Brendan Gallagher finally put a point on the board in Vancouver, even if the night ended the same way the recent stretch has for the Canucks: with another loss.
The former Canadiens winger, now in his first season with the Vancouver Canucks, picked up his first point with his new club on Sunday against the New York Rangers. On a penalty kill, Gallagher brought the puck into the zone and set up Elias Pettersson, who took his time, found his spot, and beat rookie goalie Dylan Garland.
It marked a small individual step in what has been a rocky start in Vancouver. Gallagher has appeared in six of the Canucks’ seven games so far. He was a healthy scratch on Thursday, October 8, when Vancouver fell 7-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes, then returned to the lineup Saturday in a 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils without getting on the scoresheet.
Against the Rangers, the Canucks were back in action on the second night of a back-to-back, and Gallagher logged 13 minutes of ice time. He finished with four shot attempts, one shot on goal, three hits and two giveaways across 16 shifts.
The move to Vancouver came after an offseason split with Montreal. For the first time in 15 years, the Canadiens opened their season without Gallagher after the organization and player went their separate ways when the winger requested a trade, realizing he was no longer part of the Canadiens’ plans. Kent Hughes sent him where he wanted to go: back home with the Vancouver Canucks.
The Canucks, meanwhile, are still searching for their footing. They sit at 2-5-0 with four points, sixth in the Pacific Division and 27th in the league.
They’ve dropped four straight. That kind of start fits a rebuilding club, but it’s still a jarring adjustment for Gallagher, who spent years seeing better results in Montreal.
The Canadiens aren’t exactly rolling either, though, sitting at 2-2-1 with five points.
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For Montreal, that kind of framework matters because it hints at how steep the market would be before the Canadiens even get to the hardest part of the equation. Kent Hughes can check in, but the real obstacle may be getting Larkin's side to view Montreal as the right landing spot, and until that changes, the Canadiens are stuck watching a chase that looks expensive long before it looks realistic. [Read more 🡒]