For years, it was expected: his hockey team needed a goal late in a game and Markus Naslund delivered. Times have changed, and so have the expectations for the long-serving Canucks captain. But with time ticking away both in last Sunday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks and on his team’s playoff hopes, Naslund came through with his 20th—and easily his most important—goal of the season.

With Roberto Luongo pulled for an extra attacker and the Canucks trailing the bottom-feeding Blackhawks 2–1, Naslund redirected a Mattias Ohlund point shot past Nikolai Khabibulin and tied the game with just 78 seconds remaining.

The exact magnitude of the goal may not be known for six weeks or so, until the Canucks’ playoff fortunes are determined. But if they can claw back into the top eight of the Western Conference, Naslund’s late tally in the third period will probably have been a turning point.

Just 24 hours after one of Naslund’s—and his club’s—worst performances of the season against division rival the Colorado Avalanche, the Canucks could not have absorbed another loss while the teams they’re chasing continue to win. Yet with less than two minutes to go, and despite seriously outplaying the Blackhawks, they were a goal down and in desperate need of something good to happen.

And for the first time in a long time, Naslund became the man of the moment. He tied the game and got it to overtime, and the Canucks ended up winning 3–2 in a shootout. It was a win and two points the Canucks had to have. Without Naslund’s goal in crunch time, there would have been no victory. And who knows what effect opening a home stand with crushing back-to-back losses would have had at this point of the season on the club’s fading playoff hopes.

However, to their credit, the Canucks found a way to win, a rare occurrence over the past six weeks as they’ve plummeted from the division lead and one of the top conference perches to being on the outside of the playoff picture trying to scrabble their way back in.

Naslund won’t get the Canucks into the postseason single-handedly, but he could play a significant role if he can provide even a few more goals as timely as the one he netted against the Hawks.

He has 341 goals in his decade as one of the greatest Canucks of all time, but it’s hard to recall anything even remotely resembling a clutch goal off the stick of the Canucks captain in quite some time.

Many of his goals this season came well after the outcomes of games were decided, either padding a
Canucks lead or making a loss look closer than it really was. But starting with both Canuck goals in a 3–2 shootout loss in Dallas earlier last week and following up with that crucial goal against Chicago a few nights later, Naslund has shown some signs of life. He’s done so by going to the net and getting to the areas of the ice where there may be a price to pay but also rewards to be found. That is a terrific sign, not only for Naslund but for his hockey club, which so desperately searches for offence every time it hits the ice.

Gone are the days when Naslund was the sniper feared by opponents, but he has enough skill to be more dangerous than he’s been in the past couple of seasons. Too often he seems indifferent about playing hard and leading his hockey team on a nightly basis. Yet with so many of the team’s defencemen out with injuries and with so many young call-ups from the minors plugging the holes, now, more than ever, the Canucks are crying out for someone to lead them to the playoffs.

Naslund is not a particularly vocal captain; instead, he prefers to lead by example. However, those actions haven’t said much in recent years, as his goal totals have dropped every season since he netted a career-best 48 in 2002–03. The goal he scored against Chicago set a franchise record with his ninth straight 20-goal campaign, and with 25 games remaining this season, he will probably surpass the 24 he scored last year.

But with his hefty contract set to expire at the end of the season, Naslund might be in the final few weeks of his time in a Canuck uniform. Perhaps that fact is hitting home.

As he’s been unable to deliver a Stanley Cup or any kind of lengthy postseason run during his time wearing the C here, this will likely be Naslund’s last crack at it as captain, so his leadership legacy is on the line. He can either up his battle level and do his part to push his team into the playoffs or sit idly by while the Canucks miss the postseason for the second time in the three years since the lockout.

There are many players on the Canucks’ roster who can’t create offence and score goals. But Naslund can. And he must if his team is going to be among those qualifying for the playoff party. Daniel and Henrik Sedin will continue to produce at a point-a-game rate, but there isn’t a sense, nor should there be an expectation, that the twins will give the Canucks any more than their current consistent output. However, with Naslund there seems an opportunity to kick things up a notch.

He is a wild card who could have as much impact on the team in the dressing room and on the ice as any other player aside from Roberto Luongo. Naslund has shown the ability to come through in the past, and the Canucks need their captain to do it again now.

If Naslund can cash in a few more chances at opportune times, there’s every reason to believe the Canucks will be in the playoffs in April.

Jeff Paterson is a sportscaster and talk-show host on Vancouver’s all-sports radio, Team 1040. E-mail him at jeff.paterson@team1040.ca.