a successful double-header!
april 5th, 2025 | ANA @ VAN: 2-6
y'know, i can never know what to expect with a matinee game. will they be tired, will they be awake? especially after that dogshit game against seattle (ew) i wasn't entirely sure if they could win this game against the ducks. i mean, yeah... it's the ducks, but they've come along a bit more in their rebuilding process like, they can definitely win games. and the canucks lost that one game 5-2 against them. anything's possible so... let's get into it, shall we?
when troy terry scored a goal basically immediately and rogers arena went silent, i was like. oh no. motherfucker. it's gonna be a shitshow again. they can't do this again man, not with my friends in the crowd! thankfully though, we get quite a gift about 8 minutes later that will set the tone for the rest of the game and leave me high on life:
IT'S DPETEY DELIAS DETTERSON LIL PETEY JUNIOR'S FIRST NHL GOAL BABYYYYY!!!!
look at him. god, he fucking rules. he's been so seamless since his debut, it's genuinely so impressive, i love him LOTS. a part of me wonders if the front office let zadorov walk specifically because they had junior cooking in the background but... not really, haha. i don't think it was certain that junior would be AS good as he is right now. the result of that free agency was probably more just that zadorov was asking for more than they could afford. still, i feel like i've said this before, but dpetey in many ways reminds me of how zadorov fit into our roster, with some differences that i think makes him suit us even more. one, he's fucking fast. for his size (which is, certainly, sizeable) he is very speedy. and the other thing, that i was really hoping to see: elias pettersson 2 likes to get in the slot. i've noticed it from time to time, but he tends to prefer sneaking into the middle of the ice and shooting from that very dangerous spot instead of shooting a rocket from the point like a lot of our defencemen tend to do. personally... i like it. i really like it. it's different, fresh. fun! i was really looking forward to seeing that effort go rewarded. and boy, it feels great.
but OH MY GOD THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. the canucks don't just respond with one goal, they respond with FIVE. five!!! crazy stuff!! there's a point where you go from "oooookay well, this is cool and all but how are we keeping this lead" to "WHAT IS REALITY ANYMORE WHAT THE FUCK!!". so like, okay. rattle em off: you get a fil hronek goal, a brock boeser powerplay goal AND a conor garland powerplay goal and ALSO a dakota joshua goal. what!!!!!
i'm gonna be real with you man idrk what to say. this shit was nuts. i came into this thinking "oh god please dont let this be a disaster" and they gave me five goals in the first. the rest of the game is basically one big "don't fuck this up" because well you can't put anything past the vancouver canucks. sometimes the hockey gods just want us to die regardless of how we perform, so i didn't wanna tempt fate or nothing. the 2nd period passes by and we get one goal from trevor zegras. which is like. fine. whatever. no biggie.
the 3rd period is spent just sorta... chilling? idk man like, max sasson got a goal, which rocks. what a rookie season you've had, max. it sure is something. but yeah, vancouver wins this handily. it's the same shit as the chicago & winnipeg game, right down to the number of goals. like!! you just don't know what to expect going into any given game. truly, the biggest 50/50 in all of canada. and hey! it's NOT a blowout game for a first goal!! dpetey, my large son, my beautiful whimsy hire... you've broken the curse. we love you forever.
april 5th, 2025 | PHI @ MTL: 2-3
that's not all of course! right after that, i've got another game to watch. it doesn't usually line up like this, i'll say. normally i watch the habs first and then the canucks, especially when they're both home games. today's a bit of a switch-up then, but y'know what? maybe that's a good thing! alright, let's unpack.
unlike the canucks game, this one starts slow. well, for us it starts slow. poehling gets a goal 4 minutes in and i'm like, oh man. do not let this be like the last philly game. please! the flyers are such an annoying team to play against man. like the vibes are off, but hey, at least we aren't there anymore. no no, here in montreal, we can't just let the bell centre crowd down!
that being said, the rest of the period and all of the 2nd is kind of... nothing. i mean there's not a whole lot to talk about. there was like, One penalty against the flyers? we're getting shots on net, at least, outshooting the flyers 11 to 5. so we're trying, just not a whole lot is happening.
third period though, is when the magic alllll comes together. the gods see our plight, they see what we need. and what we need... is a motherfuckin brendan gallagher goal, baby. that felt GOOD. every gally goal has felt good, but this one was fun. i mean, look at him, hunched over hovering around the right circle like a little gremlin just waiting waiting waiting and then BAM! it. is. great.
tying the game means nothing if you don't keep the momentum up, of course, and thankfully the habs do deliver. and it comes as a total surprise—lane hutson, with his sixth of the year, pretty much identical to his last one, gets it up on the corner over ersson's shoulder from a weirdo angle. ugh, he's so cracked, it's ridiculous. i WANT more lane goals, i know he can do it, and with patty laine helping him figure it out... i have all the confidence in the world that next season, we're gonna see more lane goals. that norris trophy... ooohoho. he wants it. spiritually. like, i know lane's all humble and "i dont really think about that" about records and awards and anything that proves how amazing he is, but. c'mon. he's gonna get it. like, calder? check that off, obviously he's getting it. the norris though. mmm... that he's gonna have to up his game more. and since he can put up assists as good as cale makar, working on his shot is the next step. OH! and i dont wanna hear NOTHING from ppl who are like "waahhh lane hutson's no good at actually defending!!" ummm, first of all watch more habs games, second of all he was pretty fucking good at defending here. it's all smart little moves with lane hutson. perfectly timed blocks and swipes and forced turnovers that don't expend more force than necessary. it's efficient, and he's only going to build more efficiency. he's the smartest little mouse to have ever lived, ok? believe.
we cannot, of course, keep going without talking about the nasty nasty little shorthanded goal from our glorious 1c, our fearless captain, nick suzuki. oh! oh!!! he HATES the flyers, he hates them!! he's gonna be petty about it, he's gonna hold a grudge. that's my icon! that goal was so fucking sexy, like, it was just such an easy fling to the net, an effortless "i'm better than you, duh" goal. muah. chef's kiss!
unfortunately, mike matheson gets a delay of game penalty at the end 😭 and the flyers "score" on it. mike! i like you, really i do! but we can't afford to play with fire like this! some guy fucking smacks jake's stick out of his hands and they score. whoop de doo. are you guys really celebrating that? ew. there should've been a call there, cause like, remember in the van @ mtl game when cole smacks tyler myer's stick away (objectively funny moment) and Thats a penalty but this isn't? somehow? nhl reffing is just vibes at this point. don't tell me someone had a bet that the score would be 2-3... i'm joking. (or am i? i can never be too sure when it comes to sports betting, honestly.)
but hey! that's the game! the habs win 4 in a row and oh my goodness guess who fucking lost. the new york rangers and the columbus blue jackets. (god, what has the playoff push done to me? i'm rooting for, for the new jersey devils and the toronto maple leafs to win?! agh!!)
yeah, peep the standings. we're sitting at a slightly more comfortable margin now. still, every game is as important as the last. so let's keep going gang!
