WASHINGTON D.C — For the better part of 30 minutes, the Vancouver Canucks looked like they were cruising toward a disheartening, low-event defeat at the hands of the Washington Capitals.

With 11 minutes to play in the second period, Vancouver had managed just six shots on goal at five-on-five in the game — and none of them were high-quality scoring chances. The Capitals were pushing Vancouver around physically, and setting up shop in Vancouver’s end of the ice, peppering Kevin Lankinen with scoring chances in bunches.

Then, suddenly, as it sometimes goes in hockey, the momentum in the contest flipped entirely.

Instead of merely mucking it up, Vancouver began to muck their way into the game. They out-skated the Capitals and began to win 50/50 puck battles at a dominant clip.

By the end of the second period, Vancouver had eliminated the Capitals’ lead and were firmly in control, racking up an astounding 21 shots in the frame — a stunning number for a team that managed just three in the first period and hadn’t recorded 30 in a game dating back to December 3rd.

Their second-period push wasn’t enough ultimately, as the Capitals found their footing in the third period and found a way to win 2-1 in overtime, but this was a solid, highly competitive keep-your-head-above-water performance on the road against a very good team for the Canucks.

The early fracas

Wednesday night’s game became something of a grind-it-out affair, but it started with some early fireworks. Pierre-Luc Dubois was called for kneeing Quinn Hughes, and as the Canucks went to stand up for their captain, all manner of chaos ensued:

Sherwood lays a late hit on Dubois and chaos ensues! 😲 pic.twitter.com/yAnxychJZe

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 9, 2025

There were some Kiefer Sherwood shenanigans, a gratuitous Tom Wilson takedown of J.T. Miller and Dubois getting an extra lick in on Hughes for good measure.

In some ways, the fracas set the tone for a game that had a fair bit of feeling, and very little available ice for either team. That the game was also nervy and low-scoring only added to the sense of uncommon stakes for an early January game.

It was also a strangely officiated sequence. Somehow the officials assessed Hughes an additional minor penalty, so when the Canucks were given a four-minute consecutive power-play opportunity, they had to take it without Hughes on the ice. In all, Hughes missed nearly six minutes of game action, as a result of a dubious extra penalty.

The entire sequence underlined the general vibe of this game at Capital One Arena. Wednesday night’s contest may not have been an aesthetically pleasing watch, but it was a surprisingly intense one.

Of course, because this is how it goes, it was Dubois capping off his villainous first period with a go-ahead goal late in the frame that spotted Washington an early edge.

The pushback period

This Canucks team hasn’t often generated much in the way of shots or pressure this season. On Wednesday night, for example, the game appeared to be following a familiar script for the Canucks of late.

The Capitals had the balance of scoring chances and possession, and by a wide margin, but had only made one of their looks count. Then for an 11-minute stretch to close out the second, Hughes and the Canucks took over the game.

Most Canucks fans will talk about the 21-shot second period, but it was really an uncharacteristically high event 11-minute stretch in which Vancouver peppered the Capitals, kept them pinned repeatedly in their own end and managed to generate some look in bunches.

They weren’t looks of the highest quality necessarily, it was probably quantity more than quality, but the Canucks meaningfully put the Capitals under duress and applied enough pressure to draw a late second power-play opportunity. And then they converted on that, with Kiefer Sherwood levelling the score and setting the stage for the Canucks to force overtime and begin this gauntlet road swing with at least a point earned in consecutive games.

The gap between them is about 70 pounds and nearly half a foot, but there’s something meaningful and telling about the way that Garland stepped to Wilson as regulation ended on Wednesday night.

The sequence as regulation expired occurred when Garland just missed — and thought he’d touched — a Quinn Hughes stretch pass that ultimately went for icing. Wilson and Garland exchanged whacks and some classic hockey pleasantries, with Garland showing absolutely zero signs of backing down.

Now this is par for the course for Garland, who despite his height plays something of a heavy game. His standout ability is his work along the wall, and ability to hang onto pucks down low against bigger opponents — until passing lanes emerge for him to make plays. It’s how he drives plays, and produces at a top-line rate at five-on-five, despite his physical disadvantage.

The guts it takes to stand up to Wilson, however, one of the NHL’s most ruthless players at his size is a totally different level though. And it came at a cost, when Wilson took a run at Garland behind the net as regulation expired.

Then, despite the physical impossibility of the entire thing, had the gall to accuse Garland of diving after the late hit.

Things might seem dark for the Canucks, but when you’ve got players competing like that, and it went beyond this one sequence between Garland and Wilson on Wednesday night given the team’s overall effort, there’s hope for any team.

(Photo: Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)