Wake With Elias- Oct 24, 2021: Demko, Garland And Horvat Spoil The Party

I love a storybook ending, don’t you?

In this one, the citizens of the Emerald City went home unhappy (and not just because it was $16.50 for a can of beer) because a precocious little munchkin ruined what was supposed to be their special night.

Conor Garland continued the torrid start to his tenure as a Canuck, scoring the game winning goal as the Canucks battled back to trash the Kraken’s home ice debut in Seattle last night, by a score of 4-2. He also added another chapter to the growing legend that is going to make him one of this town’s most beloved players:

Thatcher Demko came through with another massive game, stopping 29 of 31 Kraken shots for his third victory of the season. Bo Horvat scored twice, each time tying the game after the Kraken had taken the lead in what was his best performance of the young season. J.T. Miller continues to play well, as he added two assists for a team leading seven on the year so far.

Defensively, the Canucks played a pretty solid game, overcoming a bizarre stretch where they went sixteen minutes without a shot on goal, as well as Seattle opening the scoring with less than four seconds left in the first. And when they finally got that shot on goal? It was Scorevat getting his team back in the game.

And when you talk about how much Horvat having big games fuels this team, it’s not just lip service.

A huge third period was the difference here, as the Canucks responded to the go ahead goal by Kraken captain Mark Giordano with a PP marker from Horvat.

After that, it was Garland with a beautiful shot fake to get Phillip Grubauer to open the gates as Garland went fivehole, getting the winner.

It’s early, but this could end up being the biggest trade the Canucks have made since they got Markus Naslund for Alek Stojanov.

Can we also talk about the Canucks holding Seattle to just seven shots in the third, including none in the last three and a half minutes? After the debacle in Buffalo, the Canucks have responded with two solid efforts, rattling off wins and most importantly, in this one, not giving up a point to a divisional opponent.

There was a ton of action yesterday, so let’s recap what happened, starting with the New York Rangers, who were down 2-0 to the Ottawa Senators less than two minutes into the 3rd. Thanks to a late comeback that saw them score three in 3:20, including the winner from 80’s teen movie rich kid/villain Barclay Goodrow, the Rangers left with a 3-2 win, taking over first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Elias Lindholm had the hat trick including the OT winner as the Calgary Flames salvaged blowing a game where they led 3-0 after 20 minutes in a 4-3 win in Washington. Alex Ovechkin had his fifth goal of the season in the loss.

Ryan Hartman’s goal with thirteen seconds left in OT helped the Minnesota Wild move to 4-0-0 as they defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-3. The Wild are in Vancouver Tuesday for the Canucks’ home opener.

Paul Stastny’s second goal of the game was the difference as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Nashville Predators 6-4 in Winnipeg.

Montreal snapped their winless streak to start the season in a big way, pasting the Detroit Red Wings 6-1 on the strength of a hat trick from Mathieu Perreault.

Brayden Point was able to send this game to OT, but Tampa would fall to the Colorado Avalanche in the shootout, losing 4-3. Tampa is the only team to not score a first period goal so far this season.

Nico Hischier scored a PPG in the 3rd to send it to OT, where Pavel Zacha got the winner as the New Jersey Devils took down the Buffalo Sabres 2-1.

The Florida Panthers are 5-0-0 after a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice, including the short-handed winner in the third, as they move to first place overall in the NHL with that win.

Another dreadful night from the Toronto Maple Leafs as they got absolutely stomped in Pittsburgh, dropping a 7-1 decision to the Penguins. They also got trolled pretty hard on Twitter by the Pens...

The Carolina Hurricanes are still undefeated to start the season as they handed a 5-1 thrashing to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Canes scored three power play goals in this one to move to 4-0-0.

Speaking of 4-0-0, that’s where the St Louis Blues are at after they walloped the Los Angeles Kings 7-3. David Perron led the way with a hat trick, and special teams were the killer here. The Blues scored four times on the power play and added a short-handed goal for good measure.

Arizona is still looking for their first win of the season after a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders at home last night. Ilya Sorokin recorded the 26 save shutout for the Isles, who continue their massive 13 game road trip to start this season while they await completion of their new arena on Long Island.

Four games in the NHL today, the Sharks look to keep their undefeated streak alive as they visit Boston to take on the Bruins... Minnesota hosts Nashville as the Wild look to move to 5-0-0 to start the year... Detroit is in Chicago as the Blackhawks desperately try to get a win for the first time this season... and the Islanders are in Vegas, hoping to compound the Golden Knights’ season-starting misery after a 1-3-0 start.