In his first game against the team he played with for the first seven seasons of his career - Jake DeBrusk scored the game-winner in his return to Boston to help the Canucks shutout the Bruins 2-0 at TD Garden on Tuesday, November 26th. The Bruins had three power-play opportunities down the stretch with a chance to tie it, however, they failed to get past Kevin Lankinen. Elias Lindholm, former Canuck, and Danton Heinen, former Bruin, also faced their former teams, where they had spent parts of last season. Conor Garland also scored for Vancouver when he struck Boston's empty net for the 2-0 final. With this loss, the Bruins broke their two-game winning streak after a three-game losing streak. For the Canucks, this is their second win straight after losing two straight games. The Bruins head to New York to take on the Islanders, and the Canucks continue their road trip, heading to Pittsburgh next on Wednesday.
Canucks Lineup:
Debrusk - Pettersson - Sherwood
Joshua - Suter - Garland
Heinen - Blueger - Boeser
Hoglander - Raty - Bains
Hughes - Hronek
Brannstrom - Myers
Soucy - Juulsen
Lankinen
Silovs
Bruins Lineup:
Marchand - Lindholm - Brazeau
Geekie - Zacha - Pastrnak
Frederic - Coyle - McLaughlin
Beecher - Kastelic - Koepke
Lohrei - McAvoy
Wotherspoon - Carlo
Zadorov - Peeke
Swayman
Korpisalo
After a scoreless first opening frame, Jake DeBrusk put the Canucks in front 1-0 early into the second period at 14:07 on the power play. Brock Boeser took the puck off a pass by Conor Garland and sent the puck down to Quinn Hughes, who fired it, Garland deflected it, and DeBrusk swept in the rebound in front of the net.
The Canucks almost doubled their lead when Elias Pettersson nearly connected with Brock Boeser in the third after forcing a 3-on-1 rush with a takeaway, however, Jeremy Swayman got in front of it. With Swayman pulled for an extra attacker not long after Vancouver nearly doubled their lead, the Bruins almost tied it, but Elias Lindholm had pushed the slot shot wide with little time left in regulation. Conor Garland then struck Boston's empty net with just seconds remaining to seal a 2-0 shutout victory for the Canucks.
Jeremy Swayman on Jake DeBrusk's power-play goal and the game overall: "I didn't see the replay, but if I'm reaching up, I know that I'm above the crossbar there. So, I thought originally the high stick, but I talked to him and he said the replay didn't show that. So, it's unfortunate balance. Again, that's hockey. We have to move forward, and I think we did a good job of that - kept pressing and did our job well. We just didn't get the result."
Jake DeBrusk on how he's feeling after this game, his goal, Kevin Lankinen, and his team: "It was a super weird game, to be honest. It was just one of those things where it was just lots of emotions... People say it all the time once you go through it, you see too many people you know - I was happy to get that one! I didn't know if it could get called back, but it ended up being the winner," - "They were all over us there. They were just throwing pucks everywhere, there were rebounds, and I love him right now. He's the biggest reason why we won. He's been great all year, and hopefully, we can do a little bit of a better job in front of him so he doesn't have to see as many pucks. He was huge tonight, and he's been a huge addition. - It honestly wasn't a pretty game, but we stuck with it. We had the lead, we played a one-goal game, and that's kind of like how they like to play over there, and we were able to seal it. So, sometimes it isn't pretty, and lots of guys probably didn't feel too great about the game, but we got the win. That's the thing that matters most."
Notes:
- This was Jake DeBrusk's first game against his former team that he previously had been with since the start of his career. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Bruins, who had selected him No. 14 in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft. On July 1st, 2024, he signed a seven-year contract with the Canucks as a free agent.
- Brock Boeser made his return to the lineup from an upper-body injury for the Canucks. He had missed seven games after taking a check to the head by Tanner Jeannot.
- Conor Garland recorded both a goal and an assist, and Kevin Lankinen made a total of 32 saves for Vancouver. ...In addition to Lankinen's efforts in the net, the Canucks had blocked 26 shots to the Bruins' 11.
- Kevin Lankinen recorded his second shutout of the season, and the only other goaltender with more so far this season is Connor Hellebuyck, who has had three shutouts so far.
- The Canucks have extended their road win streak to eight, which ties the second-longest run in franchise history in 2003-04. Vancouver's longest streak spanned nine games in 2010-11.
- Jeremy Swayman made a total of 13 saves for Boston.
- This is Joe Sacco's first loss as the Bruins interim coach. He had won his first two games behind the bench - 1-0 against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday, and 2-1 against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
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