Canucks 4, Panthers 0: A dream return for J.T. Miller

4 hours ago

The Province

Playing his first game in nearly a month after returning from personal leave, Miller was pretty fine.

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Published Dec 12, 2024 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 6 minute read

Niko Mikkola of the Florida Panthers defends against J.T. Miller of the Vancouver Canucks during the NHL game at Rogers Arena on December 12, 2024 in Vancouver. Photo by Derek Cain /Getty Images

When you’re out of the lineup, usually you just don’t want to look out of place upon your return.

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Don’t screw up. Make some smart plays. Mix it up a little.

Or you could go the J.T. Miller way and just not miss a beat.

That’s how it went for the Vancouver Canucks star on Thursday. Playing his first game in nearly a month after returning from personal leave, Miller was pretty fine.

He didn’t play a ton — head coach Rick Tocchet had said he wasn’t going to lean on Miller as much as usual — but in those minutes he was solid. The Panthers are the defending champs, after all, so no shift is easy, but not once was he beat. His line got outshot but few of the Panthers’ shots with him on the ice were dangerous. He won 60 per cent of his faceoffs.

It was a very solid effort.

And he had two assists, including a beautiful short pass to Brock Boeser to set up a scoring chance for the right-winger, who needed to carom off the end boards and the net to get a second opportunity.

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“It doesn’t surprise me, you know, he’s such an elite player, and he shows what he can do night in, night out,” Boeser said of his good buddy doing so well on his return to the lineup.

Tocchet highlighted the work he felt Miller did against the Panthers’ Sasha Barkov, one of the best two-way players in the game.

“I thought he did a good job against Barkov. He’s a big guy in the middle. You know, it’s tough to go around him,” Tocchet said.

It was a comprehensive performance by the Canucks, who beat the Panthers 4-0.

Danton Heinen of the Vancouver Canucks is congratulated at the players bench after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers December 12 in Vancouver. Photo by Derek Cain /Getty ImagesLankinen does it all

A big opponent like this, you might have thought Thatcher Demko would get the start even though he’s only just returned to the lineup.

But when you’ve a second goalie playing as well as Kevin Lankinen has been, you can understand why the Canucks were comfortable handing him the start.

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And he showed again why he’s been so essential to the Canucks this season.

There haven’t been many breakdowns, but generally he’s been on top of things when they do break down.

He got a deserved shutout.

Another dream

Brock Boeser has now played 500 games in the NHL.

That he got to celebrate the milestone with a well-taken goal was perfect.

“I’m a pretty loyal guy so to be able to do it with the Canucks means a lot to me, and hopefully there’s a lot more to come,” he said after the game.

He’s become just about the Canucks’ most consistent, reliable winger. Put him with a centre and he’ll get it done. He’s been an especially good fit with Miller the last season-plus.

“JT made a heck of a play there when he came in the zone, and I knew he’s gonna pass it, so I’m gonna shoot it,” Boeser said. Then grinned about the bounce.

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“I’ll definitely take it.”

Disrupting those breakouts and dump-ins

The Panthers’ game is built off pressure, never letting you get going.

Ironically, it was the Canucks who did that to the visitors.

They never let Florida get moving, constantly forcing them into tough decisions in their own end.

The Canucks swarmed the Panthers from the start and deserved to lead 2-0 after the first.

When the Panthers did get through the neutral zone, the Canucks were quick to recover pucks and turn the game around.

The Canucks identified how aggressive they knew the Panthers were going to be in attacking the puck once it was in the Vancouver zone; the Canucks collected the puck smartly all night and were able to quickly counterattack more than once.

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“The quicker and easier we got out of our zone, it would play into our game and use our speed,” Canucks defender Mark Friedman said of their game plan.

“Rim after rim after rim, it puts a lot of stress on the D-men and whether or not it’s just taking a big hit to get to make a play, or just getting the puck out of the zone and live to fight another shift. I think we did a pretty good job of that,” he added.

Taking the game to the Panthers

Post-game Panthers head coach Paul Maurice highlighted how the Canucks were able to do things against them that no one else has been able to do all season.

“Well, we give up three rush goals and we just don’t do that, can’t do that and those are all off our sticks, so we own those. Other than that, there wasn’t much going on either way. I thought they defended hard, around their net, and the rest of it was watching paint dry,” Maurice said. They also just didn’t challenge Lankinen enough, he felt, despite their 27-19 advantage in shots.

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“I’m certainly not taking anything away from (Lankinen), but I’m not standing here going, ‘if it wasn’t for their goalie.’ We got on the road to give up whatever, 18-19 shots, that should be enough. The rush chances got to go.”

This is the first time all season anyone has shut out the Panthers and the first time they had lost in more than two weeks.

Defending the slot

There were a few breakdowns, but overall the Canucks were what they’ve been all season, tough to break down in the slot.

“I thought they were really good boxing out,” Tocchet said of his defence corps. “That’s one of the best teams in the league at getting to the net, they got some really heavy guys.”

Maurice was complimentary of the Canucks’ in-zone defending, saying they forced the Panthers into poor shot choices.

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“Our selection with the puck in the offensive zone was unusual at times. But hey, they played hard. They defended very, very well in front of their net.”

Maximum Sasson

Tocchet has been very clear: the situation on the fourth line is pretty wide open.

Danton Heinen, it would seem, is doing enough to stay in the lineup — he scored against the Panthers, but more importantly he’s proving to be an adept penalty killer — but guys like Max Sasson have something to prove every night.

And so far, Sasson is showing very, very well.

He’s a dynamic skater, he makes smart decisions with the puck and he got two assists on the night because of all this.

He may just have it.

Tocchet grinned post-game when asked about Sasson, after days of questions about Miller and Pettersson. He’s very pleased with what he’s seen so far from the rookie, who now has four assists in nine games.

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“I said, if he can hold on to pucks, if he can be good defensively, you know, there’s a spot for him,” the coach said.

Busting chops

Miller plays with an edge most of the time, but in his first game back you weren’t sure how much he would get into it.

He was right into it.

How much was he into it?

Most people probably didn’t see it, but he gave Matthew Tkachuk a whack in the ankles as he skated back to the Canucks’ bench midway through the third period.

The Panthers’ power forward fell to the ice. It was an impactful f-you by Miller, from a position of strength.

Feisty Friedman

Mark Friedman certainly is making a case to stay in the lineup. He threw a huge hit and generally moved the puck well.

He aggravated more than one Panther.

Stuff like that will keep him in the lineup.

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“As you can tell, I just like getting under guys’ skin,” he said after the game, more than a few scratches and battle marks evident on his face.

One matchup worked, the other didn’t

The Miller line battled the Barkov line well, but it wasn’t such a good night for Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk and Kiefer Sherwood.

DeBrusk did pick up the Canucks’ fourth goal on a power play, but at five on five the line just wasn’t very good.

Up against Sam Bennett and Tkachuk, Pettersson’s trio was definitely second-best in their matchup against their former Calgary Flames rivals.

The Pettersson line managed just four shot attempts on the Panthers’ goal, while the Panthers fired 14 at the Canucks net while they were on the ice.