VANCOUVER – After getting swamped 5-0 in Sunday’s series opener, the Vancouver Canucks need to find a way to bounce back tonight as they get set for Game 2 of their NHL Western Conference semi-final against Vegas in Edmonton.
The Golden Knights had 11 players find the scoresheet and Robin Lehner stopped all 26 shots he faced. Reilly Smith, Mark Stone and Alex Tuch all scored second period goals and also added an assist on the night while Shea Theodore chipped in with a pair of helpers. Jonathan Marchessault opened the scoring and Max Pacioretty added the final goal of the game. Vegas held a 39-26 edge in shots as they chased Jacob Markstrom from the Vancouver net at 5-0 midway through the third period. Thatcher Demko made his first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance in relief.
While Demko finished Sunday’s game, Markstrom will return to the net tonight. He has started all 11 of the team’s playoff games.
The Canucks top players were held in check on Sunday. Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes were all held without a shot on goal while JT Miller managed one and Bo Horvat was limited to a pair of third period shots. Defensemen accounted for 10 of the team’s 26 shots on the night led by Alex Edler with five.
The Canucks have dropped back to back games only once in their 11 games in the Edmonton bubble. They fell in Game 3 and again in Game 4 in the previous round against St. Louis. The team is 7-4 in their return to play and has bounced back from two of their previous three losses with a victory.
Rugged winger Zack MacEwen took part in the warm-up on Sunday, but did not dress for Vancouver. He is a possibility to draw into the line-up tonight. He has not dressed since Game 4 against St. Louis.
For Vegas, Max Pacioretty scored on one of his game-high eight shots (and 13 attempts) in Game 1. With his goal, Mark Stone now has the Knights team lead in playoff goals with five and has a share of the team lead in scoring with 5+5=10 while Reilly Smith has 4+6=10.
Sunday’s game was physical with the Golden Knights outhitting the Canucks 54-45. Ryan Reaves registered 11 hits while linemate William Carrier had nine. For the Canucks, Antoine Roussel and Oscar Fantenberg each delivered seven hits.
By keeping the Canucks at bay in Game 1, Knights netminder Robin Lehner posted his first career playoff shutout. In this post-season, Lehner is now 7-1 with a 2.10 GAA and a 91.8% save percentage.
In an interesting twist to this series, Vegas head coach Pete DeBoer was twice on the wrong end of decisive Golden Knights playoff victories while he was behind the San Jose bench. On both occasions, his Sharks responded with victories. In 2018, Vegas pummeled San Jose 7-0 in the opener of their first round series only to see the Sharks bounce back to take Game 2. Last season, Vegas crushed San Jose 5-0 in Game 4 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Again, the Sharks responded with a win and then added two more to take the series in seven games. Now, DeBoer is hoping his Knights can avoid falling into that trap again in this year’s playoffs.
POSSIBLE CANUCKS LINE-UP
Miller-Pettersson-Boeser
Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson
Roussel-Sutter-Virtanen
Motte-Beagle-Gaudette
Hughes-Tanev
Edler-Stecher
Fantenberg-Benn
Markstrom
POSSIBLE GOLDEN KNIGHTS LINE-UP
Pacioretty-Karlsson-Stone
Marchessault-Stastny-Smith
Cousins-Roy-Tuch
Carrier-Stephenson-Reaves
McNabb-Schmidt
Martinez-Theodore
Holden-Whitecloud
Lehner