RECAP: NUCKS WIN!!! (Really) - Drop the Leafs 3-2 in OT

Welcome unimportant Canucks fans to the least important victory against the most important team in hockey.

Also... suck it, Toronto Broadcasting Cabal!

This was the Canucks most important bounce back, come back win of the season. And for 2 periods it looked like the bouncing back was there, the winning, not so certain.

Most of the pre-game nervosa wasn’t whether the Nucks would lose against the Most Important Team in the Universe, but whether they could/would ever score another goal this season.

Warranted/unwarranted fears aside, who of us knew that Loui would not only break the goal drought, but guarantee the win? (More about that later)

First we have to start in the period where the Nucks goaless drought was extended.

1st Period

Early on it appeared the Nucks had left the worst game of the season in Vegas. Even better, it appeared that Marky still had his elite stopping powers set to full stop.

The little nothing team from the wet coast was outshooting the team from the big, big center of the universe. Nucks outshot the Leafs 15-8.

The Nucks also had a PP in the first. It didn’t do any damage. That’s for later.

2nd Period

And...it’s later. Torana are putting on the pressure. The most important pressure of the most important period of the most important game of the most important fans of the most important team. Whatever.

The skookum Nucks PK killed off an early penalty. To you know who...Poolie, who is still reading Lowry’s little essay, Art of the High Stick.

Stopped the 7th best PP in the league. That’s pretty good.

Better than the 29th ranked PP. As bad as the Nucks power play has been - for too long - you just knew that statistically it had to score.

And it did. A goal against. 2nd unit bobbles gives Marky troubles.

Fans in the ROG are going nutz. The unruly sort of traitor fans that are loved by the HNIC national (Toronto) game crew.

Oh well. Just down a goal. We can tie that up, get it back and start fresh in a couple minutes.

Or not.

Someday Poolie will win a puck battle near our net and world peace will break out. We just know it.

Until then... TO’s fav son sends a pass out front to TO’s other almost fav son, Rielly who pots a soft shot on Marky’s soft short side.

We won’t despair or debate this non-save. Once the Nucks D-corp gets the yips around the net, it makes everyone nervous, including Marky.

But, it’s Laffs up 2-0. That’s full Ughness. While this isn’t the Nucks Vegas strip team that was stripped of the puck, they’re still stripped of goals and the naked feeling of extending the shutout loss streak was more than the game thread could bear. Or beer.

So we switched to wine and whiskey, just in case.

Maybe by the case...because the Nucks were outshot 11-4. That’s very uggghly.

The Leafs have won 32 games when leading after 2. The Nucks have won far, far fewer when trailing.

3rd Period

Trailing. The Nucks are trailing. It’s the 3rd. If there’s a little tiny comeback to come, it needs to start soon.

All the Leafy Maples have to do is not much of anything of importance. The most important period of the most important game of the night was already won in that most important way.

What God’s Own Coach doesn’t know is that his most important victory is doomed by the hockey gods own statisticians.

Statistics don’t win games. The LittleThings do. Gaud willing.

While Schenn doesn’t skate fast, he can pass fast. He passes to our hockey Gaud, who puts a holy pass on Loui’s stick. And Loui flicks a backhand on net. Even better, the puck flicks into the net. Wooo! The game is won!

The game is won? It’s still 2-1 T.O. What kind of weirdo coastal homer math is that?

Doesn’t matter.

Nucks are 8-0-1 when Loui scores. That’s why we pay him the big bucks. With his 10th goal of the season, Loui’s goal per dollar has been discounted again to just $600k each. Sure, we’d like to pay maybe $200k per Loui goal, but he’s not into the little wholesale thing.

Only thing to be decided is which Canucks player gets the tieing goal that leads to the the least important winning goal in the most important game of the night.

Who? I know! I know! Let’s leave it to Leaves. Ex-Leaf, Leivo makes Anderson pay on a shot he probably saw many times in practice. Just not on a Nucks 2nd unit PP rush. Justice, payback-style, is served. In the ROG.

It’s a power play goal scored by the Nucks. On their own power play. I watched it many times, still not sure how it happened. No setup. No predictable passes. No static motion. It was scored on zone entry. It’s a heady mix of disbelief and relief.

The real Fans of the ROG are going wild. The fake fans of the ROG are going WTH?

Doesn’t matter.

Marky has the tie and he’s not giving up on any shot from anyone. Makes a poetic glove stop on Tavares to make the dramatic point.

The never give up, come back kids are back and have momentum, destiny and fluke hockey stats on their side.

Shots are close, 10-8 for the reeling and soon to be doomed Leafs.

OT

Who will win the most important extra point for us? Pete? Almost did. Brock? He assists, the Nucks secret OT wrister weapon, Eddie.

Brock passes to Eddie, looks like he’s skating fast to catch the return pass from Eddie. The pass that the Leafs were waiting for never arrived. Instead, the winning Eddie wrister won the important point.

Wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Not only can the Nucks score again, they can win again. 3 game miserable loss streak is over.

Wooo! Wooo!

Let’s celebrate by getting a tacky dose of homer broadcasting from the most important broadcasting team in the universe.

The 3 stars were Eddie, Marky and Andersen.

The entire Nucks roster were the real stars. Bounced back big to keep the anti-Leaf ROG streak going. Toronto hasn’t won a game in Vancouver in over a decade.

Most Important Game Stats

Most Important Unimportant Team Stats

The Nucks have 4 5 wins after trailing after 2. The Leafs were 32 and 0, when leading after 2. Now it’s 32-0-1.

Great home win after the worst road loss of the year.

How did Bo feel about the win?

“I love beating the Leafs,” Bo said. “There’s nothing better. All the Leafs fans back home, all my buddies and stuff. . . I like beating the Leafs.”

And we love watching the Nucks beat the Center of the Universe’s most important team.

Marky, the Nucks best player so far in the stretch, has bouncy words for a bounce back win.

The Green Room, was effusive with bounciness too.

This feels like a game 5 playoff win after being down 4-0. It’s not, but it feels like it. And feeling good after a Nucks game is a feeling we’ve missed badly.

Because of the wacky weird NHL Department of Weirdo Scheduling, we don’t get to savour this gutsy win for the full 48. Instead, the Nucks had to board a plane at freezing cold YVR to fly up to the so much below freezing cold at the ROP in beautiful downtown Edmonton.

Been to Edmonton and beautiful isn’t the term most use to describe it. A Nucky win in the heart of mismanaged draft picks would be beautiful. Especially if Petey is giving us a hattie.

Hang on to your hatties and toques - the moderately important game begins at 6.