The Florida Panthers saw their seven-game point streak come to end as they were shut out 4-0 by the Vancouver Canucks. Florida fell to the Canucks by the same score in their visit to Rogers Arena last season.
Vancouver got what turned out to be the game-winning goal early. After Teddy Blueger tipped Mackie Samoskevich’s pass intended for Tomas Nosek, causing the veteran pivot to take a tumble, at center ice, the Canucks fourth line went the other way with Max Sasson gaining the zone before dropping to trailer Carson Soucy, who rifled a shot by Sergei Bobrovsky’s glove at 2:23.
The fourth line clicked again for the Canucks with 1:09 left in the frame off the rush. Blueger centered to Danton Heinen, who moved the puck to his right to Sasson. Sasson returned to Heinen at the front of the net and he deflected the pass past Bobrovsky’s skate to make it 2-0.
The Panthers dominated the second period, but Lankinen stopped all 13 shots faced and Vancouver got the only goal at 4:53, when Brock Boeser missed wide right and the rebound came back to him on the left side and he put the puck in with Bobrovsky completely out of position. The assists on Boeser’s goal went to J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes.
Those two would combine to set up Jake DeBrusk for a power-play goal with 7:05 left in the game. DeBrusk tipped Hughes’ one-timer from the point into Bobrovsky and puck tumbled off the goaltender and over the goal line.
The icing on the cake came after Lankinen made strong saves on Matthew Tkachuk, Niko Mikkola and Sam Bennett early in the third.
It just wasn’t the Panthers night. Although they out-shot the Canucks 27-19, the home team did a very good job of controlling the middle of the ice and not giving the Cats much to work with. That limited the amount of high-danger chances and aided Lankinen in posting his third shutout of the season. The return of Miller helped Vancouver win 56% of the game’s draws. Florida will get back at it on Saturday night, when they pay a visit to old friends Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weeger and the rest of the Calgary Flames.
Orcas & Minnows
- After edging the Panthers 3-2 in overtime on October 18, the Canucks swept them for the second straight season. The last time Florida beat Vancouver was on December 1, 2022.
- Aleksander Barkov registered four shots on goal, but could not extend his point streak to eight games. It’s only the third time in the last 20 games that the captain has been held off the score sheet.
- In addition to posting his league-leading third shutout (tied with Connor Hellebuyck and Sam Montembeault), Kevin Lankinen notched his 14th win. He’s just three away from matching his career-high of 17, set in 2020-21 as a rookie with the Chicago Blackhawks.
- Evan Rodrigues, who got behind the defense early in the first, but couldn’t get a shot off, finished with a game-high five shots on goal, three hits and a block. Gritty game from eRod.
- J.T. Miller collected two assists, won 60% of his faceoffs and was credited with one hit in his first game since November 17, a 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators.