In a season where it felt like all hope was lost, Canucks fans are suddenly feeling the buzz again.
It's all thanks to this man, Bruce Boudreau; the newest member of the Vancouver Canucks.
This season has been nothing short of disappointing so far for the Canucks, with a 9-16-2 record they have been floating close to the bottom of the standings and fans had been calling for Travis Green & Jim Benning to get fired.
The rock bottom for this franchise was their 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, when a frustrated Canucks fan threw his Bo Horvat Canucks Jersey onto the ice in the final minutes of the game.
Canucks fans had enough. They had won their previous two games in Ottawa and Montreal, but failed to win in front of the Home Crowd yet again.
Life returned to the team when it was announced on Sunday evening that Travis Green and Jim Benning had been canned, and Bruce Boudreau was ready to tackle this Canucks squad that was so desperate for results.
Bruce Boudreau immediately got the work at gameday practice.
The 66-year-old Canucks coach quickly tweaked the Power Play and Penalty Kill units with no hesitation.
For 25 games this season under Travis Green, the Canucks had the 22nd-best Power Play in the NHL at 17.4%, and the worst Penalty-Kill in NHL history at 64.6%.
Boudreau had high praise for his new team during morning practice. Stating that the boys were flying and happy.
"I just keep telling them they're good players. I've always thought they were good players. They got to start believing they are good players, and when they do that they will be fine."— Bruce Boudreau
In his first game with the Canucks, there was a major difference. There was a spark in the team, one that had been missing for the previous 8-seasons.
The arena was buzzing, fans were vibrant and excitement was in the air. The team had their best performance of the season in a 4-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Arena.
It seems like something out of a movie. The Canucks fans are hopeful that a Cinderella story come-back is in the works as the team looks refreshed & ready to win.
The Canucks special-teams was definitely a major contributor to the success in this game.
They went 2-4 on the Power Play, and were 2-2 on the Penalty Kill; a stat-line almost unheard of for this team until last night.
Brock Boeser finally broke his slump as he scored his fifth goal of the season. The puck took an odd deflection off a LA King's defenders skate, it was initially going wide of the net, but he'll definitely take it.
Boeser was not the only one who broke their slump last night, as Juho Lammikko scored his first goal as a Vancouver Canuck as well.
The former Florida Panthers forward had just 1 assist in 20 games until scoring the dagger goal.
Not long after, Canucks fans broke out with "BRUCE, THERE IT IS" chants as the fanbase pay respect to their franchises 20th coach.
The Canucks took this game 4-0, and it was over-all a great night for this team. They desperately needed results, and that's what they got last night.
Thatcher Demko recorded his second-career shutout as he made 30-saves. This was the first time all season the Canucks have blanked the opposing team.
Elias Pettersson, despite missing a penalty shot, recorded an assist last night.
"Today I was alright. I still know I have a lot better in me." - Elias Pettersson on his performance against LA
"He wants to play more aggressive, and we did a good job of it tonight." - Elias Pettersson when asked about Bruce Boudreau during a post-game interview.
A lot has changed in Vancouver in the last 48 hours, and plenty of it has been for the better
From the previous 25-games, last night was a step in the right direction for this Canucks team.
You can listen to the complete Bruce Boudreau post-game interview right here.
The Canucks continue their home-stand against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, December 8th.
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