The Vancouver Canucks` crucial 4-3 overtime defeat against St. Louis on Thursday mirrored their season`s narrative: a rollercoaster of leads and deficits, ultimately ending in a loss.
Despite this loss and the season`s ups and downs, the Canucks remain contenders in the NHL playoff picture. However, they`ve slipped out of a playoff position as Philip Broberg`s overtime goal at 3:41 propelled the Blues one point ahead of Vancouver in the Western Conference wild-card standings.
Vancouver holds one game in hand and will play the next five of their remaining 13 games on the road.
While their performance on Thursday wasn`t exceptional, it was a display of resilience.
The Canucks turned what was essentially a four-point game into a two-point swing, twice rallying in the third period, culminating in Brock Boeser`s sensational last-second slapshot with just 3.7 seconds left, forcing overtime.
Tristan Blackwood