Final Destination: The Vancouver Canucks Narrowly Avoided Death After Scoring 3 Goals In The Final Minute Of Regulation

Jordie4/09/2025 2:40 PM

Glenn James. Getty Images.

The Vancouver Canucks should all be a bunch of dead guys right now. On the road, down 5-2 in the final minute of regulation, with a regulation loss eliminating them from Stanley Cup Playoff contention. They were 60 seconds away from having nothing left to play for in the final 4 games of the year.

They were down 3-0 to start the 3rd period. 2 quick powerplay goals may have made them feel like they were back in the game, but that knife was hovering right over their throats when Mikael Granlund scored an empty netter to put the Stars up by 3 again. The Canucks didn't even bother pulling their goalie after that.

NOT SO FAST!

59 seconds left in regulation. 5v5. Aatu Raty finds a little soft spot at the bottom of the circles and buries one. All of a sudden we have a game back on our hands here.

30 seconds later, Pius Suter is wide open in the slot to make it a 5-4 game.

You'd think at that point the Stars would just want to completely take Pius Suter away from being able to put another one on the board. Don't even worry about keeping an eye on the puck, just make sure you have Pius Suter locked up. But 23 seconds later, they left him all alone again to tie this game up with 5 seconds left in regulation.

Now that 5th goal was enough to at least allow the Vancouver Canucks to live to see another day. They just couldn't lose in regulation last night. But what good is a 3-goal comeback in the final minute of regulation if you don't finish the job and win the game in overtime?

Kiefer fucking Sherwood would agree.

Now here's the thing--they're still pretty much dead. They are 6 points out of a playoff spot with 4 games to go. If the Wild win another game, it's over. If the Canucks lose another game, it's over.

Minnesota plays San Jose tonight, and Calgary on Friday night. Vancouver plays Colorado tomorrow night. And then we have Minnesota at Vancouver on Saturday night. The most chaotic scenario here is that the Wild lose to the Sharks, beat the Flames; the Canucks then beat the Avs, and then Saturday night is essentially a playoff game.