麻豆传媒映画

Technically speaking, that was a game of hockey.

It might have been the worst game of the season in terms of entertainment value, but it was still a game of hockey. There were two teams, a puck, a couple of referees, and a rink with ice and two nets. It was all very official.

And yet, despite this being a truly dreadful game that was painful to watch, there were a couple of things made it a special night.

With an assist on the game-winning goal in overtime, Quinn Hughes tied Alex Edler for the franchise record for most points by a 麻豆传媒映画Canucks defenceman. He matched that record despite having played 493 fewer games for the Canucks than Edler.

That’s special.

“I was lucky enough to watch Edler break it — I think it was my first career game when he did it — so I’m very honoured,” said Hughes to the Canucks’ Olivia McDonald after the game. “It’s been a blessing to play here.”

It was also an important game for Kirill Kudryavtsev and Nikita Tolopilo, who both made their debuts in the NHL after getting the call up from the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL.

“That’s pretty special, we’re roommates in Abby,” said Tolopilo. “Kind of split the rookie lap with him.”

“Kirill…is like my little brother now,” he added.

Was Tolopilo nervous? Well, no.

“I really wasn’t too nervous,” said Tolopilo. “I’ve played hockey for a while.”

It wasn’t just Tolopilo’s first NHL game, of course; it was also his first NHL win. He wasn’t too busy, as the skaters in front of him limited the Sharks to just 16 shots, but he stopped enough pucks to get the victory, as well as a pretty decent-looking .938 save percentage. 

This could be the first start of many for Tolopilo; it could be his only chance to play in the NHL. Either way, it was a special moment and it’s given Tolopilo a hunger to get back to the NHL in the near future.

“I’m just so glad that I got the chance,” said Tolopilo. “It was a long journey for me and I’m so happy with what I’ve done before and now I just have to do even more hard work in the summer. And we’re not done in Abby, I want to have a long run there too. Just to build from this game, I think it’s going to give me a little bit more confidence, for sure.”

Tolopilo said that he grew up watching NHL games and highlights as a kid in Belarus, dreaming of one day playing in the NHL like his favourite goaltender, Pekka Rinne. It was a goal that sometimes seemed impossible. 

“It’s the best league,” said Tolopilo. “I was dreaming about that since I was a kid…My hometown in Belarus is far away from here. You just want to play here. Every day, it’s tough to be here, it’s not just given to you.”

So yes, it wasn’t a particularly good game. At times, it was mind-numbing and even sleep-inducing. But it was also the culmination of a kid’s dream that took decades to come true. It doesn’t get much more special than that.

Thanks to Tolopilo, I reevaluated what I had just seen after I watched this game.

• The Canucks outshot the Sharks 12-to-3 in the first period but couldn’t find a way to get one of those shots past Alexandar Georgiev. That’s less than ideal, given that Georgiev’s .872 save percentage is the worst in the NHL among goaltenders who have played 20+ games.
   
• Here’s an example of the thrilling, mile-a-minute action in the first period: a solid 15 seconds of neither team playing the puck after it went off Jake DeBrusk’s hand. If Brock Boeser touched it, the play would be blown dead for a hand pass. If the Sharks touched it, they’d have to defend in their own zone. So, no one touched it. NHL HOCKEY, THE FASTEST SPORT IN THE WORLD, YOU PAY FOR THE WHOLE SEAT BUT YOU’LL ONLY NEED THE EDGE!

• “DeBrusk, you’re okay! DeBrusk, you’re okay to play it! DeBrusk, you’re okay!” shouted referee Frederick L’Ecuyer, trying to let DeBrusk know that since the puck went off his hand, it wouldn’t be a hand pass if he played it. It was the most facepalm-inducing moment of the season.
   
• Despite the tilted shot totals, the Sharks opened the scoring on a second-period power play. There wasn’t much Tolopilo could do, as Elias “The Only Healthy Elias Pettersson” Pettersson gave Macklin Celebrini the same amount of time L’Ecuyer gave the Canucks and Sharks to play the puck. Celebrini ripped a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot that went about a million miles an hour off the crossbar and in. They don’t shoot the puck like that in the AHL.
   
• Victor Mancini took all three of the Canucks’ minor penalties, which probably cost him the Lady Byng Trophy. This was one of those games that illustrates he still has quite a bit of growth ahead of him before he should be considered a latkes part of the Canucks’ D-corps.
   
• “I thought it was a tough night for me,” said Mancini. “I’m one who prides myself on not making the same mistake twice and I had too many of those tonight. But I’m just going to focus on being happy we grinded out a win…I’m just going to focus on the positive and turn the page tomorrow, look towards Wednesday, and get better.”
   
• I didn’t get a chance to talk to Kudryavtsev after the game like I did Tolopilo, but it should be noted that the defenceman was very good in his NHL debut. He led the Canucks defence in corsi percentage, as shot attempts were 13-to-6 for the Canucks when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. He wasn’t overly sheltered either, as he played a decent amount against the Sharks’ second line and, in his more limited time against the Sharks’ top line, the Canucks scored their one goal in regulation.
   
• “Playing with him, he makes it easy,” said Mancini of Kudryavtsev. “He communicates, he’s confident with the puck, he can make plays. It’s just really enjoyable.”
   
• It was simple stuff for Kudryavtsev: board battles, poise with the puck, and crisp passes. It wasn’t anything fancy, he was just solid in pretty much every aspect. On one shift against the Sharks’ top line, he faced on onrushing Nikolai Kovalenko and played a perfect gap, disrupting the puck with his stick and riding Kovalenko into the boards to turn the puck over. Textbook.

• “I thought Kirill was good,” said Rick Tocchet. “I liked him in camp. I haven’t seen him since, but I think there’s something there. I think there’s a good shot for him down the road. Good feet, good brain, good stick.”
   
• It took until midway through the third period for the Canucks to finally solve the NHL’s worst regular goaltender. It took Georgiev giving up one of the worst rebounds I have ever seen for the Canucks to score, as Teddy Blueger tried to chip a pass through to Drew O’Connor but missed his teammate, so the puck slid on net instead. Somehow, Georgiev knocked a rebound to the top of the crease with his stick, giving the net-crashing Linus Karlsson a wide-open net. 

• Full credit to Karlsson for being in the right place at the right time. “That’s where I score in Abbotsford too,” said Karlsson. “Just try to be around the net. All my goals are from that area.”
   
• “You guys know Tomas Holmström for the Detroit Red Wings,” said Tocchet. “He kind of reminds me [of him]. He was a hell of a player and he was probably one of the best net-front guys in the league for his era. He was one of the top guys. I think that’s a goal for a guy like Karly. Can he be that wiry, control that net-front guy, and get those type of goals? I think there’s something there.”
   
• I don't think Karlsson is the next Holmström — not that Tocchet was saying he is — but I have to admit that my respect for Karlsson is grudgingly growing. I'm still concerned about his footspeed, but it's entirely possible that he has the hockey IQ and physical tools to overcome that deficiency.
   
• The Canucks controlled the puck for essentially the entire overtime, outshooting the Sharks 8-to-1, with the Sharks’ one shot coming from the point for an easy Tolopilo save. Quinn Hughes skated miles en route to 30:34 in ice time, his fifth-highest time on ice of the season. Why Hughes is playing over half an hour in game 81 when the team is eliminated from playoff contention, I don’t know.
   
• Hughes also caught Tolopilo off-guard with a sudden pass back to the goaltender from the offensive zone. Tolopilo rushed out to try to cut off the puck before the goal line but misjudged it and the puck went into the no-play zone. He tried to chase it down into the trapezoid behind the net, but couldn’t catch up to it. Fortunately, DeBrusk came back to maintain possession. It was the one time all game that Tolopilo seemed flustered.

• “I was thinking the puck would go slower,” said Tolopilo. “A little mistake but I’m lucky that nothing happened.”
   
• Hughes helped keep the game from going to the shootout. In the final seconds, the Canucks captain skated circles in the offensive zone before setting up a Boeser one-timer that whistled wide. The shot was hard enough, however, to ricochet back out front, where DeBrusk made like and polka'd it home. 
   
• The goal didn’t just tie a franchise record for Hughes with the assist but also set a new career-high for DeBrusk with 28 goals. I tried to ask him about it after the game, but it was at the same time as Tolopilo’s media scrum, and DeBrusk insisted that those gathering around him go talk to the rookie instead: “Get the kid, it’s his first game! Go give him his due!”