Fuelled by return of Mikheyev, Canucks' Kuzmenko looks reborn vs. Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. – Near the end of the Vancouver Canucks’ morning skate on Saturday, Andrei Kuzmenko blocked Carson Soucy’s shot while defending his teammate at the point.

It’s unclear whether the block was deliberate or accidental, but there was a small eruption among teammates. Soucy high-fived Kuzmenko, and J.T. Miller skated over and gave him a hug. Assistant coaches Sergei Gonchar and Mike Yeo patted him on the back.

“Everybody was congratulating him,” Miller explained a few minutes later. “We were telling him, like, it’s OK to do that.”

It was like Kuzmenko had scored a winning goal.

A little over nine hours later, the Russian did score the winning goal as the Canucks beat the Florida Panthers 5-3, moving back over .500 despite losing a two-goal lead in the third period.

Kuzmenko didn’t block a shot, but he crashed the Florida net a couple of times, skated better than he had the first four games of the National Hockey League season, spectacularly set up Elias Pettersson’s second-period goal with a spinarama assist, and generally looked reborn with the return to the Vancouver lineup of friend and linemate Ilya Mikheyev.

“Man, he looked like he was shot out of a cannon,” Miller said after the game. “Sometimes you get some more touches of the puck, and then when he made that spinarama pass, that really ignited him. You could just tell — back checking and forechecking and physicality. We're trying to let him know those are really good things, too.”

Coach Rick Tocchet, who agreed during his morning press briefing that Kuzmenko was “struggling,” got two players for the price of none.

Mikheyev played his first game since January, more than eight months after undergoing ACL knee surgery, and last season’s version of Kuzmenko came with him.

“Yes, it is good feeling after this game,” Kuzmenko told reporters. “I like this, very important game. We need to win. Today, I like that Mik come back. I love this guy, he's a big help for me. I have a lot of talk with Mik in life, and in the game he's a big help. He's a good friend.”

With Canucks prospect Vasily Podkolzin assigned to the American Hockey League, Kuzmenko was the only Russian in the lineup for Vancouver’s first four games, although Mikheyev has been with the team.

Mikheyev logged 13:03 of ice time, registered four shots and twice missed on glorious setups by Kuzmenko.

“I think with Kuzie sometimes, he thinks system so much,” Tocchet said. “I told Sergei (Gonchar) today, 'Just tell him to play to our staples.’ The system is the system but sometimes as a player — high-end guy that wants the puck and stuff — he thinks the system too much and you don't skate as much. He went to the net with a vengeance tonight. He was in front battling. Those are the things we're looking for. The system stuff will come. I think sometimes he overthinks it. His effort, that's the Kuzie we know. If he has effort like that, I mean, he's a dominant player.”

Asked about Kuzmenko’s spin below the goal line and pass into the slot for Pettersson to make it 3-1 at 11:15 of the second period, Tocchet said: “He can do triple Salchows; I don't care what he does if he just does... the staples of us. I think Mik helps him. You know, (Russian) guy, a quiet leader. He comes in there and he works his butt off, and I think that's contagious for Kuzie. I don't think he wants to let him down, I really don't.”

Pettersson’s goal came 34 seconds after 29-year-old defenceman Carson Soucy scored the first power-play goal of his 253-game NHL career, as he beat Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky cleanly from above the hashmarks after a keep-in at the blueline by Conor Garland.

“He'll be in my office now,” Tocchet joked. “He'll want some PP time now. No, that was great. It was a great goal.”

Having dominated the Panthers in the middle period while building their 3-1 lead, the Canucks played the third period in reverse. They were outshot 19-4 by Florida, and watched their advantage evaporate on goals by Sam Reinhart at 6:10 and 14:01.

But Kuzmenko scored his winner at 15:03, skating on for a change and heading to the Panthers slot where he found a puck sent by Phil Di Giuseppe. The checking winger not only out-battled ex-Canuck Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the forecheck to win the puck, but shielded it while waiting for help and also drew Florida defenceman Gustav Forsling behind the net before centring to Kuzmenko.

Kuzmenko waited for Bobrovsky to overcommit, then get entangled with Panther teammate Steven Lorentz, before shooting into a semi-open net.

“I say this is a Phil goal, not mine,” Kuzmenko said. “For me, I just score.”

“I was pretty tired there,” Di Giuseppe said of chasing down Miller’s dump-in. “If I had my legs, I think that could have been a little breakaway. I was a half step too late but I got good position on (Ekman-Larsson). Another guy came in, so I spun around and saw there was an opening there. Kuzie was in a good spot and made a nice move.”

Defenceman Quinn Hughes opened scoring for the Canucks in the first period with a power-play wrister through Pettersson’s screen on what was another virtuoso night for the most impactful blue-liner the franchise has ever had.

Hughes and defence partner Filip Hronek logged 15:18 of five-on-five ice time when shot attempts were 22-10 for the Canucks. In the other 34:21 of five-on-five, it was 50-17 for the Panthers. Hughes had 10 shot attempts.

“He just does some stuff that is world class,” Tocchet said. “And when he defends, he defends with quickness. It's okay, you can still win a Norris (Trophy) defending with quickness.

“I think Huggy — and I'm glad — he's got a little chip on his shoulder that 'he can't defend.' I remember coming here and, like, he can defend. He's out there last minute of every period if we can. I think he's got a little chip on his shoulder that he's just an offensive (defenceman). No, he can defend. And I like that.”

ICE CHIPS — Canuck goalie Casey DeSmith was excellent, making 33 saves to go to 2-0 this season. . . Brock Boeser scored into an empty net and has six goals in five games, tied for the NHL lead. . . Pettersson’s two points moved him into a tie for the scoring lead with 10. . . Mikheyev’s return knocked Nils Hoglander out of the Vancouver lineup. . . The Canucks five-game road trip ends Tuesday in Nashville.