VANCOUVER — The new captain skated away from the old captain to win it, which provided a powerful snapshot Wednesday about how much the Vancouver Canucks have changed since Bo Horvat left.
And if Quinn Hughes’ overtime goal in a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders didn’t tell the story, then the National Hockey League’s website did: Hughes and teammates J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson are in a three-way tie for the league scoring lead at 26 points through 16 games.
Ten months after his trade to the New York Islanders, Horvat’s return to Rogers Arena dripped with emotion as he faced the team he helped lead for much of his 9 ½ seasons in Vancouver.
Horvat’s eyes filled with tears when a highlight package of his time with the Canucks was shown on the scoreboard during the first television timeout.
Although there were smatterings of boos when Horvat touched the puck early on, most of the crowd of 18,972 rose to cheer the former captain when his service was acknowledged. Emotional, Horvat took a slow twirl on the ice and waved back in thanks.
“I went up to him and told him to stop crying like a baby,” Miller, who for years sat beside Horvat in the Vancouver dressing room, told reporters about his friend. “As I said yesterday, he’s an unreal guy. A good friend, a good teammate, and a really good hockey player. So I’m really glad he got the ovation that he did and to see him emotional choked you up. So, really happy for him and he played well tonight, too.”
Horvat and Miller played head-to-head all game.
“I was emotional through the whole warmup,” Horvat said. “It brought back a tonne of memories and just the whole tribute and everybody, the way they reacted, it just meant a lot to me. So it was pretty special and I had a lot of good times here, a lot of firsts and a lot of memories. So it was a special night. Too bad we couldn’t get the two points, but one (game) I won’t forget.”
Horvat logged 22:34 of ice time, scored a goal and played well, as Miller said.
But not quite as well as Hughes, Horvat’s successor as captain, who capped another three-point night during his brilliant season by shooting top-corner on New York goalie Ilya Sorokin at 2:26 of overtime after the defenceman skated on to Miller’s breakaway pass.
It gave the Canucks their 12th win in 16 games (12-3-1), and their first beyond regulation time on a night when the Islanders’ power play staked New York a 2-0 lead in the first nine minutes.
“It felt like we were going to find a way tonight; I’m not going to lie to you,” Hughes said. “I think we were just, in the second, all over them. And we believe in ourselves, like I said. A lot of games if we’re down 2-0 like that, you know, we’re not going to win every game, so we’ve got to find a way to start a little bit better. But 12 (wins) of 16, we’ve done a good job. Enjoy tonight then back at it tomorrow.”
Horvat, whose second-period goal gave the Islanders a 3-1 lead and stood as the potential game-winner until Filip Hronek tied it for Vancouver during a five-on-three power play at 8:30 of the third, was on the ice in OT and appeared with linemate Mat Barzal to be confused about who should track Hughes.
The goal moved Vancouver to the top of the Western Conference standings, ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights on a tie-breaker. The Canucks visit the Calgary Flames on Thursday night for their second game in less than 24 hours.
It was the Canucks’ rapidly-evolving power play that brought them into the game against the Islanders.
Ranked third in the NHL before Wednesday, the unit of constantly-swirling offensive players went three-for-six.
Miller scored from Pettersson’s pass on a one-timer, and set up Brock Boeser’s goal from the bumper — where Horvat had been so effective for the Canucks — with a beautiful saucer pass in traffic as Vancouver chased back from its flat start.
Acquired from the Detroit Red Wings with the first-round draft pick the Islanders included in their package of assets for Horvat last January, Hronek tied it 3-3 with his first goal this season (after 16 assists for Vancouver). The defenceman was on the top unit because Miller’s fierce blast earlier on the five-on-three advantage struck teammate Andrei Kuzmenko in the collar-bone area and lower part of his face.
Kuzmenko writhed in pain as play was halted, but eventually was able to skate off the ice and towards the medical room.
“He’s good,” a relieved Miller said afterwards. “He was smiling in here after the game, so he’s alright.”
The Vancouver power play is much better than that. After the unit’s coach, assistant Jason King, was released by the Canucks in the off-season, head coach Rick Tocchet revealed at training camp that he planned to free up players to be more creative and build a fluid power play that would feature constant movement.
It’s remarkable how quickly Miller, Pettersson, Boeser, Kuzmenko and Hughes have adapted and become an elite power-play unit. But Hughes said he is not surprised.
“I’m not, just because we’ve been playing together for so long and we can really read off each other,” he explained. “I mean, I really know what Millsy and Brock and Petey and some of these guys are thinking about when they get the puck. And a lot of times the skill and creativity takes over, and I love that too.”
“I don’t know about surprise,” Miller said. “I mean, it seems like against this diamond formation that the PKs are doing now, you’ve got to have motion. And I know Rick really likes motion. He calls it road hockey; sometimes you just kind of find some seams and play. And I think sometimes when we do that, our skill takes over and something just seems to open up.”
Something seems to open up for the Canucks game after game after game.
