Glenn Gawdin scored the first two goals of his NHL career on Friday night, and the New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 at Rogers Arena with a four goal second period. The official NHL.com game recap confirms the 5-1 final, Gawdin’s two goals, and a seventh straight loss for Vancouver.
Gawdin is 29 years old, from Richmond, British Columbia, minutes from the arena, and was playing his 15th NHL game since his debut in the 2020-21 season. He did it in his second game with the Rangers after a call up from Hartford of the American Hockey League this week, with ten to twelve family members and friends in the stands.
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A First Goal Six Years In The Making
There’s a lot that goes through your mind over the years and credit to the circle around me, credit to my wife, they push me when I need it. The success tonight, I think they have an equal part in that, so it was a special night. – Glenn Gawdin, via NHL.com
His first goal came at 13:00 of the second period, and it came with some fortune. Goaltender Leevi Merilainen tried to clear the puck from the top of his crease, the puck bounced off Filip Chytil, and Gawdin was there for a quick shot past the blocker to make it 3-1. The second came at 16:10, a Gavrikov point shot deflecting in off his skate at the edge of the crease. Gawdin became the third oldest player in Rangers history at the time of his first NHL goal.
The Rangers goaltender had a homecoming of his own. Dylan Garand, from Victoria, made 27 saves in his first game in Vancouver since he was 19, with an estimated 50 family members and friends watching. Two British Columbia players, years into long roads through the minors, owned the night in their home province.
Four Goals In One Period End It
Vancouver actually started well. Elias Pettersson opened the scoring at 12:13 of the first period, deflecting a Zeev Buium point shot for his fifth goal of the season and his first five on five goal since January 13, ending a 56 game drought. Gabe Perreault tied it 1-1 at 18:47, finishing a play built by J.T. Miller’s corner battle win and Alexis Lafreniere’s pass from behind the net.
The second period decided everything. Oliver Bjorkstrand put New York ahead on the power play at 8:21. Then came Gawdin at 13:00, Lafreniere at 15:14 on a three on two rush, and Gawdin again at 16:10, three goals in just over three minutes. As Sportsnet reported from Rogers Arena, the Canucks crumbled in the second after a solid start. Head coach Manny Malhotra pointed to a string of turnovers that fed the Rangers transition game and undid a first period he called probably their best in a long time.
Boeser Milestone Offers Lone Bright Spot
Brock Boeser assisted on the Pettersson goal, and that assist was the 500th point of his career, with 233 goals and 267 assists in his 650th game. He is the eighth player in Canucks history to reach the milestone, and he carries a six game point streak. On a night the home team lost by four, it was the one moment that will still matter in the record book next month.
Pettersson was blunt about the pattern afterward, saying the team keeps talking about playing a full 60 minutes, started well in this game, and failed to follow it up in the second period. Vancouver is now 3-17-1, has lost seven in a row, and is 1-16-1 in its last 18 games, the worst record in the league.
Rangers Head Home, Canucks Head To Vegas
New York finish a four game road trip at 3-1-0 and have won five of their past six games to improve to 12-8-1. Perreault and Lafreniere each had a goal and an assist, Miller had two assists against his former team, and coach Mike Sullivan praised how hard the group competed through a difficult travel swing. The Rangers host Montreal on Monday night.
Vancouver visit Vegas on Sunday night, carrying a seven game losing streak and a second period problem they have now described the same way after several losses. The first period on Friday proved the structure can work for twenty minutes. Nothing about the next forty suggested it can hold for sixty, and until it does, nights like this one, with a hometown journeyman scoring his first two goals against them, will keep finding the Canucks.
