Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
On Monday night, it worked for the Vancouver Canucks.
After firing their head coach Travis Greene, and general manager Jim Benning, the Canucks’ rostered ghosts came back and handed the Los Angeles Kings a 4-0 loss.
Bruce Boudreau won his first game as new Canucks bench boss.
Thatcher Demko made 31 saves in the Canucks win.
“Good goalies make good coaches,” Boudreau said. “He’s been playing good all year, so it’s good he got rewarded with a shutout.”
Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller hit for a goal and two points each in the win.
“It usually happens when a new coach comes in. I hope it doesn’t stop,” Boudreau said. “I just keep telling them that they’re good players. I’ve always thought they were good players. They’ve got to start believing that they’re good players. And when they do that, they’ll be fine.”
The Canucks improved to 9-15-2.
“It’s just a weird day,” Demko said after his first shutout of the season and second in the NHL. “It’s something I’ve never been through as a player. Travis and [Baumgartner] and Jim have been around since I turned pro, so it was a weird day. That’s the only way I can describe it.
“Obviously, you never want to see that happen but a decision was made and you can feel Bruce’s energy right away.”
LA dropped to 10-10-4.
“The guys played really well last night in Edmonton. We didn’t play near as well here, but sometimes you got to tip your hat to the opposition,” Kings head coach Todd McLellan said. “They really played a good game. We knew we were going to get that from them and we couldn’t match up.”
After five straight scratches, Juho Lammikko scored his first goal of the season, his strike made it 3-0.
“The backbreaker was obviously the third goal, which is preventable,” McLellan said. “Anything can happen in the NHL, but at that point, the way they were playing and the way we were playing, it was the nail in the coffin.”
Conor Garland also scored for the Canucks.
Cal Petersen made 26 saves in the LA loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.