Canucks 3, Bruins 2 (OT): Big-character win in a big-character test – The Province

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Adversity is the biggest test you can face.

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The Vancouver Canucks got over a massive mountain on Saturday night; not only did the put an end to an ugly four-game (regulation) losing streak, they mounted a massive comeback against one of the league’s great teams.

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The Canucks wanted more than just a moral victory, but with 20 minutes to play, they were facing that reality. They’d outplayed the Boston Bruins for much of the night, but found themselves trailing 2-0 after two periods.

But they dug deep and put together one of their best periods of the season, tallying two goals in the third’s final 10 minutes to force overtime.

That alone was enough of a story, no matter the final result.

But what a result! The Canucks won 3-2 in overtime as their much-maligned power play finally struck, Brock Boeser tipping home a point shot.

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NEXT GAME

Tuesday

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Vancouver Canucks

17 p.m., Rogers Arena, TV: SN Pacific, Radio: Sportsnet 650

It was a massive game for Boeser, who scored the Canucks’s first goal and the winner and he set the screen on the tying goal.

Hockey is a game of fine margins and the Bruins just had a smidgen more through two periods. The Canucks had all the margins in the final 23 minutes.

Both Bruins goals were opportunistic strikes by their depth forwards, while the Canucks struggled to grind out open chances for much of the night despite holding the puck for long stretches.

The third saw the Canucks push hard and they scored twice for the efforts.

Tyler Myers, who has seen a lot of ups and downs as a Canuck admitted the game was possibly the most satisfying of his career.

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“It’s up there,” he said. “That was a good hockey game. I thought our mindset the whole game, even when we got down, is exactly the way we want to play.”

The four-game losing streak had been frustrating. The Canucks had been so successful this year but they’d lost their way.

“We hadn’t gone through adversity this year,” he said. “We slipped a little with our mindset of how to handle it. But you know, those are the times that you need to address it. You need to talk about it in the room. We did and we responded the way we needed to — just got to carry that learning process going forward,” he said.

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Miller man

On a night where the Canucks needed someone to take the bull by the horns, J.T. Miller was the man.

“Millsy willed the game, his third period was incredible,” Rick Tocchet said.

Miller was hard on the forecheck. He threw lots of hits. He set up both the tying and winning goal.

“I just thought it was a hell of a hockey game and showed a lot of balls for our group today,” Miller said.

Tips and rebounds

The Canucks controlled so much possession of the game, but Boston did great work in front of the net.

The Canucks had so much success early in the year creating rebound opportunities and getting their sticks on point shots and through two periods that was still a struggle.

But the Canucks rediscovered their ability to create traffic in front of the opposing crease and Filip Hronek’s tying goal was a perfect example: it was Boeser who was screening Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman as Hronek’s point shot sailed unchallenged into the net.

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Elias Pettersson highlighted Boeser’s effort as an example of what he and his teammates dialed in on in the third period.

“It’s a cliché get the bodies to the net. That’s why we tied it. It wasn’t a hard shot but Brock made great screen so the goalie couldn’t see it. It’s the small plays but they play a big role,” he said.

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Big game, Skipper

Quinn Hughes skated 24:07 at even strength.

He was +26 in shot attempts. Just a massive performance from the Canucks’ best defenceman.

Talk about a star performance in a game where his team needed it.

Where Hughes goes, the Canucks go. He’s a workhorse who is hard to handle.

Pushing the pace

Nikita Zadorov is hard to miss.

And on this night he was notable for all the right reasons.

Rarely was he caught up in his own zone.

He was feeling confident with the puck on his stick, leading numerous rushes up the ice.

“I’m a good player when I move my feet, so I’m going to keep going,” he said with a smile.

And he made the great pass to open up a chance for Boeser.

Zadorov said that ahead of the faceoff Miller pointed out the way the Bruins defence sets up, with both defencemen away from the middle of hte ice, gives a bit of time for a winger to find a gap to set up in.

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Boeser was left unchecked for just enough time as a result.

“Yeah we drew that play,” he said.

Good to see you

It hasn’t been an easy run for Boeser since the All-Star game.

But in a game where the Canucks really needed a big goal, they got two from him.

So much of his success this season has been because he’s found little moments around the net.

And on his third-period goal, he found an inch of space and wired a classic wrist shot.

And then there was the winner in over time, a perfect pass from Miller, who is adept at perfect passes.

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Lindholm’s fine first

Given his own line to work with, it was evident how smooth Elias Lindholm’s game is.

He made numerous excellent defensive reads in the early going, guiding Bruins attackers into spaces they didn’t want to go.

It was a little reminiscent of Dan Hamhuis’ strength as a defender, so cerebral, with a fabulous understanding of space.

Lindholm also created an early scoring chance by jumping on a loose puck in his own end, making some hard strides to get himself clear of the Boston back check and create a 2-on-1.

Boston’s zone exits are so clean

For all the pressure the Bruins were absorbing, they kept finding safe ways out of the zone once they won possession of the puck.

Once the puck landed on their stick, they got out of the zone.

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Their reads and lines off the puck are so smart and clean.

Stick penalties

Tocchet has been clear this week about one thing that’s vexing him and is easy to fix: don’t take stick penalties.

Myers’ minor for slashing late in the first period surely drove him nuts: you can understand Myers confronting Charlie McAvoy over a hard, hard hit on Sam Lafferty, but do it without the stick, man.

The Leafs’ production line

You’d probably never heard of Justin Brazeau before Saturday.

He set up Boston’s first goal, using his giant reach to slide the puck around Quinn Hughes and on to Jesper Boqvist’s stick, who finished the play perfectly.

Brazeau is in just his third NHL game. He’s likely to play many more, given what we saw on this night.

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And he came through the Toronto Maple Leafs’ farm system as a project player.

He’s huge. He could score in junior.

What he couldn’t do was skate.

The Leafs took a flyer on him, built a proper skating program, sent Brazeau to the ECHL and went to work.

The Leafs surely should have held on to him. He looks like he’s going to be a solid depth player for the Bruins from here on.

But where were the stars?

The Canucks’ comeback takes the headline, but underneath that was another vital thing: the Canucks’ defensive play in front was marvellous. They didn’t give much away to Boston.

David Pastrnak had nine shot attempts somehow, but you struggle to identify any of quality.

Brad Marchand played more than 20 minutes and had no shots. He just had a chorus of boos following him around all night.

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The Bruins’ stars are in a slump.

“All due respect, we didn’t have to defend much,” Miller said.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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