{"id":551358,"date":"2026-04-12T20:57:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/551358\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T20:57:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:57:54","slug":"hockey-chaos-101-canucks-survive-another-wild-one-vs-sharks-the-hockey-writers-vancouver-canucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/551358\/","title":{"rendered":"Hockey Chaos 101: Canucks Survive Another Wild One vs Sharks – The Hockey Writers – Vancouver Canucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Given the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> season, how do fans even make sense of a 4\u20133 win over San Jose<\/a>? It was one of those games that looked like chaos in real time, but still managed to tell us quite a bit about where this young group is at.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t clean, structured, airtight, or particularly pretty hockey. But it had pace, mistakes to learn from, and \u2014 most importantly \u2014 responses. And when you\u2019re talking about young players, that last part matters just as much as the highlight reel stuff.<\/p>\n

Related: 4 Takeaways From Canucks\u2019 4-3 Shootout Win Over the Sharks<\/a><\/p>\n

So here\u2019s what stood out.<\/p>\n

First, These Young Canucks Have Some Guts in Tight Moments<\/p>\n

The Canucks got pushed around in stretches, had breakdowns, and spent more time chasing the game than they wanted. But every time it looked like San Jose might take control, Vancouver found a way to hang around. That alone says something about this group.<\/p>\n

\"JakeVancouver Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

The power play deserves credit. Jake DeBrusk\u2019s greasy finish \u2014 his 17th power-play goal of the season \u2014 was exactly the kind of goal you need in games like this. Just go to the net, make life difficult, and good things happen. Teddy Blueger also jumped in with a late goal that felt like one of those quiet momentum swings. Funny enough, it was his first power-play point in his 450th NHL game \u2014 one of those little hockey quirks you don\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n

Related: Canucks History of Selecting 3rd Overall in the NHL Draft<\/a><\/p>\n

Elias Pettersson was constantly involved, firing seven shots and driving play, while Filip Hronek showed his usual ability to find seams and move the puck north. It wasn\u2019t perfect, but the bigger point is simple: when the game got messy \u2014 and it always does late in the season \u2014 this group didn\u2019t fold. They just kept playing.<\/p>\n

Second, the Young Defence and Wings Are Still Figuring It Out<\/p>\n

This was the learning curve part of the night. You saw good instincts, good reads, and plenty of willingness<\/a> to make plays. You also saw the kind of mistakes that remind you these are still developing players.<\/p>\n

Liam \u00d6hgren had one of those moments on a misread against Igor Chernyshov that led to a Sharks goal. Nothing catastrophic, but definitely a teaching moment. One hesitation in this league ends up behind your goalie.<\/p>\n

\"LiamLiam Ohgren, Vancouver Canucks (John Jones-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Hronek had his usual flashes of high-end vision in transition, but there were a couple of shifts where coverage and timing slipped just enough to open things up. The encouraging part is that none of it feels structural. These aren\u2019t broken players \u2014 they\u2019re just young players learning the pace. And the only way through that is reps.<\/p>\n

Third, Kevin Lankinen Gives Them a Real Safety Net<\/p>\n

If there was one steady presence, it was Kevin Lankinen. He didn\u2019t just hold the fort \u2014 he made the difference in a game that could have tilted the other way. There were a couple of moments, especially late, where San Jose had real looks, including a scramble in overtime where Lankinen shut it down with a sharp leg save. That\u2019s the kind of save that quietly decides games.<\/p>\n

Related: Canucks News & Rumours: Sasson, Hughes & Trading Draft Picks<\/a><\/p>\n

And then the shootout \u2014 again, he was the difference. His shootout record this season has been ridiculous, and it shows. At some point, that stops being luck and just becomes a skill set.<\/p>\n

\"KevinVancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (Stan Szeto-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

For a young team still sorting out defensive habits, having a goalie who can basically win you the one-on-one battle is massive. It covers mistakes and buys growth time.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line: Hockey Oddities & What It Means<\/p>\n

This game had everything late-season hockey usually throws at you. Tom Willander<\/a> gets tangled up and accidentally rips a goalie pad loose. Marco Rossi<\/a> scores on a play where the net is knocked off its moorings. And Linus Karlsson calmly buries a shootout attempt like it\u2019s just another practice rep. Hockey chaos at its finest.<\/p>\n

Related: Brock Boeser Is Reinventing Himself as a Canucks Cornerstone<\/a><\/p>\n

But underneath all that, the story is pretty straightforward. The Canucks didn\u2019t play a perfect game, but they didn\u2019t fall apart either. They stayed in it, made plays when they had to, and found a way to get the result.<\/p>\n

At this stage of the season, that combination \u2014 messy, imperfect, but still competitive \u2014 is really all you can ask for.<\/p>\n

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

<\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Given the Vancouver Canucks season, how do fans even make sense of a 4\u20133 win over San Jose?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5128],"tags":[894,5,7747,1538,798,4,10316,893,27,5313],"class_list":{"0":"post-551358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver-canucks","8":"tag-canucks","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-jake-debrusk","11":"tag-kevin-lankinen","12":"tag-liam-ohgren","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-teddy-blueger","15":"tag-vancouver","16":"tag-vancouver-canucks","17":"tag-vancouvercanucks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116393742968242067","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}