This is the Canucks central post-game show. Canucks are now on the power play Miller. High slot, low shot stop. I leave everybody. Patterson scores! Elias Patterson to the net. Noxett home of the back end. Got one for the Canucks. Miller to center for Patterson. Right wing. Dees. Shoots. Stars. Aaliyah's Patterson fires his second of the night into the empty net of the Canucks go up. 3-0-1 with 1-51 left in the game. With instant reaction from the players and coaches. Patterson back to a near corner. He's behind his own goal. It's broken up by Jordan Greenway. It was knocked out by Ian Hall. Pucks scored loose high slot for Darlene. Slap shot scores! Rasmus Darlene got it to the net. Might have been deflected on its way in. And the Sabres have life 20.7 seconds left on the clock. It's 3-2. Have your say on the official home of the Canucks. Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network. Canucks win 3-2 over the Sabres. And this is the Canucks central post game show presented by the number 5 orange. Canucks with a much needed victory have lost two games in a row. Prevent a three game losing streak. A performance which the star players showed up. Elias Patterson three points tonight. JT Miller a couple points. Quinn Hughes getting on the score sheet as well within the assist. A strong overall performance from the Canucks. Just narrowly getting by the Buffalo Sabres. It's Satya Rashaw with Biknazar. We are going to bring in Randy Jann into the conversation in just a moment. Get your thoughts into our Dunbar number text unboxed. 650-650. You can also grab a phone line 604-280-0650. Your toll free one triple eight two seven five zero six fifty. And it's one of those games Randy where it was probably closer. The game was probably shouldn't have been as close as it was on the final score line 3-2. It was a game that connects generated quite a few scoring chances. Especially in the first period weren't able to have a bigger lead. And a lot of it was because Devin Levi was fantastic in the first period. If it wasn't for him the Canucks would have had a multi goal lead. But they stick with it don't melt down and they do win this game. And we had to see them in the third period in the last couple of games. Not be good enough. And tonight the Sabres got back into it but the Canucks fended them off. Yeah they kept their composure even though after 20 minutes you could say probably deserved a two nothing lead at the very least. But you know that was a confident group through 40 minutes. And even in the third period you look at the two goals. I think that D'Alene goal he gets a little bit more you know room on the ice. He's a skilled player hadn't heard much of anything from prior to that goal. So you get a little more ice you score that goal but from a you know just creating a controlling play and playing a physical a fast game and getting to those areas of the ice that you need to get to. The Canucks did that. It was a it was a strong game and you're right. I think the three two score line doesn't really give the Canucks the respect that it deserves because that was through I want to say 50 minutes of hockey. That was a dominant performance. Just very unlucky not to convert to some chances. Brock Besser unlucky to not get two or three tonight. On the power play you must have had a combined six feet on shots that should open in and just unlucky. Distance from the goal line and it's one of those. It's like hell if you play like that. A lot of concerns get mitigated from fans and and I select like Patterson could have had a five point night. Gets three tonight of course right and you know he had a good chance he hits the post on the power play. He set up his teammates a couple times they could have convert. It was one of those games where yeah the score line probably flatters the Buffalo Sabres in the end. Yeah it was a second of a back to back for them so you know they did have a push late. But I think that's a credit to Vancouver really denied the middle of the ice themselves and also you know the new look lined with Alias Patterson especially early on this game with Connor Garland the tenacity that they brought them the way that they're able to attack the middle of the ice and get inside which is a key focus for the coach that line in addition to the other lines. But I want to start off on that one because they did score the one nothing goal. That's exactly how they did it where they really got into the kitchen of Devin Levi and literally poked the puck home as Connor Garland created that goal so it was you know starting off the game but for the 22nd time this year scoring within five minutes which is really impressive right? And tonight they held on to that lead and really got it across the finish line. No they certainly did and you know the thing that I was most encouraged by tonight I mean the five on five play was really good gave up pretty much nothing outside of the third and really the best chance they gave up to me was the goal Darlene scored and it's from pretty lackluster defensive coverage and that got Buffalo back into a late but very stingy defensively tonight the power play however it looked as dangerous as it has looked in a very long time. One for five but like once again that is not a flattering. Yeah it didn't it was in terms of just creating so many chances. You mentioned the three for Brock Besser where one was literally right through the blue paint. And those are chances where... He put her five-fold it was unbelievable to happen. It was you know on a certain night and this is you know the special thing about Brock where he doesn't get those on his night he scores all three of those like we're talking about a hat trick that's how close it was but what I like guys was whether it was Pederson or JT Miller JT Miller was really on that left half all whether it was getting those shots in setting up at least Pederson or Brock Besser being the catalyst but we also saw it from at least Pederson he also set up Brock Besser for one of those opportunities and the way that you know Quinn Hughes just attacks down the left hand side whether it's five on five or on the power play sure if you're gonna deny the middle of the ice to him he's gonna find other ways to beat you and it just looks so much more dynamic with the passing and the movement. We'll say Buffalo is willing to give some space yep along that left hand wall as well and JT there's one moment it's like one of the slowest net drives gonna see. But like that's the one guy you don't leave alone that way I get like hey you're shady you're fading Garland on that side is like I mean yep good luck. Take what the defense has given you yeah and the Canucks certainly did that even on the Pederson rebound goal it's opportunity for JT near the top of the zone comes downhill creates that rebound for Pederson to backhand and backhand in and they're up to nothing. And it felt like Quinn Hughes was having that you know he's obviously a special skater but that left hand side was opened them all night where that first goal that one nothing goal starts from that but even countless other times just going down the attacking through the left. Well how many times did we see this evening it wasn't just Brock it was the guys just putting pucks on that top of the crease area and just deflections and Levi was there for the whole game or just skipped over the stick or as we mentioned Brock put it the other way it was time and time again it wasn't just Quinn creating those opportunities but that's the type of Canucks popular saw earlier in the season engineering those second up third chance opportunities or even getting the initial deflection in they found the space considerably and consistently this evening. Well and overall too I think you can look at their defensive shape and I think you know as much as yes they lost two games and the Washington was a flat performance that performance of course and it was the back half of the game against Colorado wasn't great but leading into tonight's game they had given up nine goals in their last six games. Give up two tonight which is actually you know a bit more than probably Buffalo should have had overall but defensively they've been pretty stingy the last little while and that was kind of lost in the shuffle of two pretty bad losses against Colorado and against Washington. Yeah if you look at their goals against numbers they're actually not even from the all-star break when we start looking at the offensive numbers those are the ones that have taken a hit whether it's a power play or goals for middle of the road from goals against and then the more immediate past yeah it's even better than that so you're right in terms of defensively and the tonight was a continuation of that and I want to focus on the PK because the goal four for four on the PK doing an excellent job of not only plugging up those shooting and passing lanes I thought you know there's been a lot to talk about Ian Cole of course of some maybe some you know us in the last game there's a moment of clearing the puck but just in the shooting lanes all over the place today and on top of that being aggressive with McKay Evan of course Patterson to get those that draw that penalty that led to the power play goal. Canucks beat the Sabres 3-2 on home ice let's go outside the Canucks locker room where we're joined by Canucks captain Quinn Hughes and Quinn thanks for joining us and giving us some time but you know 3-2 score line but that game probably flatter is Buffalo considering how much control and chance scoring chances you guys had tonight yeah I think we had a lot of looks definitely and you know if it's 5-2 or 3-2 it doesn't really matter I thought we were probably the better group tonight there we go we got some noise in the back as well guys are fired up but you know when you talk about how much pride do you take in the defensive side of things Quinn when you're really able to shut down a team and not really give them much through I would say about 50-55 minutes of this game yeah I mean for the most part we've done that the entire year obviously last couple games not as pretty but I mean looking at the big picture here we've been real solid and able to you know play a good team defense and that's why we're in the position we're in you end up with two assists tonight but the play that got everyone buzzing in our inbox to the course of the evening you're hit on Olison they've been looking for moments like that to lay one on someone I just think I'm trying to bring intensity and compete in you know those 14 games off so I'm trying to you know bring it a little bit here well and I know I'd say yes of course I mean that you're bringing the intensity but all season long you've been engaged in battles behind the net in front of the net I mean you're you know obviously you're never going to be the biggest guy in those battles but you're winning your fair share of them you're not afraid of getting in there mixing it up do you kind of feel more confident physically as well this season? yeah I do I think you know the coaching staff has helped with you know I mean I feel like the last three four years have been really good defense to me and I mean it was plus 15 plus 15 and whatever I am this year and but definitely with the coaching staff and the system they brought in and having the partner and feel that I do I think you know it's helped and I've always been a competitive guy so I'm trying to my best obviously not going to win every battle but you know doing what I can heading into the year attacking the middle of the ice was a focus for you you mentioned in the preseason teams you know at certain games and they try to deny you the middle but you've been using that left a lot more and it just feels like you're having a lot more success there and it's just another weapon in your holster so to speak yeah I mean I'm getting a lot of looks honestly I don't even think they're going in like crazy right now I think there will be times where I'm snake bitten and other times where it's going in more than this just because the amount of quality looks I'm getting right now but yeah I'm trying to you know attack and be aggressive and it's hard to you know have that insane mindset 82 games but I've been trying to do it and I think for the most part I've done that this year just another remarkable you know five on five game as well for the team here this evening it's been a handful of goals these last six seven games we've mentioned you know intensity wrapping up as you get ready for the playoffs these last 14 games do you just feel like the group's focus is also ramping up? yeah I mean I think everyone knows it's at stake and like you said there's 13 games up now and we don't want to go and play off some you know not playing our best so I don't think there's any time here to be like okay it's in the middle of the year we'll figure it out I think the times now and obviously we're not going to you know probably not going to go 13 to know to finish out here but I think we can for the most part place I'm really good hockey before I let you go I wanted to get your thoughts on how you guys played on the power play tonight I mean you guys get the goal you had a number of chances JT Miller in that first power play set up like three grade A chances when he's attacking off the left wall the way is and the way he's aggressive like that how hard is that to defend from opposing teams? yeah I mean he's such a superstar he's got pretty much everything you'd want he's gotten insane hockey sense and then obviously the skill set to match that and he's always been very dangerous on that side of the power play and he's really dangerous on the other side I think everyone's really familiar for the most part last five years we've ran it with Milsey on that side and Petey on the other on his one timer so when he gets back on that side it's very familiar and obviously he's made you know some incredible players over the last five seasons and he did that tonight and like I said I think I don't know if I said it to you guys but I think our power play could have went three for three tonight and some nights it will some nights it won't but the looks are there last one for you Casey Smith got a fantastic burden on his shoulders right now and he's holding up his end just speak about your goalie right now he's great I mean he's a great guy first and foremost he's a great goaltender and he's been great for Denver this year and you know this is why we got a guy like him so that if something you know knock him what happens he can step in and no one can worry and he's been playing great last couple games and we're gonna need him for sure hey Quinn always appreciate your time and good stuff tonight and look forward to chatting with you again soon to keep the winning going yep appreciate guys thank you you got it that is Canucks captain Quinn Hughes to assist tonight Canucks win 3-2 over the Buffalo Sabres and you know it mentions the power play and getting you know we were talking about it right before he joined us but also getting JT Miller back into familiar spot and you know after trying a few different things for a while and perhaps a level of galaxy braining things a bit right like you know when you're grasping towards let's get garland on the power play because of his puck retrieval and his tenacity is like you're going beyond you know who's dangerous to like what can spark this you get away from each other for a while now you put all the guys back in the regular spots and it just seemed like JT was so aggressive tonight on the power play oh yeah and it was a situation where you even see the shot thread as much it was just you give him room he's gonna make you pay whether he's trying to look for Pedersen whether he's looking for Besser there's an opportunity in the slot in the bumper with Pew Souter as well which he hit each of the guys yeah it was it was just like hey I'm not even a shoot I'm just gonna pick every single one of these guys and JT Miller coming back in this game it looked like for a bit maybe he wouldn't come back but he comes out there ends up playing around 20 minutes I haven't seen the final numbers here guys but you know that's what you need he's not only right now they're leading point getter but on top of that he is kind of the emotional leader of this team he's a guy that is so important to this psyche of this team and the more he's been able to channel that energy in a positive manner this year he's really elevated not only his actual play but I think from a leadership perspective you heard when he was talk about it that he's one of the best players we've seen him do this for five years and you give him room he's gonna make you pay and that's that's kind of what happened here with Buffalo there could have been a couple more helpers for JT Miller 1944 as you mentioned just shy 20 minutes to assist obviously seven shot attempts six of them on goal couple of block shots as you mentioned the primary one that everyone kind of held their breath for a minute and then a collective sigh of relief because that would have been a huge blow but for him to have the performance that he did with all the focus off of that shot that goes off the heel that is a huge sigh of relief for Canucks fans and imagine the coaching staff as well you were talking to Quinn about you know that hit as well and what I loved about that was a the hit all of some things he's got like just a clear lane there and he's oh it's Quinn Hughes he's not gonna blow me cutting cutting through the middle of the years like Darry's Casperitis there and just drilling them but what I loved about that was him going back to the bench and clearly the guys were chatting they were chirping they were loving it and he had a huge smile on his face you love to see that right where the guys like yeah I can do that but the boys are having fun with it. We had two plays tonight because as impressive as that hit was him getting back into the play was fantastic and the urgency he showed to get back into it but he had another one this evening as well where it looked like it would be a two on one chance and there's his speed getting all the way back and we talked so much about skating the focus is almost too much on the agility and he showed a gear today that we don't see I think with enough frequency but he shows that he's got it. He mentioned that it's tough to play that wave through all 82 games and you know you talk to players and just like hey you can't you gotta play like you're shot out of a cannon in the playoffs. Over 82 games it's so difficult especially for the energy guys if you're being aggressive on the forecheck to bring that every single game. Quinn he's that was just not only his play as you mentioned you know that speed but coming down the left hand side what he was doing at the blue line the offensive blue line and more and more we're starting to see that not good defensive play to Quinn's point he's been playing well defensively last couple years but like next level defensive plays and I go back to that game against Winnipeg where he had that play on Shifley behind the net where he's using his smarts he's using his physicality and he's able to pick the pocket of Mark Shifley. That's the type of plays we're seeing more and more consistently from Quinn Hughes which is showing you he can even take it to another level and that's impressive because guys two three years ago a lot of people doubting him about how much defense he could play yeah he shut them all up well this text here says he really took it to heart and when his plus minus got called out a few years ago now he has that on memory also he didn't really understand where you're trying to go with the question oh captain my captain I mean what I was trying to get to was more the physical aspect because we know he's played better defensively but there is a noticeable like uptick in physicality from his game and it's not that it's he's ever going to be the guy that's going to bow you over although if you're Victor Olives and you may beg to differ but he's been able to come away from a lot of those battles one of the ones that are seared into my mind is the one with Shifley a little while back behind the net like knocks him over gets the puck away from him like he's not coming away second and as many battles in tough areas like he was before he's 24 years old he's he's getting stronger I think that's a huge part of it and as I'm messing with skating yeah that's part of it too is his body's going to fill out and we've seen the growth in someone like physically and some like Elias Patterson this year well Quinn to use his year younger he's he's still going to get to that stage where he really thickens out and is become this force on the ice and this is a guy that does set goals for himself right like heading into this season he said I want to tack the middle I want to be more aggressive we've seen that he's nearing 80 points if I'm not mistaken I believe he's at 79 right now so he would be the first Canucks defenseman ever to hit that 80 point mark which is very very impressive and it'll happen very soon the other thing is though he hears the chatter he's mentioned it before what is one of the things one of the differentiators between that people have used over the last few years about him and kill Macarle Macarle there's the body more Macarle is more physical well guess what Queen Hughes is adding that to his game as well and tonight's one game but to your point sat and you know what the play we talked about with Schifley is another example you're starting to see more and more moments where Get down to him, he generally makes you check yourself to say, okay, never mind, he can play that. He can play defense. He can play more physical. So, uh, Quinn Hughes, yeah, if you're, if you're counting on a player to, to bet on themselves in that, that locker room, Quinn Hughes is probably top of the list because he sets goals and he smashes them generally. Yeah, I mean, he's, he's been absolutely tremendous so far this season. Uh, I wanted to hit on one player here before we get out. Connor Garland, this text message here says, Garland was a dog tonight. Let's give this man some love. And, you know, I was giving Dan Richel some grief before the game. He picked, uh, Connor Garland incorrectly. It's, uh, Connor Garland was a dog. Oh, is that what you're saying? All right. Uh, yeah, I mean, you're trying to make sure we're at there. There's a difference between dog and dog. Yeah, yeah, I'm not there with him yet. I'm not there with him yet. I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, I'm just reading the text. It's all caps with multiple W's. Uh, it's dog. He was a dog tonight. Uh, now, before the game, uh, Dan Richel picked Connor Garland to score a goal today for his odds boost pick. So I was giving him some grief saying you're picking Connor Garland to score. The guy's got 13 goals on the season. Like, what are we doing here picking him to score a goal tonight? And I'm like, you know what though, Greet, giving your track record, I'm probably going to get roasted for this because you'll probably be right, but come on. And then he scores in his first shift. And hey, jams it down my throat. All good. All fantastic. But how do we think he fit in with that line with Elias Pedersen tonight? I thought the first 20 minutes was electric, right? Do you even play that much? Because near the end of the period, guys, I looked at his ice time. It was two minutes and 30 seconds. Like he didn't play very much in the first period. All just because of the penalties, just because power play. One was on the ice so much, but, you know, right off the bat, being aggressive on the four check, going to the middle of the ice. And just the duo of him and Hoaglander. And what I liked about that line was they're playing faster. Hoaglander brings that through the neutral zone. Garland is very much, you know, he likes the puck on his stick and he can play a direct game, but it just felt like Elias Pedersen also fed off them early on in this game. And he was moving his feet through the neutral zone. There was a lot of confidence. So for me, Connor Garland, one goal, four shots, limited ice time in the first period. He was all over the place. And that's exactly what you want, where you're saying, we're not taking a shift off, that I'm going to, you know, push myself to be better. And I'm not going to, there's no easy outs with Connor Garland on the ice, especially in the offensive zone when he's hounding the puck. And early on in this game, I thought, especially the set, the tone, he brought it. Yeah, he winds up with 1342 this night, which feels light. We saw him so much. Yeah, but, you know, it feels like a light night, but eight shot attempts, four shots on goal and, you know, a classic Connor Garland goal. Like, there he is. And only drawn as well. Yeah. On Darlene, the cross check to the face. And he's, he's jamming away and that one in and sports over top of Levi's skate and they're up one nothing early. But the Canucks best line five on five probably was the Lindholm line tonight. I agree. And the thing is, you can see the lack of creativity on the line, but as far as overall chance creation, it was probably them. And they left a lot of meat on the bone as far as opportunities. Like Lindholm had one where it could have been a two on O. Yeah. And he tries to block off the saber. I think it was green way. It might be misremembering. But he tries blocking off the player rather than poking the puck towards him. Could have been a clean two on O because McCabe would have caught him. There's that chance. McCabe had a chance on a would-be four on three, four on two, maybe, that he kind of skated away from the net and just like, all right, there's that one. But as far as what line was solid throughout the course of the evening, it was that one for sure. There are two moments in this game where they make a play at the defensive blue line. McCabe does and sets up Lafferty who ends up setting up Lindholm with a little bit of a deflection. And Levi ends up making the save. Another moment in that same period, the second period where McCabe does the dirty work and launches, you know, Lafferty with speed. So there is something there. I'm with you. I don't think the offense is totally there just based on the way that, you know, but they are a responsible line and in transition. They can be a bit of a problem, but a lot of this has to fall on Elias Lindholm to do the finishing, right? He's the main shooting threat there. Can he bring it consistently enough? I don't know if that's the spot for him to create offense, but remember, right now in the last, what, two weeks, three weeks, they haven't had really any production from a third line. So if you're able to get a goal here and there, that helps you until at the very least until Dakota Joshua comes back, but it was progress tonight from that line. I went to bit when I think of Elias Lindholm, the primary goal threat in a line, right? Because where's he going to do his work? Netfront. Well, where's Lafferty in the cave? Do they work? Netfront. It's a lot of traffic in that area. Who's creating the space and it's not as if Lafferty in the cave are creating along the walls? That's why I know we've mentioned this before, but Dakota Joshua, coming back, it adds an element they're kind of missing in their forge right now. Right now, I think they look probably most dangerous in transition because you're able to make that play and launch a counterattack. But when you're talking about, yeah, being set up in the offensive zone, they don't maybe gel or jive as much as until you get Dakota Joshua back in that space. And then you can really start thinking about, all right, Lindholm, Blueger, and by then, is Garland going to stay on the first line? I think based off tonight for another game, he's got to be there against Montreal. I think you go with the same lineup for Montreal game on Thursday, and Randy, that's when we'll chat with you next on the pregame show and also on postgame and hopefully talk about another Canucks W. Cheers, boys. Have a good one. That's great stuff for Randy, Janet, Colin, the game alongside Brendan Bachelorette tonight, a 3-2 Canucks win over the Buffalo Sabres. Keep your thoughts coming in to a Dunbar Lumber text in the box, 650-650. You can also grab a phone line, 604-280-0650 or toll-free, 1-888-275-0650. A lot of reaction on the text in the box, Bic. What are the people saying here tonight? KG says, "The score did not reflect the game, total control by the Canucks. Most business-like performance of the last few weeks, everything talk has been preaching, very pleasing performance." That's KG texting in. Yeah, the big thing was, if they put away chances earlier, you don't have a stressful last 10 minutes in that game, and it wasn't as if they just created one. They created plenty, just on luck, you don't have to bury some chances, and should have been a blowout type of game. It was there for the taking. 650-650-OP from Fleetwood. How about some love for Ilya McKayev? We are Gold Star texting in to the inbox. A lot of McKayev love PD look confident. McKayev was flying out there, that's David, the City worker. Good job, Canucks got to win this game. Nothing too special, though, from the effort. They beat the Buffalo Sabres, played on back-to-back nights. You're talking about a team that's been playing a lot better as of late, but they're not a legitimate playoff team, let alone a good team yet. You don't want to be sitting here and talking about it. It was a dominant performance against the Great Hockey team, but the Canucks took care of business. They did what they had to do. We talked about it against the Capitals, same situation, playing their fourth game in six nights, and the Canucks came up short on that one. This one, they came away with a W. Now, some people are texting in. They don't like the end of the game. Somebody texted in and said, "They almost gave the lead away at the end of the game. That's not good. They're not meeting pressure with pressure." In terms of what happened at the end there, if that breakdown on the Darlene play doesn't happen, this game probably gets salted away. Maybe they get an empty netter and it's 3-0 or whatever it is. - The Darlene's goal? - The Darlene's goal gave Buffalo some life, because they looked like they were ready to pack it in at that point. - Four-on-four, he sneaks past Lindholm. Garlin wasn't really that close. It's unfair to put it on him, but it's the ironic one that really stands out. That's net front. Are you helping out your goal in that spot? Darlene, that's what he does, right? Superstar players show out sometimes, and he looks so smooth on that. It's a lot of focus to me on Lindholm and Roanek on that play. Four-on-four, it's a bit of a mess. You're sharper on that. You probably close this one home fairly easily. They looked really tired throughout this evening, Buffalo, and a moment of life that Ross Mustalene finds some space and is able to convert, kind of gives them a chance there at the end. But ultimately connects to what they need to do tonight. They need to re-stabilize after a couple losses, and this trend of their five-on-five defense is the thing I'm taking away from this. That's continued. - And honestly, even over this stretch, they had some bad moments against Colorado, a few bad moments against Washington, but overall, these past seven games now, they've given up 11 goals. - They didn't give up a five-on-five one tonight. - No, it was a six-on-four-on-four. So now that's seven-on-five goals in the last seven games. - Yeah, it's not bad. It's really strong overall. So, the defensive side of the game has been strong. Keep your thoughts coming into our text inbox, 650-650. You can also grab a phone line, 604-280-0650. Let's take a couple phone calls here before we hit the break, and let's go to POCO, where we have Holden on the line. Holden, thanks for calling in. What are your thoughts here tonight? - Good evening, gentlemen. Credit were credited to do. Sat, it's time to rest in coal. I think everybody from her down is slotted one position too high for their abilities, but I want to do touch on as well. I read some comments on Elias's, not Pedersen's IG. You guys don't think he knows he's struggling, and then he gets three points tonight. Come on, guys. I believe we know Pedersen as a player well enough to know that he probably is the hardest critic on himself, so I don't, we just all take a rest, but you're not helping the team by saying that he's playing poorly. He knows he's playing poorly, so I just wanted to say that, and it's great to hear the boys having a good time after a win like that. Hang up and listen now. Thank you. - Hey, Holden. Thanks for the phone call. I appreciate your thoughts. I understand what he's saying. Sometimes the angst can be a bit too much, and the commentary on social media towards players, it can be a little cringe-worthy. Sometimes people act like Pedersen is this scrub third liner or something that's vastly underperforming his current contract. I know he's got a big one coming up next, but for a guy who is sitting here with 82 points this season, and we think it can be better, it's not that bad. It's really not being that bad, and even since the All-Star break, now he has 17 points in his last 20 games. It's much like the Canucks over this past 20 game stretch, so the Canucks are 10, 7, and 3 over these past 20 games, Pedersen has 17 points in 20 games. The Canucks are on a 91, 92-point pace, Pedersen is just under a point-per-game pace, and this is your bad hockey? It's not so bad. It doesn't mean he can't be better, he shouldn't be better, and it doesn't mean that the Canucks can't be better and shouldn't be better. It's also about putting things into perspective, and the angst over how they play since the All-Star break, it's not great, but we're talking about a 92-point pace, we're 91-point pace, we're not talking about a team that's under 500-20 games. We're not talking about Pedersen sitting here with 10 points through 20 games. They're still giving you. It's not as bad as people make it out to be this last little stretch. Yeah, it's been fine. At a time of year when people want to see exemplary, because you're getting to that stage, and you gotta be able to show the Flash that game won, when that intensity really picks up, you're ready to meet it. But it's been fine. They're still runway. I really just want to see seven straight, solid games. That's what I want to see. If it's the last seven, okay, it's the last seven. But that, to me, is the primary thing. Seven straight committed performances in a row, and we're at one now, okay? Tonight was it. There was a nice four-game winning streak, but it still has to improve, obviously. But tonight's one, we'll see what happens against Montreal, but then you're going to get that stretch there, where maybe you get a chance to see them against better competition. LA will be fun. Vegas will be fun. They get another LA game. I guess two Vegas LA games. Those four to me are going to be really telling. If they start ramping the sub-dialysis thrown in there, if they start ramping this up here, and this is the first step, then you have reasons to be optimistic. But right now, it's like, I understand, I get it, but if they're low, it's just fine. This is the worst 20-game stretch they've had all year, and it's like, people have the Canucks, it's like a 91-92-point team heading into the season, and that's been the worst 20-game stretch. One thing on Pedersen, though, is we just need to find a middle ground of a conversation. There has to be somewhere between he can lead you to a Stanley Cup and trade him, and it just doesn't feel like that exists at times. Well, there's a lot of stuff about the trade stuff, too, which is, again, you can be critical, but how far are you going? That's the biggest thing for me in terms of where the conversation has gone around Pedersen for much of the last little bit. If you're not coming into a Dunbar Lumber text unbox, you can grab a phone liner or dispatch plumbing and heating hotline as well as 604-280-0650. We'll get to more of your phone calls, more of your text messages. Plus, we'll hear from Canucks head coach Rick Talkett after a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. It's Satziar Shah with Biknazar, and this is the Canucks Central Post game show presented by the #5 Orange. So the game is over, but he's really done. #5 is open. More next on home here, Canucks. Sportsnet 650. Catch up on what happened in Vancouver Sports with Halford and Bruff in the morning. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is where you talk Canucks. You're listening to the Canucks Central Post game show on the official home of the Canucks. Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network. Greenway far boards tried to slap it back to center, gave it away to Pedersen. It's a two-on-one. Pedersen with Garland. Left wing. Pedersen in front of Garland just couldn't tap it into the near post, but gets it on the endboards and drops it back to Hughes. Canucks are now on the power play. Miller, high slot, low shot, stop by Levi, leave on Pedersen, scores! Elias Pedersen to the net, knocks it. Home on the back end of the Canucks get a goal on the man advantage to take a 2-0 lead. A relentless five minutes from Elias Pedersen creates a two-on-one short-handed and now here on the power play. Sets up Garland for a chance, can't convert there, but stays in the play hovering around the blue paint, picks up a rebound. On the right hand side of Devon Levi and roofs the back hand as he gets his 13th power play goal of the season. Very dangerous player from Elias Pedersen who's playing well, five-on-five, short-handed and power play with that goal. Canucks win 3-2 over the Buffalo Sabers. Elias Pedersen, a three-point performance tonight, two points from Quinn Hughes. Connor Garland also scored, and the Canucks victorious against the Buffalo Sabers. Keep your thoughts coming into a Dunbar Lumber text-in-box, 6-56-50. Here on the Canucks Central Post Game Show presented by the number five, Orange, Satyar Shah with Vic Nazar. We are going to get to some of your phone calls in a minute, 6-0-4-2-8-0, 0-6-50 or toll-free, 1-888-275-0-6-50. We are going to get to the head coach as well as soon as that becomes available, but a lot of reaction on the text-in-box. Also a correction, Pedersen now has 18 points in his last 20 games, he had 3 points tonight, he had 15-19 coming into it, so 18-20. Every point counts for the narrative. Hey, just want to be accurate, that's all. I was roasted over the Garland thing already, so... Yeah, people are going after you for your effort on the dog. I mean, he didn't put enough oomph into it. I mean, he was good, he wasn't that good. I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. We should see Vic just putting his head in his hands, he can't believe it. It's just so unprinted, it's ridiculous. All right, we'll get to more of your text messages, 6-50, 6-50. Nav and Dallas, wow, that was a dominant performance, 10 shots after two periods against a desperate team. Your boy, Mikayev, looking much better, he's making up for those stone hands, can't wait till we get Joshua back. So our lines will be more balanced. This one here says, "Bluegh must feel like he'll never score again." Bluegh that is two chances on the empty net. Yeah, Teddy Bluegh could have easily made it a 4-2 Canucks victory, but couldn't beat the defender trying to defend the empty net. And he got the mini bump up while JT was out. Yeah, he jumped up between Besser and Suder there. How nervous were you from a scale of 1-10 when JT left for like eight minutes of that second period? Yeah, pretty nervous. Considering he's indestructible, knock on wood because he almost never misses games or whatever it is, I wasn't worried, but yeah, I'd be lying if I wasn't thinking about what can this mean if he's actually injured. Word me is because if he went right away, I feel like he would have been less worried. I don't know why, but the fact that he came back, gave it a shot, played those two shifts on the second, and then said, "Do you know what? I need a minute." That's when I got worried. He had some time from when he took that shot, intermission, come back for the period, and he just thought, "Hey, man, it's going to be okay. You can breathe easy." And the fact that he walked off, and it just didn't look comfortable walking off, that he was in a state of discomfort. Yeah, my concern meter raised quite a bit, but seeing him later on in that period, just breathed a sigh of relief. According, Batch tweeted out that before the Scrum meeting with J.T. Miller, he was quick to tell everyone that his ankle is fine before anyone had the chance to ask. Even if he wasn't fine. Take it till you make it. That's the mentality. If it's a lie, you fight on that lie. All right, full slim Charles there from the wire. I like that. I like that. Keep your thoughts coming into our text inbox, 650-650. We'll get some more of those coming up in a few moments, but let's get to the foam board. 604-280-0650. You're toll free. 1-888-275-0650. Let's go to New West, where we have Sean on the line. Sean, thanks for calling in, buddy. What are your thoughts here tonight? Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Great win by the Canucks. They really control that game right from the get-go. I mean, the last, you know, 10 minutes and a third. I mean, like, the Buffalo had some like dulling goal, but, you know, overall, it was a good win, so I'm not going to harp too much on the game overall, because I think the Canucks were a better team. And deserve the two points. Not going to harp on Pedersen. Not showing up as other people say, because we know what kind of player he is. He's a game breaker, and he had three points today. He proved it. Dolly and heck of a defenseman, but, you know, Quinn, he was my opinion is better. If you redo that 2018 draft, Quinn Hughes is the best player of that draft. But really, what I want to talk about, and you want to get your opinion, is that we got to feel for Buffalo Sabres fans, right? 14 years, no playoffs looks like. The last time they made the playoffs, the iPhone 3GS was around in 2011. That's how long ago it's been. And a Jeff Skinner, poor guy. I mean, he's going to go 14 years for himself, no playoffs. He's closing in on a thousand games, and he still hasn't played a single playoff game. And, you know, these guys have had first overall picks. They've won draft lottery, and they still can't make the playoffs. That's really sad. I mean, Buffalo, Sad, Sports Town, you know, four straight Super Bowl losses. The Sabres, 14 straight years, no playoffs. They're trying to break a record. I think Sad, I think, they're trying to be Cleveland Browns record. They were out of play with 17 straight years, if I'm not mistaken. They're trying to break that record. I don't know, but thanks for taking my call. I just want to hear what you guys have to say. Hey, Sean, thanks for the phone call. I always love the NFL quips that Sean calls in with it. It's fantastic stuff. And this is remarkable. So the Buffalo Sabres from 1974, '75. From a 1974, '75 season, up until 2000, 2001, that's what, 26 seasons? Missed the playoffs three times. Over a 26 year span, missed the playoffs three times. They've made the playoffs four times in the past 20 years now. So in the cap era. Insane. In the cap era. Two of those were right out of the... Yeah, well, the best two years, and they were good years. They lost in the conference finals and back-to-back years. And that was their peak. They missed the playoffs two years in a row after. Made the playoffs twice after and lost in the first round. And that was in 2010, 2011. And since then, they have not been in the postseason. This was not a storied franchise in terms of winning championships, but a respectable franchise that every year was considered to be competitive and always knocking on the door, always some exciting players, right? Always kind of close to being a good team. They never are a great team, but on the verge, perhaps, right? It's been absolutely abysmal these past 20 years. It's rough. It's really rough. Like, you think the Canucks have been through a dark era? And it's been a dark era, no doubt. Like, over the past 10 years. But that is wild. There's an entire generation of Sabres fans that have either not seen the playoffs or have no idea what playoffs really look like. Look, there's going to be some stories told at one point down the road with the Sabres. What's fascinating to me, I was listening to you guys' conversation yesterday with Bill Hoppe. They tried so many different things. They tried the free agent, Bill. They tried the tanking. They tried Bill through the draft. They tried trades. And none of it has worked. You generally do feel bad, because I think everyone's got a soft spot in their heart for Buffalo. You know, rabbit hockey area. They're obviously very passionate about the Sabres. Expansion cousins, obviously. But in general, it hasn't worked, man. Like, the exposés on them down the road are going to be really fascinating of why it hasn't worked. I do think this little stretch for them reminds me of what Vancouver was doing last year. Hopefully. But, I mean, weren't we saying that last year about them, too? They finished with 92 points. They missed the playoffs by one point last year. By one point. They were better last year, though. Yeah, but that's wild. Right, but it was like high-octane hockey. I know. But, like, they are actually worse than they were last year. Okay, for me, is that level of hockey sustainable? Is this... I mean, I don't know what... I mean... Tonight's not tonight, but I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying. I do think that over the past, like, 40 games, when you can break down, they had a really bad 20-game stretch, but the last 40 games defensively, they've been a top 10 team of the league by some of the defensive numbers. They've been better this season. Yeah, so there are things that are actually tangibly a lot better. I'm just saying, like, they've been through this before, a number of times, big, where it's like, yeah, next year, we'll figure it out. Like, this was supposed to be the year. It's true. It's tough. It's very tough. All right, let's take one more phone call. Grasp my straws for Sabre's fans. I know, but we're doing our best. All right, we'll take one more phone call, then we'll get to Canucks head coach Rick Talkett. Let's go to Surrey, where we have Neil on the line. Neil, thanks for calling in. What are your thoughts here tonight? Hey, boys, how's it going? Good, man. How are you? Not too bad. I just wanted to chat about the lines of the Canucks and what I think where Lindholm should kind of go right now. I think he's kind of lost in that third line right now. I understand he's really good defensive player and he's doing good, but he seems kind of lost down there. Put him back with Miller and Besser, I think. They loaded that up when he first got here and keep that. Pedersen, Garland, Hoglander together? What do you guys think? Thanks for the phone call. I mean, I'm not against trying things out a little bit like that. I think tonight the lines have worked well enough. They're going to worry about it necessarily for the next game. Listen, Garland had a great game. He was fantastic. I'm not sure that's going to be a fit with Pedersen. I wonder if there's another cameo for Lindholm, Pedersen together. I was wondering about that, too, at some point. When Joshua comes back, they reunite that third line. They can put Souter down on the fourth line. He can center the fourth line, and all of a sudden things maybe fall into place a lot better. Is there a McKay of Miller Besser with Hoglander, Pedersen Lindholm grouping? Is that the way you do it? I don't mind seeing that, but I do think tonight that Lindholm line was solid. They played well. They created most chances out of any line overall. They played to their role. When you look at those three guys, it's going to be a harassing unit. They're going to make things difficult for teams. I thought, effectively, they each had one high danger chance themselves. Collectively, they were really good defensively. Their chances came from creating turnovers. I do like McKay and Lindholm together. They want to use them as your shutdown line. They're probably the two best defensive forwards on the team. When McKay of is going the way he was, I thought he was really good defensively to your point. He was pressuring the blue line a lot, breaking plays, getting pucks out. Which he does a great job of. That was the issue with this game before. The scoring stuff, yes, I get it. The issue more than anything to me was he wasn't using his speed, wasn't getting it on the forecheck, wasn't doing those things. That's something, of course, that is an integral part to his game. Zebra's Rob says, "Hey, the Nux hasn't won anything either yet. Get off to Zebra's already." Sorry, it's just fair, fair, fair, fair, fair. Hopefully, better things are around the corner for the Buffalo Sabers. Alright, let's get the thoughts of the Canucks head coach. Here is Rick Talkett after 3-2 victory over the Sabers. We played really well tonight. A lot of guys played very well. Like I said, yesterday was really good practice. And I think it came into this game, just the way our attitude was with the game. So, yeah, I'm really proud of the way the guys played tonight. What did you think of Patterson and his line and how they worked together? Really good. Petey was really engaged. He had a really good game. You know, a big goal for us. That second goal, you know, going to the net. And obviously the empty net, you know, the poise. I know people think it's heavy net, but he made the poise to go around the guy and shoot it. Yeah, good effort for Petey. What do you think of, I guess, when you put lines together, what are you looking for to start a game? I guess chemistry can't be instant all the time. But what are you looking for when you assembled your line? Well, I just, you know, hogging guards against some energy on that line. I think they were excited to play with each other. You could tell the way they were playing. You know, I thought our forecheck was as good as I've seen in a couple of weeks. Really good forecheck tonight. I think those guys led the charge with the forecheck. And the power play tonight felt like you guys could have had a million chance. And the rock press really paid his dues, like it's around the net and wasn't able to get one tonight. Do you think the power play was moving the puck exactly how you guys wanted tonight? Yeah, I thought Milsey was really good. He set up about five guys for empty netters. I thought Milsey was excellent. Obviously Petey got the big power play go for us. But I thought, yeah, I thought Milsey was really good. He got to, he set about four guys up. Could have about four goals on the power play. Well, good for them. So we need, it was, you could tell they were, it was an attack mode. Take me through the final ten minutes. They finally get on the board at two to one. You hadn't given much up at that point. Sure. You know, those are the moments where maybe it hasn't gone as well the last couple of nights. But it looked like you guys were pretty calm this time. Yeah. Yeah, I thought we protected the guts. I thought when there was a chance to make a play, even though you're up, or even though they score a goal, I thought guys were still trying to, you know, you want to manage the puck. But I didn't think we were just slapping the puck around. So these are the type of games you want to be in. You know, the desperate team, that's a good hockey team over there. A lot of talent. And I thought we managed the defensive part of the game really well. What about your PK? No, you didn't give up a time. But early on there were a couple and you didn't seem to give up a lot of great days in those moments. Yeah, I thought the key was that first, you know, right away we get that penalty. You know, and I think, you know, I didn't see, I saw a lot of guys, no big deal. You know, you don't want to take a penalty the first minute or two. But that was a big kill. I think there's got the momentum of all the guys, some good stuff there. We saw what is probably the biggest hit of Quinn Hughes's career. What does it mean when you see a leader like that who is not necessarily someone who plays a physical game doing that kind of, making that kind of hit? What's the message around the league? Don't go over there with Quinn Hughes. But it's true. You never know. You never know who might hit. That was a hell of a hit. I think he had the bench. He was actually smiling that he liked it that much. And just going back to the power play, it seemed like you found some success with it with players kind of in familiar positions, kind of where they used to be with the power plays that were trying in the past. Is it just trying to find something different so you don't have to depend on the same look every single time? Well, it's a system thing, right? When you play a certain P-K's, you know, Buffalo plays a different P-K. They don't play a diamond. So, Mills is more effective against traditional P-K's, you know, when it's more of an eye. When it's more of a diamond, it's a little harder to play on your forehand if you look at other teams, same thing. But we just got to get better, like, you know, even on the other look, you know, with the PD, Millsy look there, I still think there's value to that with the system. But because of their P-K, that's why we went to that. Look, damn good. I'll tell you what, really good. Casey was saying that he thought that was one of the best defensive efforts he's seen from the guys in front of him tonight. What did you see from the bench in terms of defense? Well, commitment without the puck. You know, when you hold it, I think there's a long time that I can't remember how long in the game, but there's only eight shots. I don't always look at the shock clock, you look at the quality of chances, and I didn't think we gave a lot. Casey was, and when we did, you know, obviously Casey had a great game for us, but I thought there was a commitment to the, without the puck tonight, that's the way we got to play. Unfortunately, you know, we're built that way. We got to make sure that we play that kind of hockey. We're not a run-and-gun team, and I think when we play that way, we have a chance to win every night. And it could have been a lot more lopsided for you guys if it weren't for definitely the eye in the other net. What can you say about a young goaltender like that? Yeah, he played great. And the other guys who have an unreal last two months, they're getting great gold tenant, but yeah, he played well tonight really well. In a game where you have to kill a few palleys while holding on to us some lead, how valuable is Lynn Holmes' ability to jump over the boards and win face options for you? Yeah, I mean, you want a couple of key ones, you know, those are huge. You know, the only problem sometimes you get a lot of power, we had some power plays on a ton, and they had some, but, you know, you get some guys on the bench. I didn't get out there, but I like the fact that when they did, they, you know, they contributed. It was good to see. What have you seen from Ilema Cave lately? It feels like he's been winning some battles, a lot more noticeable, disruptive, that sort of thing. Oh, boy, energy looks like he's on the puck a little bit more. Yeah, you're right. You know, slash and chasing down pucks. That's his game. And when he can do it, he can be a pest on the forecheck and get on defense, man. There's value to that. So hopefully that value will turn into some offense for him, but, you know, I don't want him to, I want him to, obviously he wants to score. I like the way he's doing it now, and if he does that, it'll start to go in for him, you know, on that, you know, that break way, you know, things like that, it'll go for him. I feel like the, you guys had a six on five on a delayed penalty at some point in the game tonight, and I know that was something you guys worked on after practice yesterday. Some of those situations where you're getting that extra work, do you like to see how that pays off in a game? I mean, it's one day later than you guys were working on a practice yesterday. Yeah, saw some concepts there that, you know, it seemed like it was pretty good. We were, yeah, you were right. We worked on it yesterday, and it's something that we got to get better at, especially if we pull the goalie. I shouldn't say we get better at it. This team's done a good job of scoring on six on five. I just think the last one we had, the last couple we wasn't as great, so it was good to have that practice. Casey now getting a little bit of a run. What do you think happens to a goaltender when he's starting to get some confidence like he is right now? He's got some flow to his game. He played Colorado strong. The other night, Washington, he's got three in a row. I think he's been strong. When you're goalie, you get a lot of reps. Now he's seen the puck before. He's playing every two weeks. It's tough, especially if you say you have an average outing, he's got to wait ten more days. I'm glad he's playing well, so he's coming right back in the net. He'll get the next start because he's going to roll for a while. What goes through your mind when JT has to leave the game? Yeah, I did think for a second, here we go. The trainer came back and said he's coming back. It's never fun when one of your best players is out. When he gets a shot, you're thinking the worst. I think he's going to get checked tomorrow. He's been good for you, but have you guys gotten to the point of a timeline for when Thatcher might start getting back on the ice? Yeah, we haven't gone that far yet. I talked with Thatcher, he feels good, but we'll see how it goes. That is Canucks head coach Rick Talkett after a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. He mentions the commitment to defense was a big part of things tonight and they're not a running-gun team. I think that's something that we're really starting to see because earlier this year they were so prolific. We talked about scoring a lot, but if you look at how they're generating, it's not sustainable to score this much, with how little they're generating, and forget the PDO shooting percentage stuff. You probably have to generate more to score at this rate, but they're clearly a good offensive team, but they might be great defensively, and that's probably going to be their true identity as the season goes on. Obviously, you want to generate a bit more offense than the Canucks have since the All-Star break, but they've really honed in on that defensive side of their game and even through their struggles through this 20-game stretch. So, over these 20 games now, since the All-Star break, 11 of those games picked, they've held the opponent to two or fewer goals. Now, there's that 10-goal game against Minnesota, right? They've given up five goals against Bruins, they had a couple bad games in there, right? But you take some of those bad games out and look at the totality of it, keeping opponents to two or fewer goals for 20 games over your quote-unquote "worst stretch of the season." It shows you that, foundationally, there's a lot of good things still going on, even though they were struggling. That's the recipe, right? And he mentioned, we're built that way. When we play that way, we have a chance. As much as they have 100-point players, and a demand that might float it with 90 points, they are meant to be structured and defensively sound, and that's their identity. There's different ways to win in this game. It doesn't all have to be a running gun or a high-intensity offense. There's different ways to win. The Canucks' best chance to do it, if they play to their identity and execute their game plan, it is defensively focused. That's how they're going to have success, until they can start building out the guys and income a liqueur-maki, income some other offensive explosive players. I think even Rick Tockett said, unfortunately, we're both that way. I think he said, unfortunately. We can go back and listen to it. Yeah, I mean, maybe he did. That way, they're playing to what they have. And when you have an elitment cave, and you've got Lindhollm, and Patterson and Miller down the middle, there can be a defensively sound team. Maybe they absorb a little bit too much in end of games, but you look at their success with the lead. That's how they have to try to engineer results. So for this version of the team, that's what they've got to be. Yeah, no, they do. And at least tonight, strong defensively, a bit too close for comfort late, but Canucks probably could have scored a few more goals than they did as well. All right, keep your thoughts coming into our text inbox, 650-650. We'll get back to more of your thoughts there. Your phone calls, 604-280-0650. As we continue the discussion after a Canucks victory over the Buffalo Sabres, and this is the Canucks Central post-game show presented by the number five orange, a real Vancouver legend. They've got sports too, more necks on the home of your Canucks, SportsNet 650. The most comprehensive Canucks coverage in the city. Canucks Central with Dan Ritio and Satyar Shah. Be sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Canucks Central post-game show. Join the discussion on the official home of the Canucks, SportsNet 650, and the SportsNet radio network. Victor Oliveson winds back to center with under 40 seconds left in the first. He's everybody's used. Who stood him up and knocked him down with the Vancouver blue line and the fans are loving it at Roger's Arena. Wayne Hughes with a little bit of Kevin BX in his game. Open ice hit there. I just think I'm trying to bring intensity and compete in, you know, the 14 games last, so I'm trying to, you know, bring it a little bit here. Quinn Hughes, big performance with the Canucks tonight. Two assists. Comes up big. Canucks win 3-2 over the Buffalo Sabres, and this is the Canucks Central post-game show presented by the number five orange on the home of your Canucks, SportsNet 650, and the SportsNet radio network. Satyar Shah with big Nazar. Keep your thoughts coming into our text inbox, 650-650. You can also grab a phone line, 604-280-0650. Three goals scored by Carne Garland. Got the first goal of the game. Elias Patterson in the next two, including the game winner, which ended up being the empty net goal. So, you know, so Patterson for all the struggles, and Eric Test texted in earlier and said, you know, sat and I have disagreed about Patterson's play. He thinks that Patterson isn't consistent enough, and even when he scores a few points, that he's weak, he's not good defensively, he's a liability. And I honestly think a lot of that is narrative, not fact, and he's had some bad games. But this notion that he's been bad defensive of this season, to me, is just like, it's completely anecdotal. Like, there's been some bad moments, but it doesn't bear out over the course of the season. And especially when you dig into the numbers, it doesn't bear out. Like, it's not fact. Like, he's had some bad games, yes. But this notion that he's been a liability defensively with his five-on-five game is just not true. And I think that's the thing that gets me about some of the stuff with Patterson. It's like, yeah, we could talk about him. He needs to be better, dominate more, and everything, and step up, and we'll see what he does in the post season. But I think the subtleties that he does well get overlooked way too easily. So, and I think those are some of the things that-- I don't know if it's disingenuous, because I think people are being genuine with how they feel, and they see his different feelings and their reactions to how he's playing. But it doesn't bore out on the facts. You know what I mean? Like, there's been some bad moments, and yeah, he can fall over. He can look weak at times. Like, that's the way he looks. But I just don't think he's been the liability people think he has been for parts of the season. Even someone like tonight, Lindholm. We were just kind of praising his overall game. Look, he had a bad moment, 4-1-4 against Darlene. And someone's texting, and he was on for two goals against tonight. Overwhelmingly, he was a very positive player defensively with Canucks. It's one bad moment that doesn't take away from what he did for the rest of the evening. That's, I think, a bit of the discourse that surrounds Elias Patterson at times. Okay, maybe there's a bad moment. But his playing style is also just so interesting, because it's more about suppression. Yes. And creation on the offensive side. It's not, I'm going to carry this puck past this guy. He's got a couple of dangles. Don't get me wrong. But he's not, like, JT, where he's going to put a shoulder into a guy and try to muscle his way there. It's more creative. It's more finesse at times. But the thing that he's fantastic at is suppression. Well, and this is where, like, for instance, there are a lot of discussions around Bohor. That lasted before he got traded, right? And it was like, hey, you know, he's this great two-way center. And it's like, well, he has moments where you can see him be good defensively. But if you look at his overall game, like, he's actually not good defensively. And the numbers bore that out. When you dug into it, like, he was a liability oftentimes defensively. But there's this notion that he's a really good defensive player because of the odd face off. He wins face off. He's skates really hard, right? But it's like an actual defensive effectiveness. It's not there. And with Patterson, I think it's the opposite. That's more true. But, you know, it's one of those things. He had a good game tonight, three points. And, of course, the reality is, until we see this team and these players in a real playoff, on home ice, on the road, with fans in the building, I don't think people really know what's going to happen. So until we see them succeed, hopefully, in that situation, there are going to be doubts. What else did the future say in Texas? Just quickly also on Patterson. Fourteen draws tonight. Something we've been talking about goes 57% in the draw. So he will improve his status. That's above 50% now. So he's on something that we talk about defensively. He's improved 5.9 points. He was 44.3%. Now he's at 50.2. That will even take up a little bit more. So he's up over 6% from the last year. So that's something that's also very positive. And the element that he's added to his game now, that he's reliable in the draw. Lindholm goes 82% tonight. JT-47% with 17 draws. And Teddy Blueger at 55%. So the clock's wound up at 59% in the draw versus the Sabre's tonight. Yeah, one in pretty much every area tonight. You know, it was a narrow victory on the scoreboard, but in terms of territorial play, winning in key areas, I mean, it pretty much came up all Canucks when you looked at all the game states and how the Canucks performed here tonight. This person says, "You heard talk and say JT's getting checked by doctors tomorrow morning?" And yes, I mean, he's going to get double checked. That's just a good process. It's a good process. But I mean, I get it. You know, people are texting into and saying, "Now we're going to find out he's hurt tomorrow." So there's always the angst kind of hanging around things. But JT, and we'll play some audio here from Canucks players as well a bit later on the post-game show here, Bick. But he himself made it very clear to the media contingent that he is fine. But hopefully that remains the case tomorrow. 650, 650, the last textor suggested Lindholm with Miller and Besser. It's a decent idea and you guys just fired right past that to different combos. Well, the reason I went to, I mean, sure, fair enough. But I just don't know if that's going to work because now you're asking Lindholm to either play the left side as a right handed shot and he's already had trouble playing the wing to begin with, or it's asking Besser to move off to his left side. Or Miller out of the center. Or Miller to go on the left, but they like Miller playing center. The coach really likes him playing down the middle. I just don't know if that's something that it's more than a look here and there. And because of the two righties, then all of a sudden now you have an issue with having a rightie on another line. They tried it a little bit here and there. Clearly the coach didn't love it. We've seen it at times. But I just don't know if that's an actual solution for you. I'd be more inclined in trying to make Lindholm work with Patterson on the right side as opposed to trying to put him with Besser and Miller. I just think you're forcing somebody out of position like Besser or you're forcing Lindholm to play wing on his off wing, which is even harder for him. I just think it's too complicated. Now 650, 650, Jason from Kukwetlum guys, the bit talk it said about Miller's effectiveness on certain formations. I was asking last time if he's too honest. Isn't this giving away coaching strategies? Was that the game tonight? And I was happy to see Lindholm engaged. I also agree comments earlier about swapping coal for Jules and he brings some energy. Go connects. Go that is Jason from Kukwetlum. I mean, I'm always of the mind that coaches are watching other games, man. They know what's up. I don't know if the soundbite of what Miller does on the power plays is the thing another coach is saying. Good thing I didn't have to watch film. No, we're not doing the pre-scout. They know what's going on. They know what's going on. And also, all right, stop it. Good luck. Well, it's like in football, for instance. People think that football plays are... Every team has like 800 different plays. It's like maybe 20 plays, but the formation is slightly different at times or whatever. It's essentially like how many times does a football team run the same running play? It's probably dozen times in a game. It's just masked up differently. But it's the same play and teams know it's coming, but it's hard to stop if it's executed properly. It's the same principle. It's just dressed up in so many different ways. Yeah. But you kind of know what's coming. You know, but you still have to defend the game. It's not simple. 31 teams know when JT Miller is on the left half wall. They know where he should be. They know where he's going to be. Which one is he going to pick? Is it to the bumpers? Is it to download a besser? Is it a cross-ice to Patterson? Is it to Hughes? Is he going to find his own space and get that shot off? It's upon them to figure it out. And if the Canucks execute, you have a man advantage. You should be able to score even if the defense knows what's coming. Yeah, absolutely. And it's one thing to know what's coming. It's another thing to stop it. And the thing with JT's play on the half wall, especially that first power play, the first power play was a master class on the half wall from JT. First, he sets up Hughes Souter for that chance in the bumper spot. And he gets a shot off. And then on consecutive passes, he makes a pass with Patterson. A cross-ice, a cross-scene. Patterson whiffs on it. It's an open net. It should be a goal. The puck comes around. And then he makes... So what happens is the Buffalo defender has his guard against Patterson because he just had the back door play. He shades over the Patterson and then opens up the tap in for Brock Besser Netfront. And he fires it across. Besser can't score. He should be a goal in that. And then... And that's three high danger scoring chances on three passes. After all that, suddenly now the sabers are shifting. And Miller recognized tuck was too high. And he crept low and got right in front of tuck and then worked his way towards the net. And Quinn threw one in front. And JT's we've seen him do so effectively, lifts his stick and repositioned his skates. And that puck goes off his skates and misses the net. But the recognition in that moment of, hey, there's some space here. And I should go take it. You see him scurry right there again in front of tuck. And it was just well done. And everything kind of shifted around now. Suddenly, Quinn could come down the wall and look for space. Yeah, well, he's awesome in the power play. Yeah, he was. And when he's able to set up those different looks, then what happens is the defense is forced to try to prevent one and cheat over. And it does open up space for you. And it was really a masterclass from JT Miller in that first power play unit. And the first power play, they didn't come through on it, but they end up getting a goal tonight. And just like the score at the end of the game, three, two, Flatter's Buffalo, one for five on the power play. It probably doesn't tell the whole story about the chances that Canucks were able to generate. A lot of messages here, 650, 650. What else do you want to get to here, Bick? I mean, obviously, there's the ones that hate Patterson saying. Clearly, you guys haven't watched Patterson play this game. He's yada, yada, yada, yada. We got it. We see you text in 100 different times every game and saying this one. This is the first time texture. We'll do a first time texture who says he's a fourth-long pylon. Well, we'll always love the player prototypes when he text in. I want to get your thoughts on if you think Albion and Jim Rutherford didn't do more of the trade deadline because they're using this season to let guys understand and feel what it takes to play in the playoffs since no one really has experienced the season, has already exceeded expectations, so it's all house money. Then go all in in a couple of years or next. Yeah, no. I think that was some nice spin from the camp to say, you know, from Alvin, unable to do anything on the deadline. Look, there's elements of truth in it, of course, to say, go see what you can go accomplish in this new environment for you. Having to do the stretch run here. Yeah. And then really experience what a playoffs is going to feel like in opposing barns, not in the bubble and feel what that pressure is like, certainly. But there's also an element of hubris of, oh, we'll be here soon next year and we can go all in down the road. These chances, they're difficult, especially when you're a first place team and it looks very solid right now. How many seasons are you going to get where potentially 200 point players, Norris winner, Jack Adams winner, potential Vessna, caliber season. It's moments like this, you're meant to capitalize on and they tried. Give yourself a chance. They tried. I would like one more acquisition. Well, they tried. But they tried and they just couldn't pull it off. Yeah, I mean, they really wanted to try to get cancel as well. Couldn't pull it off. Try to get to Foley last minute. We're outbid by the Jets ultimately. And, you know, they make the acquisition for Lindholm. And yeah, the Canucks aren't like a top two or three team in the league in terms of overall strength. And you look at, say, Stanley Cup, you know, odds to win the Stanley Cup. But they're a team that has a chance. And guess what? You need things to break right for you. Most teams need something to break right for them. But at least it's not a conversation of like, well, yeah, if all things fall into place, maybe they can get to the second round. It's more about if all things fall into place, you can get to the Cup final. Like that reality exists. How likely is it? I mean, we'll find out. But it's worth it for you to feel like, okay, we're going to give it a shot this year. And they've defeated the notion of don't just be a wild card team to losing the first round. Look, they might lose in the first round. But it's not just scraping by. Just get in in the last week and you're just going to get pummeled by an actual powerhouse. They've got themselves a puncher's chance to do exactly what you just said. It could go to third round and beyond. Yeah, absolutely. A lot of reaction on the text in the box. Armin from North Vance says, Happy New Year's. Yes, to all our Persian listeners. Yes, Happy New Year's. The start of spring is also Persian New Year that is happening. I think officially at 2 a.m. tonight. So I know a lot of our brothers and sisters will be up late. Green in the New Year. So Happy New Year's. Happy New Year's. And I hope I wish best to everybody. A lot of prosperity, success and health to everybody listening. Fantastic stuff. All right, we are going to get to more stuff on the other side. We'll get to some player audio post game. We'll hear from J.T. Miller. And at all. And from guys like Elias Patterson post game. I think it was interesting based on how they played tonight and what we should expect to see from these players as a season goes on. Plus, we'll take a look at the standings, Vic, because it was kind of-- Don't forget not to win tonight because the Edmonton Oilers got the job done yet again against Montreal tonight. But also some teams further down the standings. Lost in regulation. Could the Canucks have a different first round opponent that we maybe didn't anticipate? All right, we'll get into all that and more as we continue here. Canucks win 3-2 over the Sabres. You are listening to the Canucks Central post game show presented by the number five orange on the home of your Canucks sports in the 650 and the sports in that radio network. Talking all Canucks all the time. It's Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. Subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This is where you talk Canucks. You're listening to the Canucks Central post game show on the official home of the Canucks sports net 650 and the sports net radio network. Ho Glenn into the Sabres zone drops to Patterson with room right circle. Rink by pass looking for Hughes left way through it to the goal from a top angle. Held out of the post by Levi took home by Garland. Garland celebrating. Puck across the goal line. The referee didn't make an immediate signal, but I believe this is one nothing Vancouver is the new look Patterson line. Cash is in early. Rick talk it was looking from energy from this line and they also provide some scoring as Connor Garland is a good job. Fast play through the neutral zone first by Niels Hoaglander. And then Connor Garland goes straight to the front of the net after Elias Patterson. Excuse me, Quinn used through the puck on net and just jamming it away at it. And it sneaks in between the post and Devin Levi's right skate. And that will be the 14th goal of the season for Connor Garland. As the Buffalo Sabres were not happy with that. They're arguing with the referee saying where was the whistle and Don Granado is now giving his two cents to the official. Canucks win 3-2 over the Buffalo Sabres and this is the Canucks Central post game show presented by the number five orange. Satyar Shah with bick nazar. Keep your thoughts coming into our text inbox 65650. A lot of people are also texting in and mentioning about Ian Cole. Somebody texted in earlier and called in and mentioned maybe load management. You know, you can take Cole out, put Juleson in for the next game. I'm all for it and not because I don't like Ian Cole. I'm a big fan of Ian Cole's game and I like a lot of things he has brought. At times it looks like the rigors of a long season is getting to him a little bit. He's 35 as well. I'm for trying to limit some of his games to get him as fresh and ready as possible for the post season. So I'm all on board on getting Noah Juleson into the next game and perhaps giving Ian Cole a breather. We'll see if that ultimately happens right away. Something that Rick Talkett said too was it's not always easy convincing these guys. And it's like they understand but you can't just have a regular rotation because it's tough for players to be like, "I don't really, is this what you want me to do?" Like, "I don't think I deserve to. I want to keep playing." So there's a fine balance, a delicate balance on these sort of things. Like, they don't like the load management aspect of it. But I agree with that suggestion though. If you can rest Ian Cole a few games the rest of the way, especially with them being healthy, I think that would be a benefit to him and the team. Well, it's also just important to keep Noah Juleson in the mix. Just... An injury is bound to happen come playoffs. Occupational hazard. So you don't want him going this whole stretch without a game. It's just nice to just get him, keep him fresh, make sure he gets a sense of timing and feels the rhythm of the game. So it's not, you know, three weeks off. And then if an injury happens, you're thrust into high stress environments. I think it was important for some like, "No, don't want to get into the game today." It'd been close to a month. Yeah. February 22nd was the last time he jumped in. And he looked a bit rusty at times. Yeah. He had some positive moments, took the penalty of course, you know, stick infraction to coaches and love those for instance. Overall, he was skating well. You can tell he needs to get stronger on the forecheck, but he gets there. He's willing to battle. But yeah, looked like a guy who hasn't played a game in a month. So considerations like this are important. So Noah Juleson, it's someone I'd like to see just step in. In general, you and I were briefly touching on this too. Like the last few minutes, Zadora was out there. If you were to craft a, it was Zadora Vekor, I think the last shift basically, to close out that game. If you were to craft your situational debarings, let's say it's game six, Zad. They have a chance to win the series. There's 90 seconds, defensive zone face off. Net's empty. I'm really crafting very specific situation here. But you're anticipating you're in your own zone for the next 90 seconds to win out the series. Who are the two demons you're putting up there? I probably go Hughes and Susie. That's mine too. We don't see that a lot, but here recently it's been like Ian Cole and Nikita Zadora. He likes to have his bigger defensive guys out there. I want my best guy. And you know the reason why I don't want Peronik out there? I don't think he comes up with enough pucks to trust him in that situation. We've said this thing too of the Unforced Errors. They're correctable. If you keep doing them, is not a habit? So yes, and I do think that over the course of the season, we've seen a lot of great things for Peronik. He's been terrific, absolutely. I still see some of the issues, and he will give the puck away at times. And for somebody who is physical and isn't afraid of battling, I feel like he doesn't come away with enough pucks along the boards. He battles hard, he's feisty and everything, but I don't feel like it comes away with pucks enough. And that's something that I'm concerned about late in games. And in clears, he's had trouble. We've seen it on the PK at times and trying to clear the puck out. I don't know if I trust him in those last minute situations. But again, this is also why, when we talk about the contract for him, if we're looking at an extension, you know, close to $7 million, perhaps? Okay, if we're talking $8 million, I don't know, man. Like if that's what you're trying to command $7.5 million plus, you have to be a bit more reliable defensively, at least in my estimation. And to remind you, he hasn't been here, obviously, through the last... And he can't get here? He can't improve and get better. But this is all new for him too. Yeah. It's not as if he's got this wealth of playoff experience. But Buffalo went out and acquired a D-man that's got Stanley Cup experience as already hoisted the couple over his head in Borne Byroom. This is all still new for Borneic too. As much as we talk about pews and Patterson and Besser, these guys having to learn this. Philopronics one who's also had to learn it. He didn't go to the playoffs with Detroit. Yeah. No, absolutely. Detroit, you know, they haven't been on the streak that Buffalo's been on. But, man, it's turned. They're like, you know, six years, seven years missing the playoffs in a row. Steve Eisenman's been there now, you know, like six years. You know, like, where is this going? And I think those are legitimate questions. All right. We get to some player audio, but we mentioned the standings. It was a pretty busy night in the out-of-time scoreboard here. Tonight, we mentioned the Edmonton Oilers who've been on such a tear ever since they right out of their ship and fired their old head coach and hired the new one. And they win yet again tonight, a 3-2 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens. And, you know, they haven't been overly convincing, but they are pricking up victories. And this could have been a big swing. If the Canucks don't win this game, Edmonton won. Now you're talking about with the games in hand, they could tie the Canucks. It doesn't mean it's over the race, because, you know, there's obviously time left and anything can happen from this point on. But this could have been a pretty big swing, though, if the Canucks weren't able to win this one and had lost three in a row as Edmonton's winning these games. It does kind of keep the Mad Bay in the Pacific Division standings. Yeah, it's not in their hands right now, especially with the game still in the horizon at the end of the season. It's just going to be really tough to overturn eight games or eight points here. They got four back-to-back still, too. Yeah, it's going to be really difficult for them. But it can't, like, the Canucks have to take care of business just when you're a game. Yeah, that's what it is. We'll talk to Sean on another team that has destiny in their hands. Or playoff controllers in their hands. Right now it's in the Canucks hands as far as first in the Pacific. And as far as who the Canucks may play. So right now, the Canucks still have the best record in the West, but the Jets have a slightly better win percentage. So it's still a race for the number one seed. However, that wild card race is starting to shape up a little bit. And, you know, we talked so much about Vegas and where they're going to be. I still think they make the playoffs, obviously. I don't think they're going to slip out. They're making it more interesting on themselves. But they are, because tonight, Minnesota won and Vegas lost. And all of a sudden, they're lead atop. For the final wild card spot, it's only three points. Now, they have a game in hand. They're only three points up on the Minnesota wild right now. Three points. The wild also have two games versus Vegas down the rest of the stretch. Technically, they control their own destiny because of that. Technically. Because if they win those two games, that's pretty crazy. Although, I guess they have a game in hand. They do. Oh, yeah. So they would have controlled this year. I forgot about that. Yeah, but still, but if they win those two, you could be one point behind them. If all things kind of gray one today, so they created some separation between them and Vegas. Plus, they have a tiebreaker over Vegas as well. It's uncomfortable. Well, I mean, in looking at how Nashville's winning, they won three in a row. Oh, there's a gap. There's a five-point gap. Now, they played one more game than Vegas. But, I mean... They have points in 15 in a row. Nashville? Something along those lines. They're going to be bypassing Vegas if they continue like this pretty soon. So, do you want the Jets to finish first in the West, or do you want the Canucks to finish first in the West? Now, hey, pick your poison sometimes, be careful what you wish for. Yeah, I just... Remember, last year, in Toronto, we won Florida. We won Florida. You know, you got fed pretty good. Be careful what you wish for. And the way the press have been going, they may not be a team. I don't... To me, they're not built like a team that's going to go far into playoffs. But considering how well they're playing, considering they have a goal-tenant like UC Sorrows, when he's hot, can steal a series. Or they... Be firstier than you want. Well, they look like a team that could upset somebody in the first round. I don't see them going far, but they could be a really hard team to play in the first round because of their current form. It's not what you can control. So it's like, honestly, like, just play your game, play your game around one in his first play. Yeah, either way, I don't think it matters. Because, yeah, to me, obviously, the Preds are the weakest team. But the way they're playing right now, they're not the weakest opponent. So you've got to be careful with what you're kind of wishing for at this app. But the Wild, the Blues, they're all just kind of hanging around there. Yeah. It's not going to be easy for Vegas, what... It looked like they should probably be the second team in the division. And now they're... Graspin' to Wild Card 2 right now. Yeah, a lot of reaction on the text inbox. 650, 650. We'll get to more of your texts and your thoughts as a show goes on here. We are going to get to Ian McIntyre. But before we do that, J.T. Miller, big topic of conversation, had a strong game here tonight for the Vancouver Connects. That two helpers on the evening left the game for about 10 minutes after taking in the second period. Took a shot off on the PK in the first, came back to start the second period. Out on the power play, then left for almost 8-9 minutes. But he did return and helped the Connects win. And here is J.T. Miller Post game meeting with the media. Yeah, it was a good effort. Obviously, another good start again. I think our starts have been really good lately. And I thought when they had their little push, not really even a push, but when they scored, I liked our response. I think that's something we've been working on. How about the power play tonight? Yeah, we're snapping around pretty good. You know, it's going to get back on that side. You know, it just depends on the personnel and the hands of people and what teams present in the formation. So today we went with that. I felt like we created a lot of momentum each time. Like we talk about, they were good reps and you feel good when you come off with those reps. It would be nice to score on all three, but that was a step in my direction for us. What was the biggest difference? Was it urgency more willingness to shoot the puck? I would just think we executed at a higher level, honestly. Sometimes you could say shoot the puck and you just shoot a bunch of nonsense shots. And sure, I guess you could get some bounces doing that. And I guess sometimes that could work. But for us, it's just execution, retrievals, and we've got pucks back today. And the entries were clean and stuff like that. You mentioned the response after they got their goal to make it two to one. Can you just take me through that with a bit more detail? I mean, was there a different feeling on the bench? Did anything need to be said? Because you get showed a lot of composure it seemed. I mean, that's all we talked about lately is, you know, we've got to be the team that, you know, it doesn't go our way. We've got to be able to man up and respond. And, you know, when things aren't going to go our way down the stretch here every day, and we have to understand that it's going to be a particularly tough group to win hockey games in the latter part of the season. And, you know, they had a change. You know, that's a desperate team over there. I mean, they're playing for their lives. And I thought we did a good job of responding. A few minutes you missed in the second. Was that from the shot block? How proud are you of the way the PK performed tonight? Yeah, especially those are good in general. I think that, you know, I thought we had a good job of pressuring them. And I don't think they had any good looks, which is nice. I thought our trigger points were great. You know, we've been good on holding the line on the entry and making it tough on teams and created a lot of turnovers that way. In October, with the chances you had, this probably would have been like a 6-2 game. Yeah, because the puck was going in. Do you believe that it'll go in again, or is it just we're at the stage of the season now where even, you know, when you generate, it's just going to be a lot harder to score. Yeah, I mean, it's harder to score. But I mean, it broke Miss 2 in the power play that he doesn't ever miss today. I mean, those go in, they start taking chances. That's when the game could open up, right? I mean, if it's, you know, 3-4 nothing going into the third, you know, not what it was. I mean, that's a big difference in the game. So, I mean, it's a couple of little looks here and there. You know, I thought we did a good job of forward-checking today and created a lot of turnovers. And I guess that we created a lot today. That is Canucks 4, JT Miller. After a two-point performance tonight, a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. And it's now time to welcome in the man we call the triple threat. To close this show, you watch him on TV, you read him on digital, and you're about to hear him on radio. He is Ian McIntyre. We'll soon be watching baseball's closers in action. I know, less than what, a week away now, a week away? They don't start at March. I think they start at late March. It used to be early April, March. Ten days. Ten days. Nine days. It's a good thing he still got both hands. Can I count up to... How do you do a charade there? Nine words. That would be a hard one. Nine words. Sounds like opening day. It does feel like spring, though, all of a sudden, doesn't it? It does. I don't know what this means with baseball. But you come to the game, the sun is out, the fruit trees are in bloom. In fact, the yellow plum tree in my front yard, it's already finished blooming. It's done. Wow. It's just a great time of year, and I had forgotten, because it has been a while. How that anticipation of a playoff run to come, and we know the Canucks, whether it's going to be four games or four rounds, whatever, they're going back to a real playoff tournament, and they're going to have a chance to succeed, because it's such a wide open. It's going to be... This is just going to be, I think, one of the most fun Stanley Cup tournaments to watch, because it is so wide. There's 11 or 12 teams can make a case that they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. And it's nice that the Canucks looked again tonight like a team that may have what it takes to win a playoff style game. And call it a function of the salary cap, whatever. But the top teams feel like they have vulnerabilities to them. Yeah. I saw somewhere that right now the projected President's trophy point total is going to be one of the lowest since the lockout. And yeah, I mean the salary cap has done its job, especially the hard salary cap. There's no way around it. I mean, there is with LTIR, and I know people are upset at Vegas and stuff. But it's not like baseball, you just pay a luxury tax and spend whatever you like. It has leveled the playing field. And we see it sort of at the bottom of the playoff race. But we also see it at the top with the teams that can actually win a cup. Because I was covering the league, you know, late 90s, and it was either Detroit or Dallas or Denver, you know, seeing, and they were spending more money than the one the teams do now, at least salary cap wise. So yeah, this is, this is far preferable. You know how I was getting ready for playoffs? I noticed my passports expiring in June. And heaven forbid, I have complications covering the Stanley Cup final. So you got to get ahead of it. So I went ahead of it. I took, I didn't come to the skate this morning. I went to my services Canada passport office in Richmond. I walked in there at 9.45 in the morning. And what time do you think I walked out? Was it 1.30? 1.45. Very good. You're a clever man. You're smarter than you look. Yeah, four hours, four hours in the passport Canada office in Richmond. I'd say my counter time, like looking at my documents and then processing it. Probably about four minutes. Yeah, I don't think very long. Yeah. But you know what's going to happen now? It's going to be a domestic Stanley Cup final. So you wouldn't even get into the passport. All right. What about the first? Well, yeah, I guess I wouldn't have needed it for the first round. So paid the extra, though, to get the 10 years. Well, the 10 years, you just, it's a no brainer. You take the 10 years. Yeah. Unless you're planning to go to prison. I don't know about you. I'm not. Well, you've been planning a lot more banks here. Yeah. But I know I paid the extra to get the three day service. Oh, right. Because I am going on the road trip at the start of April. And here's what I didn't know. Like on their website, it says, if you apply in person, you can retain your passport. So I thought that meant, okay, my passport's still good. I keep this one. They process a new one. When I get the new one, they take the old one. No, they cancel. They cancel your passport. So I'm a man without a country right now. So you don't have a passport right now? For three days. So you can go nowhere. Do you have to pick it up at the password office? Office or the decision? I may try to get to Point Roberts just to be a renegade. The next three days. Wait, it says on the website, you can retain your passport? It says, if you apply in person, and I don't, I actually have it on my phone, but I'm wasting enough time on the radio. I'm not going to call it. It says, if you apply in person, you can keep your passport. You don't have to submit it with your application, which you have to do mail in. So I thought, okay, well, I want to keep using this passport. So I'll go in person. I said, no, no, you can keep it, but it's not going to be valid. It's going to be a souvenir. So I have a souvenir. I have all the stamps from places I've been. It's kind of fun. But you're getting ahead of me. You leave through your passport, don't you, Seth? Yeah. I do, yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's good times. Yeah, it's fantastic. Why not? I have, do you, so did you do Nexus now too? Or is that already? I do, finally. Finally. Yeah, this year. Honestly, having Nexus makes travel so much easier. I couldn't believe the first time I went to the airport. It's like, I almost, having done it once, I thought maybe the next time I went, they'd have, they'd have like, I don't know, a magic carpet waiting at that curb. Yeah. It just whisked me through or something. It's unbelievable the difference that it makes. He got mad at me because I didn't have Nexus and we had to travel to Seattle. No, thankfully it wasn't that bad. Like it wasn't that bad. Did he leave you? Did he ditch you? Oh no, you were in the car. I had no choice. He didn't make you walk. Ah, just the worst. Now what would happen? Just spitballing here. So you didn't have Nexus and there was a long lineup. What if sat dropped you off? You walked. You walked up to the window. Like they're not going to make you stand behind 100 cars on foot, right? So you go up to the building. He drives in. You get processed that way. Yeah. Might work. Maybe next time. We had to wait an extra like 15 minutes. Oh. He wasn't. He wasn't. He held the greetings. That's not too bad. I had to buy breakfast. I was like, I'm not happy about this. Speaking of playoffs. Is the show over yet? Not yet. This text here from Liberal, Botello, and Kid and Matt BC says only once in NHL history has a first place team in the NHL face the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round. That was the Canucks in 2011 against the Chicago Blackhawks. Canucks are closer to that twice now. Now, we'll see if they win the president's trophy because then there are a few teams that are ahead of them, right? Yeah, I don't think. I don't like their chances on that. Yeah. And honestly, I'm fine with it. And even what JT Miller said is like, hey, facing adversity, it's almost like he doesn't want to win this president's trophy. He wants to face adversity. So you're not going in there. You're all blind. But we were just talking about this before you joined. It looks like it's going to be either the National Predators or the Vegas Golden Knights. And right now, Vegas sitting there with the eight C, the second wild card spot. And all of a sudden, they're five points back of the preds. Like the prize for winning the Western Conference this year could very well be playing the Vegas Golden Knights. Yeah. Well, there's a long way to go. So, I mean, who knows who it's going to be, but find an easy opponent. Yeah. Like probably teams would choose Nashville, right, over Vegas, for sure they would. But, you know, where is the path of least resistance? It doesn't exist anymore. The prejudice is so hot. And they have gold tending that, hey, I was just saying, they may not win the cup, but could they upset somebody in the first round? Yeah. I mean, form, form matters. And that's one of the things that talk it has been talking a lot about. But I also remember the Canucks in whatever it was, the Detroit Red Wings. Was it 01 or 02 and 02 and the Canucks in the second half of the season been one of the best teams in the NHL. And they were up to nothing on Detroit and they still, you know, lost. So, I mean, talent matters, but form is important. There's just a lot. We're still a long way. Like, it's nice that they know that they're going, the Canucks, and most teams by now have a pretty good idea that they're going, but not all. But so much can still change in a month. Like JT Miller missed, what, six minutes of the second period. And Sat and I were talking over there while getting ready to go on TV. That... Did you know Bic we did TV today? Yeah. I was going to comment. I apologize. I didn't get the striped shirt memo. Oh, yeah. That's right. Well, neither of us could compete with Murph's quarter. I was going to twee... Coral blue. I was going to tweet a picture because I saw Murph's quarter right suit beforehand. Yeah. And I was like, "People are not prepared for the suit." He looked like he robbed Tom Selleck from the way to a wedding. The only thing he didn't take was the mustache. Yes. And he had taken that if he could. Believe me. That was a fantastic suit. Yeah. It was a fantastic suit. It was a good suit. It looked really good. He was getting a lot. I know people messaging him and being like, "Nice suit." That was pretty funny. Well, my wife tells me I looked nice. Well, you do. You look very daffy. You look good too, Sam. Thank you. We actually look good tonight, but then we spoke and ruined the effect. And that's the thing. Well, you know, about the game here, because we have a lot of people, you know, texting in about the game about, "Hey, it's..." Of course, you get varying degrees of responses. Connects went 3-2. The score line really flattered Buffalo. I mean, the connection probably should have won by more than they did. The coach was very happy with their defensive play. Something that we've been talking about a little bit too is for as much as the connection struggled, or since the all-star break, they're now 10, 7, and 3. Like 91-point pace or whatever that is. Pedersen now has 18 points in 20 games. Not great, but it's, you know, it's not horrible, for instance. But did you know that over this past 20-game stretch, they've held their opponent to two or fewer goals 11 times? So defensively, foundationally, the strength of their team has remained strong, and that is how they can suffocate teams. Yeah. Well, I'd say the strength of their team, if that's a strength of their team, it's gotten even stronger, because they didn't have to play that way early in the year. They were scoring so many goals, and they're going to have to play that way to succeed in the playoffs. So that's a very good thing. The evolution of their 5-on-5 play is phenomenal. Like, we've been looking, we've, what am I trying to say, we've been watching this so long that, like, it's hard just to step back to 20,000 feet and look at it and say, well, what, what did we expect it to be? But remember at the start of the season, it was like, okay, 5-on-5, yeah, they're going to be sort of middle of the road, but man, they might have a great power play. And if the penalty kill is even average, the power play will be great, and they've got damn close. That's going to put them over the top. That'll make them a playoff team. Well, now the 5-on-5 play is one of the strengths of, of this team. And even with all the hiccups that we've seen along the way, big picture, it, it has still been, it has still been very good. It would be nice if they could alleviate some of that pressure by scoring more, but I think, you know, that's just a market correction from, from everything that went right in the first half. They're just probably not going to score that way again, even though they're playing quite well. So there's, you know, there's a lot of, a lot of good things about this team, even, even in this stretch where at times it seems, you know, pretty alarming. And, you know, sometimes in this market, I think maybe we get too alarmed too easily. But I, I would say this about, and you know, I write stories about as well. So I'm not, I'm not casting blame at others. But I think part of the reason that talk has been so concerned and he has sounded the alarm is because the playoffs are coming. And, and he knows that just scuffling or, you know, being good for a couple of games, not good for a couple of games, that's, that's not going to get you anywhere. So there's, there's this heightened intensity and urgency to get back to their top game. And tonight was pretty close to it, by the way. Like natural stature had the expected goals at 7-2 tonight for Vancouver. The high danger chances were 26-7, all in, including the power play. Sounds great. 16-3 at 5-5. So that was a pretty dominant, a dominant performance. But we need to see that level now sustained and not necessarily now every game. They still got another 13 games. That's a long way to sustain. So what's the number we were talking about that earlier? And I said, I just want to see seven straight consistent games. I don't necessarily care for the last seven, tonight was the first one. I just want to see like seven games. I would like to see most of them good, but I want to see all of the ones at the end. Good. So the last, last four or five games, I want the team to look really good. Before we let you go, Elias Lindholm tonight. Playing with Mckayev playing with... I thought that line was good. Yeah, I mean, he's just, he's the guy right now who can't buy a goal. He's Mckayev now that Mckayev is scored. Although Mckayev looks like it may be a while before he buys another. But he's, I think Lindholm is doing a lot of things right. I think the fact that that line was good in generating chances, that's pretty much mission accomplished. If you're, if you're a third line center. Now it's not, I'm not saying it's mission accomplished for him. Like he's, you know, wants to be a nine million dollar player or something next year. I don't know if he's going to be. So he needs to, he, he wants to do more and needs to do more in that respect. But in terms of the idea of splitting your centers and having your four centers on four lines, tonight was a good example that it can actually work. Because the fourth line with Lafferty and, and Blueger and Podkolsen was, was good as well. They had chances, the third line had chances, and then the top six, the stars looked like stars again. So, you know, I, I don't think it's changing. I don't, you know, people who say, oh, Lindholm, we can't be playing on the third line. Well, why can't he be playing on the third line? If, if, if you've got Patterson and Miller playing ahead of him. Like there's nothing wrong with that. As long as that third line is, is generating and isn't, isn't losing its match ups. And I don't think any line lost its matchup tonight. No. No, they didn't. He needs to, like, hopefully between now and the end of season, he scores a few goals and gets some confidence back. Because it's a huge wild card going into the playoffs. If you can get him scoring on top of all these other guys that we've been watching all year, that's a, that's another element for the connects. Before we get out, you mentioned the advice about if you're at the border, maybe send somebody in. And you, you know, maybe Bix, as he doesn't have Nexus, you can walk in and I'll drive in. That's a no-no, apparently. Dino says, don't do that at the border. You're asking for trouble. Don't split up. They will bring you in. And this one says, my dad tried the move where he took the Nexus lane and sent my mom to walk through. When asked if they were, they were traveling with anyone, he said he was, and they threatened to revoke his Nexus card. Travelers have to stay together with the people they're traveling with. So just for those listening, we're not encouraging you to do anything like that. Just, you know. Now we know. Now we know. I think you guys could still try it. Eric says, passport office pro tip. Take a ticket for service in French. You'll get a service significantly faster. And the person servicing you barely speaks French anyways and will be glad you're addressing them in English. So maybe that's the hack. All right, great stuff as always. Our listeners on top of things. It's great. It's fantastic. We have, we have such an erudite audience. What a word. What a word. That's why, that's why you're the writer. What a word. I'm not saying anything. We're stumped. We're stumped. He's Ian McIntyre. Make sure to read his latest on SportsNet.ca. If it's not up already, we'll be very soon. His bickness are back on the People Show tomorrow. Three to four. Thanks to Josh Elliott-Wolf. Fast, Eddie Gregory producing. And all of you for listening, participating on the post game show. It's always a pleasure. Can't wait to be back at it again on Thursday. But on it back on again tomorrow with Dan Ricchio on Canucks Central four to six. Thank you all. This has been the Canucks Central post game show. the home ear Canucks sports net 650.
