{"id":532564,"date":"2026-03-31T09:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/532564\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:40:13","slug":"canucks-at-golden-knights-march-30-2026-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/532564\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks at Golden Knights, March 30, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Vegas Golden Knights went into Monday\u2019s game with a brand new head coach behind the bench: John Tortorella.<\/p>\n

Replacing your head coach just eight games away from the start of the playoffs while your team is in playoff position is a bold move; replacing your head coach with John Tortorella sends a bold message.<\/p>\n

Tortorella has a reputation for being a hard-nosed coach, who isn\u2019t afraid to bluntly confront his players and demand better from them. He\u2019s the type of coach a general manager brings in when he feels like his team has grown too comfortable, with the hope that his intense style of coaching will light a fire under his players.<\/p>\n

For many players, it works. They appreciate his honesty and transparency, and are motivated by his intensity. For others, it\u2019s too much. There\u2019s a reason why Tortorella earned 38.5% of the vote when The Athletic asked NHL players which coach they\u2019d least like to play for<\/a> in an anonymous poll. <\/p>\n

The Golden Knights are gambling that Tortorella can wake up a lackadaisical roster that has lost 42 games, and is only hanging onto a playoff position because 16 of those losses came in overtime or the shootout.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something that Canucks fans can relate to. Like Vegas, Vancouver once bet on Tortorella. <\/p>\n

When I interviewed Mike Gillis for my book about the Canucks\u2019 history at the NHL draft<\/a>, he described the Tortorella hiring as a compromise with ownership. <\/p>\n

Gillis had broached the subject of a rebuild with Francesco Aquilini after the team was swept in the first round of the 2013 playoffs. Aquilini wasn\u2019t interested in a rebuild, which is somewhat understandable, given the team was just a year removed from back-to-back Presidents\u2019 Trophies.<\/p>\n

Hence, the compromise: while Gillis and his management team quietly started putting together pieces and plans for a rebuild, he gave his aging core one more kick at the can by giving his aging core a kick in the can in the form of Tortorella\u2019s blunt and abrasive coaching style.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t go well.<\/p>\n

The Canucks, who had won the Northwest Division in five-straight seasons, fell to fifth in the newly-renamed Pacific Division and missed the playoffs entirely. Some of the blame could be apportioned to Tortorella, who made odd choices, like splitting up the Sedins, moving Ryan Kesler to the wing, and using Dan Hamhuis as the lone defenceman on the power play. <\/p>\n

There were other oddities, like his refusal to live in Vancouver, instead making his home in Point Roberts, Washington, resulting in the installation of a Murphy bed<\/a> in his office at Rogers Arena.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the infamous occasion when Tortorella was suspended for 15 days after trying to punch his way into the Calgary Flames\u2019 dressing room during the intermission of a game in January. It was a terrible decision, but it at least led to one of the greatest songs in hockey history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll remember an autotuned-Tortorella singing \u201cDon\u2019t push me\u201d when I\u2019m in a nursing home and can no longer recognize the faces of my children.<\/p>\n

Tortorella\u2019s most consequential decision, of course, was choosing to start Eddie Lack over Roberto Luongo in the Heritage Classic, a move that was the final straw for the frustrated star, who demanded a trade and was sent to the Florida Panthers.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Gillis never got to enact his planned rebuild, as he was canned before the end of the 2013-14 season. Tortorella was let go a few weeks later.<\/p>\n

But, for all the many reasons why Tortorella\u2019s time in Vancouver was a disaster, he was dead right about one thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt from day one that [the core is] stale,\u201d said Tortorella at his end-of-season press conference. \u201cThat\u2019s not their fault. This is a group that has been together for a long time. It needs youth. It needs a change. The team needs to be retooled. It\u2019s a young man\u2019s game. It\u2019s certainly not a criticism of [the veterans]. We need to surround them with some enthusiasm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay, Tortorella wasn\u2019t 100 per cent right: he said \u201cretool\u201d instead of \u201crebuild.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did the Canucks respond to Tortorella\u2019s declaration that they needed to retool? They hired Jim Benning, who insisted the Canucks were a team he could turn around in a hurry. Instead, the Canucks missed the playoffs in six of Benning\u2019s eight seasons as general manager.<\/p>\n

The repercussions of their refusal to rebuild can still be felt in the current Canucks. The Canucks let an abundance of veterans go to free agency instead of trading them for draft picks, which led to a lacklustre prospect pool, which led to an inability to build around the team\u2019s top players, which led to a lack of success, which ultimately led to Quinn Hughes demanding a trade.<\/p>\n

Now, finally, the Canucks appear to be committed to a rebuild, a dozen years after Tortorella was fired. And what a dozen years it has been.<\/p>\n

Honestly, I\u2019m not sure John Tortorella has aged a day. He\u2019s looking pretty dang good for 67, which is not a meme. It\u2019s just his actual age.<\/p>\n

I avoided storming the Golden Knights\u2019 dressing room when I watched this game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This was the 1000th game of Evander Kane\u2019s career, which is an impressive milestone, though somewhat undercut by it being an entirely meaningless game for the Canucks. I have to wonder if both he and the Canucks would have preferred that milestone to come with a different, playoff-bound team.<\/p>\n

It may not have been a game of consequence, but Kane still had to feel pretty good about scoring the opening goal in the milestone game. It was truly a lovely finish by Kane, as he sped up the ice on a 2-on-1, took the pass from Jake DeBrusk, and neatly deked to the backhand to put the puck past Adin Hill.<\/p>\n

Kane\u2019s finish was nice, but DeBrusk DeServes DeBulk of DePraise. He made a great defensive play, coming down deep into the slot to support his defencemen, then knocked the puck out of the zone for the 2-on-1. Then he held the puck long enough to get Rasmus Andersson to commit to his side of the ice before flipping a sublime saucer pass into Kane\u2019s path. That was a chef\u2019s kiss of a pass.<\/p>\n

Side note: it\u2019s a shame the Canucks didn\u2019t score a bunch of goals on Adin Hill to run up the score in this game, because I would have loved to make a \u201crunning up that Hill<\/a>\u201d joke. <\/p>\n

The Canucks took a 1-0 lead into the second period, and (this may come as a shock) that lead swiftly disappeared. They\u2019re the worst team in the league in the second period \u2014 I mean, they\u2019re the worst team in the league, period \u2014\u00a0so it\u2019s not too surprising that they gave up three goals, which ultimately cost them the game.<\/p>\n

Kevin Lankinen had a pretty strong game and deserved better. The poor guy has just one win in his last 15 starts. He did his best to keep the Canucks in the lead, robbing Mark Stone at the toe of a tic-tac-toe passing play early in the second.<\/p>\n

Lankinen had no chance on the first Vegas goal. Tomas Hertl knocked down a shot in front of Lankinen, then moved the puck to Rasmus Andersson at the backdoor for a tap-in goal. Andersson had activated from the point when Drew O\u2019Connor had his back turned, leaving him wide open.<\/p>\n

The Canucks took the lead back a few minutes later on the power play. Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser made like Ray and John Kinsella<\/a> and played a little catch, pulling Mark Stone out of position to try to break it up. That\u2019s when Boeser slipped back into the slot with a clear lane for Filip Hronek to find him with a slap pass for a top corner deflection.<\/p>\n

Linus Karlsson and Jeremy Lauzon were in each other\u2019s kitchens all game, and the tension broke out in a big ol\u2019 brouhaha midway through the second period, with Teddy Blueger dropping the gloves with Colton Sissons out of the wild scrum. But the highlight for me was seeing the lonely puck sliding through the neutral zone as everyone was scrapping, as if it was saying, \u201cHey, uh, guys? Does anybody want to play with me? You know, hockey? Anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights took advantage of a young defence pair to tie things up again. Victor Mancini got caught on a pinch as Vegas cleared the puck, leaving Elias Pettersson (D) in a tough spot. He made that spot a lot tougher by chasing the puck, believing he could win the race, instead of backing into a defensive posture to face a 2-on-1. His overeagerness left Shea Theodore all alone in the middle, and Theodore sniped a shot past Lankinen.<\/p>\n

Just over a minute later, a brutal defensive breakdown left Reilly Smith all alone at the backdoor. One of Jake DeBrusk, Teddy Blueger, or Evander Kane should have been marking Smith, which might be part of the problem, as each of them likely thought one of the other two was going to do it. Unlike the three veteran Canucks forwards, Brayden McNabb found Smith for the easy goal.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t even think the goal was necessarily Kane\u2019s fault, but this clip on the replay is kind of hilarious. There\u2019s something about a wide-open Smith scoring, Tom Willander gesturing as if to say, \u201cWhy was he open?!\u201d and then Kane sadly skating into frame. It\u2019s like a short film, but shorter. A micro-short film.<\/p>\n

The third period didn\u2019t really matter. Smith scored an empty-net goal. Who cares? No one, that\u2019s who. <\/p>\n

Just nine more games. <\/p>\n

Thanks for reading Pass it to Bulis! This post is public so feel free to share it.<\/p>\n

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