Vancouver Canucks, Bo Horvat

Canucks Notch a Must Win in Buffalo 5-4

The Vancouver Canucks improved their record to 5-9-and-3 on the early season with a 5-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The Canucks finished their five-game road trip with a record of 2-and-3. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Vancouver as it extended Buffalo’s skid to six games.

The goals came early and often over the first two periods for the Canucks from a variety of sources:

1st Period

1-0 Vancouver – Even Strength – Dakota Joshua (3) from Nils Aman and Will Lockwood, 8:01

The big forward potted a nice cross-ice feed down low from Aman after hard work from Lockwood, who tallied his first NHL point.

2-0 Vancouver – Even Strength – Ethan Bear (1) from Bo Horvat and Conor Garland, 9:18

Nice snipe from the slot on a pretty, blind drop pass from Horvat with an impeccable screen set by J.T. Miller.

2nd Period

3-1 Vancouver – Even Strength – Elias Pettersson (7) from Oliver Ekman-Larsson, :31

While moving past the front of the net, a beauty tip-in by ‘Petey’ of a OEL point shot, just after a Canucks power play ended.

4-2 Vancouver – Power Play – J.T. Miller (10) from Bo Horvat, 7:13

Clean face-off win leads directly to a shot and a goal from Miller in the slot.

5-2 Vancouver – Power Play – Bo Horvat (14) from Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, 8:25

On a bad short-handed line change by the Sabres, Horvat barges in on a breakaway and rips one past Craig Anderson.

Both teams finished with 32 shots-on-goal, with special teams being the difference. The Canucks finished 2-for-3 on the power play, the Sabres 0-for-3.

Canucks 3 Stars

1) Bo Horvat – The red hot captain continued his torrid scoring pace with a goal and two assists. He won a whopping 65-percent of his face-offs and fired 8 shots-on-goal. Played 22:42.

2) Elias Pettersson – A goal and an assist in 18:49 of ice time. Played 3:28 on the power play and 3:06 short-handed.

3) Will Lockwood – In his 16th career NHL game, the Michigander finally picked up his first point. He added 2 hits, 2 blocked shots, 1 shot-on-goal, and a takeaway in 10:18 of energetic ice time with the 4th liners.

Implications for Bruce Boudreau’s hot seat

Rob Simpson

Rob Simpson has covered the NHL in five different decades. He’s authored 4 books on hockey and is a veteran TV and radio play-by-play man and reporter.