Canucks Overcome Controversial Call, Defeat The Senators 4-3

Despite a late comeback, the shorthanded Vancouver Canucks hung on to defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-3. Jake DeBursk (2), Teddy Blueger and Kiefer Sherwood provided the goals, while Kevin Lankinen stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced in the victory. With the win, the Canucks move to 7-1-0 on the road and have now won their last five games against the Senators.

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The biggest storyline from this game happened in the first period when Quinn Hughes received a boarding major and a game misconduct just 12:29 in. Hughes hit Josh Norris from behind, which caused Norris to depart the game for a short period of time. While the hit was dangerous, the controversy comes from the game misconduct, as Hughes was kicked out due to NHL rule 41.5, which reads, "When a major penalty is imposed under this rule for an infraction resulting in an injury to the face or head of an opponent, a game misconduct shall be imposed." The problem is that a similar boarding penalty happened just a few minutes before, yet Ottawa's Artem Zub only received a two-minute minor. While the main story will be that the Canucks won without their Norris-winning defenceman playing the majority of the game, there should be some eyebrows raised with the way this game was officiated.

While Tocchet wouldn't go too into detail about the penalty, he did say, "I think the guy (Josh Norris) hit his head or something. I got to see it again. It's hard for me to comment. I mean, I don't think it was a vicious cross-check. I don't know if it was a push or something. So I got to take a look at it."

As for the game itself, Vancouver deserves a lot of praise for the way they played. While there were some chaotic moments, they kept the Senators under control for the majority of the night and even frustrated their opponent, killing over a 1:40 of time in the third on a delayed penalty. Whether it was blocking shots or playing a physical game, the Canucks capitalized on their opportunities and played the way Tocchet wants his teams to play.

Post-game, Tocchet was pleased with the play of his team, especially the defensemen. He said, "You don't want your D in the scrums. You don't want to take penalties because they're because they're on fumes as it is. Getting the puck in deep, like managing the puck, I thought we did a nice job most of the night of managing the puck. When you only have 5 D, you got to be careful because you might double shift a couple of D men, and when they're out there a long time, that's a tough grind. So I think we manage the puck well tonight."

While there were many standouts, arguably the best line for tonight was DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson, and Sherwood. The trio combined for three goals, seven points, seven shots, four blocked shots, and 15 hits. Even though this line has not been together long, it is clear that they have immense chemistry and are stepping up massively for Vancouver at the moment.

Lastly, it was a special night for Max Sasson as he recorded his first career assist in his first career game. In an interview with Sportsnet after the game, Sasson said, "I'll remember it as a really special night for my family and myself. All my friends and people I have been with in hockey and life watching it's super special. These guys make it easy. They were super excited for me that I got to play my first game. I just felt super comfortable."

As for Tocchet, he was pleased with Sasson's game, saying, "I really liked his game. I mean, to just get called up out of the blue. He sees the moment, you know. So it was nice to see him go and contribute for us tonight."

Overall, this feels like a win that Vancouver will hopefully be able to build off of. They faced controversy early, yet still found a way to leave Ottawa with the Canadian Tire Centre with a victory. Overall, it was a hard-fought win and a strong way to kick off the six-game road trip.

Facts and Stats:

Scoring Summary:

- With his goal, Teddy Blueger tied Karlis Skrastins for the fourth most points by a Latvian player in NHL history at 135.

- Kiefer Sherwood records his fourth game of the season with at least ten hits

- Jake DeBrusk records at least three points for the 13th time in his NHL career

- Canucks record a season-high 19 blocked shots

1st Period:

18:36- VAN: Jake DeBrusk (4) from Conor Garland and Filip Hronek (PPG)

2nd Period:

3:41- OTT: Brady Tkachuk (10) from Jake Sanderson and Drake Batherson (PPG)
9:23- VAN: Teddy Blueger (4) from Max Sasson and Tyler Myers
13:01- VAN: Jake DeBrusk (5) from Kiefer Sherwood and Elias Pettersson

3rd Period:

8:41- VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (6) from Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson
16:29- OTT: Claude Giroux (6) from Josh Norris
19:16- OTT: Tim Stützle (9) from Claude Giroux and Drake Batherson

Up Next:

The Canucks continue their six-game road trip Tuesday when they visit the Boston Bruins. There will be plenty of familiarity in this game as DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Nikita Zadorov, and Elias Lindholm will be facing off against their former teams. Game time is set for 4:00 pm PT from TD Garden.