VANCOUVER — In some ways, it was the perfect retool/rebuild game.
First of all, the Vancouver Canucks lost 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, which is important on many levels.
Before the game, fans got to share in the sorrow of the passing of iconic enforcer Gino Odjick on Sunday while reliving the joy with which he brought Vancouver through his special connection to Canuck fans.
Then they saw Lightning captain Steven Stamkos score his 500th National Hockey League goal, and were so generous in cheering this milestone accomplishment for a visiting player that Stamkos did a quick twirl at centre-ice and raised his stick in appreciation. It was a nice moment.
A Canuck fan won a car by shooting a puck through a mouse hole from centre ice, and a younger fan later received a stick from the Lightning bench after Tampa players noticed that a puck that went over the glass hit the boy, who cried but thankfully was not seriously hurt. He raised the stick in triumph. Kids.
So it was a pleasant evening.
See, a retool/rebuild/reload/restock/replenishment/rebranding/realignment/reset/recalibration (please, anything but a repeat) need not be unbearably painful or unwatchable.
The problem is that whatever “re” the Canucks are undertaking, hasn’t actually started yet.
And, honestly, it didn’t seem many fans were enjoying seeing their team down 4-0 in the first period — a score that remained unchanged until Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinn Hughes scored power-play goals 2½ minutes apart just before the middle of the third period.
Of course, there is only so much any team of shooting stars can do against a goalie like Tampa backup Brian Elliott, who 46 minutes into the game had a chance to be the first Lightning keeper ever to post a shutout against the Canucks.
Andrei Vasilevskiy hasn’t done it, and neither did Mike Smith or Ben Bishop or Nikolai Khabibulin. But 37-year-old Brian Elliott nearly did, stopping the first 32 shots he faced before proving mortal on his way to a 37-save win.
Stamkos eventually finished his hat trick into an empty-net with 1:22 remaining – shortly after Canuck forward J.T. Miller made the best Vancouver save of the night by stacking his shinpads to deny Brayden Point an empty-netter. Twice.
Sadly, Stamkos did not appear for a curtain call after being named the first start.
But it was all quite memorable. A nice night – just not for Canuck players.
“We battled and fought hard to the end but you’re giving up those sort of (goals) — they were gifts,” Canuck defenceman Luke Schenn said. “So that’s the way we started the game and it’s pretty tough to battle back on a team like that when you’re down 4-0.
“It’s our own fault for not being able to do what coaches are preaching. And that’s why we let in four in the first.”
No, they’re not coached to give away pucks and wander around during what should be pretty basic defensive coverage.
On Stamkos’ first goal, at 4:40, Canuck Ilya Mikheyev drifted away from the scorer and was toe-dragged by Alex Killorn, who teed up a tap-in for No. 500 on what was essentially a two-on-zero. The Canucks simply got outclassed on Nikita Kucherov’s goal at 8:28, as the Lightning zipped the puck around too quickly for the Vancouver players to process.
Goalie Spencer Martin, hooked after allowing four goals on 10 shots in 15 minutes, then delivered a massive rebound to Brayden Point, and on the fourth Tampa goal Vancouver defenceman Kyle Burroughs gave away the puck and then was beaten to the front of the net by Stamkos.
“We made a lot of mistakes right off the bat,” Canuck coach (as of deadline) Bruce Boudreau said. “And before you knew it, they’ve got four on you. And that’s the kind of team you can’t make mistakes like that. And they were relatively crazy mistakes or easy mistakes — giving pucks away against a team like that.
“I thought our start was relatively good the first five or six minutes but once they get that first goal, I mean, it’s a continuous theme. We slump and the next thing you know, it’s a deficit that’s too hard to overcome.”
The Canucks actually outshot the Lightning 39-25, including 18-12 in the decisive first period, and shot attempts were 77-36.
Fans who spent hundreds on tickets didn’t get to see a win, but at least they saw Stamkos’ 500th goal.
“Obviously, to do it in a win is huge,” Stamkos said. “The thing that’s going to stick out, too, is. . . just the reception I got from the crowd. That’s pretty amazing. That’s something as a player that sticks with you for a long time when you’re on the road and you get that type of reception. So, just want to say to the fans that were here tonight: ‘Thank you and I appreciate that and very classy move.”
On Wednesday, at least, that would have to be payment enough for Vancouver fans. The Colorado Avalanche visit Rogers Arena on Friday. Nathan MacKinnon needs three points for 700 in the NHL.
