Renewed by their back-to-back pre-holiday wins last week, the Vancouver Canucks came out of the Christmas break with confidence and a consistent game and beat the visiting San Jose Sharks 6-2.
It also may have re-established some swagger on home ice, something the club noticeably lacked at Rogers Arena until last Thursday’s 6-5 comeback win over the Seattle Kraken in a shoot-out. With the victory over the Sharks, Vancouver moved to 7-9-1 at home and one game over .500 for the season overall.
Canucks Goal Scorers
1st Period
1-0 Canucks – Even Strength – Bo Horvat (25), from Ilya Mikheyev and Brock Boeser, 4:26
A blocked shot/pass slid down to Horvat at the left post and he backhanded it in behind James Reimer.
2-0 Canucks – Even Strength – Elias Pettersson (16) from Lane Pederson and Luke Schenn, 16:03
‘Petey’ charged in to finish off a second rebound off of Reimer and tuck it under his pads.
2nd Period
3-1 Canucks – Even Strength – Ilya Mikheyev (12) from Andrei Kuzmenko and Tyler Myers, 4:36
A deflected cross ice pass ended up right in Mikheyev’s wheelhouse and he ripped it home from the RW circle.
4-1 Canucks – Even Strength – Quinn Hughes (1) from Ilya Mikheyev and Bo Horvat, 6:16
On his second trip stickhandling around the offensive zone Hughes went bar down from the left wing circle.
3rd Period
5-1 Canucks – Even Strength – Bo Horvat (26) from Brock Boeser, 12:11
As the lead man on a 3-on-1 off a Sharks turnover, Horvat took a pass and ripped a twister wrister post-and-in.
6-2 Canucks – Even Strength – Brock Boeser (6) from Bo Horvat and Ilya Mikheyev, 17:32
Had all day from the right wing circle to ready, aim, fire, top shelf blocker side on Reimer.
— Horvat has eight multi-goal games this season and is now tied with Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres for 2nd in the NHL with his 26 goals. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers leads the way with 31.
— Vancouver visits the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night and the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.
Canucks 3 Stars:
1) Ilya Mikheyev – A goal and three assists in 15:31 of ice time.
2) Bo Horvat – Tough to argue with the overall output and two goals and two assists on the night.
3) Brock Boeser – A goal and two assists in 17:14 of ice time.
