Recap: Ehlers Makes Canucks Look Silly in 4-1 Jets Win

by

Despite the fact that Jacob Markstrom stole a win for the Vancouver Canucks against Winnipeg on Tuesday, Willie Desjardins started Ryan Miller against the Jets on Thursday night. While Miller kept the Canucks in the game for the first 39 minutes, the speedy Jets feasted on the Canucks veteran over the final 21 minutes.

Henrik Sedin played in his 1,200th NHL game for the Canucks on Thursday, making him only the 11th player of all time to played 1,200 games all with the same team. Will he reach 1,300 in a Canucks uniform?

No offense to Henrik and his brother Daniel, but the Canucks need a little less Sedin and a little more Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers in their lineup. Laine scored a beauty to knot the game up at one before Ehlers showed that he shouldn’t be a forgotten man on the Jets’ roster with two great goals of his own. Similar to the Canucks on Tuesday, the Jets got better as the game went on, and beat the Canucks by the same 4-1 score that they succumbed to on Tuesday.

First Period

The Canucks got a decent scare in the first two minutes of the game, as both Chris Tanev and Jannik Hansen went to the dressing room with injuries. You could hear the collective grown of Canucks fans everywhere, since Hansen and Tanev both recently returned from injuries.  Thankfully, their absences were short lived and they returned before the end of the period.

The home team did a solid job of limiting Winnipeg’s chances in the third period, holding them to only five shots. Markus Granlund was able to capitalize on one of the Canucks’ chances in the period, putting the puck top shelf on Michael Hutchinson. He has quietly put up six points in his last nine games. The Canucks scored the first goal of the game for just the eighth time this season.

Although Winnipeg wasn’t making any noise on the scoresheet, they were throwing the body around. Dustin Byfuglien highlighted this when he nearly submarined Luca Sbisa with a hip check. We were all waiting for the response from the Canucks’ big man, Nikita Tryamkin, but fans were still holding their breath after Tryamkin took two minor penalties, a high-sticking and a hooking minor.

Second Period

The physicality continued in the second period, and even 18-year-old Patrik Laine got into it with a huge hit on Henrik Sedin. Previously in that sequence, Hansen threw a hit on Josh Morrissey. Shortly after, Mathieu Perreault stuck his knee out when he attempted to exact revenge on Hansen. The attempted hit didn’t sit too well with “Honey Badger” Hansen, who dropped his gloves and threw his hands in the air, looking for a fight with Perreault. The referees kept things under control (for better or for worse), but Hansen and Perreault continued to berate each other from the penalty box.

So, where’s the Byfuglien versus Tryamkin scrap? Instead, Tryamkin mixed it up with Marko Dano before the referee pulled Tryamkin away for Dano’s own safety.

Hansen’s frustrations would continue, as he would once again head to the dressing room after his leg gave out on him in the neutral zone. He did not return to the game. You think this would be Loui Eriksson’s time to show what he can do with the Sedins, right?

Think a little less Eriksson, and a little more Jack Skille.

Skille joined the Twins late in the period, and actually had an impressive shift. He made a great power move to the net but was stumped by Hutchinson. Power moves like that are necessary, because who needs to pass to the Sedins anyway?

Unfortunately for the Canucks, Skille is no Patrik Laine. The young Finnish star absolutely sniped it home past Ryan Miller, who had no chance as Laine showed “how good he is.”

Third Period

Hey Jim Benning, remember that time you could have selected Nikolaj Ehlers?

The young Danish winger picked off a risky cross-ice pass from Henrik Sedin and went down the ice on a two-on-one, sniping it low glove side past Miller for his eighth goal of the season. How many goals does Jake Virtanen have in Utica again?

Ehlers wasn’t done there. After the Canucks took a too-many-men penalty with eight minutes to go in the period, the Jets made them look silly on a dangerous power play. Ehlers collected the puck down low, made his way out front, and sniped it up high on an unprepared Miller.

Bryan Little jammed home the 4-1 goal late in the third period, to complete the almost eerie reversal of the Canucks’ 4-1 victory the night before.

Scoring Summary

FIRST PERIOD

Markus Granlund (7) assisted by Loui Eriksson (9)

SECOND PERIOD

Patrik Laine (19) assisted by Nikolaj Ehlers (20) and Mark Scheifele (17)

THIRD PERIOD

Nikolaj Ehlers (8) (unassisted)

Nikolaj Ehlers 2 (9) (PPG) assisted by Nic Petan (7) and Toby Enstrom (8)

Bryan Little (5) assisted by Mathieu Perreault (5) and Blake Wheeler (16)

THW Three Stars

1) Nikolaj Ehlers: 2 goals, 1 assist

2) Patrik Laine: 1 goal

3) Michael Hutchinson (.967 save percentage)

NEXT UP

Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames

Scotiabank Saddledome – 6:00 p.m. PST, 7:00 p.m. MST on Friday, Dec. 23

Broadcast channels: SNW, SNP

2016-17 Season Series: Oct. 15 – Vancouver Canucks 2 – Calgary Flames 1 (SO)