Solid effort all things considered, but really wish this had come sooner on the homestand so they could've banked some more points. Only watched from the second period onwards (coaching earlier), but some thoughts from the first period highlights and observations from the 2nd on:
Garland: Great game, really stepped up today. Thought he had fallen back to earth a bit, but he showed up big time. They're going to need him these next couple weeks.
Petterson line: Sherwood is reminding me of when Matt Cooke stepped in for Todd Bertuzzi on the Naslund line after the Moore incident and went on a heater. Sherwood's been a tweener for a long time, dominating the AHL but never finding that gear in the NHL, but it looks like he's found it here. Petey also looks engaged and his vision is back.
Debrusk was giga meh, dude needs to start burying his chances and creating vs skating all over the ice & accomplishing nothing. If his shot was like Keifer's he'd have a couple more goals over the last little bit with the looks Petey has been giving him. His puck skills also aren't strong enough to be playing the half-wall on the PP, don't know what Tocchet was thinking there.
Hoglander: Contract looks dumber by the day. Given two of the top line players are out, it speaks volume the coach still has him on the fourth line. Is the first guy I'd look to deal to try and get defensive help.
Bains: Great effort today, time down in the AHL seems to have done him some good. Keeps progressing.
Lekk: Just way too weak out there. This is where people get confused on whether size matters. Garland's size? Not an issue, dude is an absolute dog on the puck and extremely strong on his skates. Lekk? Looks like the wind could blow him away. On the PP it shows up a lot, as even with a numbers advantage he has a really hard time winning any of his 1-on-1 or even 2-on-1 matches. Has a good shot and hockey sense, but needs more seasoning in the AHL to either muscle up or learn to use his stick better to compensate for the size disadvantage.
Soucy/Myers: lol not even worth talking about anymore
Silovs: Just fine. The issue is the Canucks are going to need great if they want to get through this next stretch at .500. Lankinen has come down to earth a bit after a solid start, and the Canucks are a bottom 10 team right now with their ES 5 on 5 save percentage (semi-deflated from some blowouts). Going to need better to make sure the season doesn't spiral out of control like it did in 2022-2023.