air to earn his second of the game.

He vowed before the season to score 30 goals this season.

He needs 28 more.

steady as she goes

Demko took his second win of the season.

Article content

And this was his best performance of the season.

He remained in a firm position all night. He was quietly effective in the first and second, but made some big stops in the third despite the Kings falling behind.

Article content

calm down

No shots and goals.

The tide of play was flowing against the Canucks when Petterson opened the scoring for the night.

They hadn’t even attempted a shot at the Los Angeles goal when Peterson scored with a shot that deflected off a rush.

It was a good time to stem the tide in LA and actually bring play back to the Canucks.

Less than five minutes later, Boeser scored and the Canucks were off.

Article content

it’s a trifle

Peterson’s second goal was an impressive streak of possession for the Canucks.

But that nearly came to an end in the LA breakout a while ago — but an effort by Dakota Joshua forced a turnover and held the Canucks in the LA end.

The Canucks then completed a line change and put Peterson and his mate on board.

Also key to the sequence was Alex Edler breaking his stick trying to check on Curtis Lazar before the line change took place.

Quinn Hughes, who scored his second assist on goal, smartly attacked the space Edler was defending, found Andrei Kuzmenko loose, and shot the puck into an unchecked Petersson. Pack in an open cage.

Article content

make an impact

Curtis Lazar is known for his rough and tumble play.

He vowed to get his team into the fight before the game.

and what he did.

In the first period, he threw many hard hits.

And he kept it up all night, having seven hits by the end of the night. He drew a penalty from Sean Walker after one of his hits, leading to a power play in which Boser scored the first goal.

Bruce there

The coach came out early for Friday morning’s skating.

Since taking over the Canucks less than a year ago, he hasn’t often been the first to hit the ice.

But on this day he was.

There were a handful of players on the ice including Nils Höglander, Vasily Podkolzin and Jack Rathbone.

But Boudreau chose not to look in any particular direction, rather than focusing on a particular player or ongoing activity.

what was he thinking?

“Sometimes it’s better to sit alone and think about your thoughts,” he said.

Fans went wild with the famous chant as the Canucks took a 4-1 lead on a goal by Bozer in the third inning.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

twitter.com/risingaction