The Vancouver Canucks didn’t get the result they wanted against the New York Islanders, but a few individual efforts still stood out in the 3-2 loss. Leevi Meriläinen, Max Sasson and Liam Öhgren each left their mark in different ways, and those moments helped keep Vancouver within striking distance.
Meriläinen was again the steadying force. The goaltender turned aside a handful of dangerous looks from some of the Islanders’ best pieces, including defenceman Matthew Schaefer, and finished with three goals allowed on 38 shots.
That kind of workload can tilt a game quickly, but Meriläinen kept the crease under control through the Islanders’ early push and another wild spell of chances in the third period. With that outing, he’s now at a 2.40 GAA and a .926 SV%.
Sasson brought the burst. Using his speed the way he does best, he scored Vancouver’s opening goal on Tuesday night by flying into the Islanders’ zone and shooting right after a line change.
The finish gave the Canucks a jolt and helped them start building some momentum as they looked to claw back. Sasson also drew a crucial penalty late in the second period, which set Vancouver up on the power play to open the third.
He logged 11:40 of ice time and added a block.
Öhgren kept creating chances, and that pressure paid off in a roundabout way. He drew the penalty that led to Brock Boeser’s game-tying goal, continuing a strong stretch of chance generation. Öhgren also took a cross-check from Ondřej Palát that went uncalled.
The Canucks came up short in the final score, but these three performances gave them enough to fight through most of the night.
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Jonathan Lekkerimkis role is one of the more intriguing parts of that evaluation, especially as the Canucks keep testing how their young forwards and defensemen fit into the longer-term plan. Vancouver is not just chasing short-term stability, it is also trying to find out which prospects can move from promising pieces to real building blocks. In that sense, the battle for minutes has started to matter almost as much as the results, and the next decisions should say plenty about where the team sees its future coming from. [Read more 🡒]
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The Islanders, now 3-3-0, got a needed lift from a night in which Palmieri ended his scoring drought and provided the kind of finishing touch they have been chasing. Vancouver, meanwhile, leaves with another reminder that a lead alone does not always tell the full story. The Canucks will want a faster answer the next time they are in position to control a game, because these are the moments that can linger in October and shape how a fan base sees the team early. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Start Is Fueling A Draft Debate Fans Never Wanted
By Oct. 13, the Canucks sluggish start has them sitting with the fifth-worst record in the NHL, and the numbers around it help explain why. Among the leagues bottom-seven clubs, Vancouver has been dragged down by a low goal total, leaky play in its own end, and underwhelming special teams that have left little room for early optimism.
What makes the situation uncomfortable is where it leaves the organization in the draft picture. A poor season can bring a major payoff in a talent-rich class, but every small push upward in the standings risks nudging Vancouver out of the best lottery range and deeper into the pack, where the path to landing a true difference-maker gets a lot less straightforward. [Read more 🡒]