It was a competitive, if somewhat nasty, game that the Vancouver Canucks were very much in for a majority of. It was a contest that featured some incredible skillful plays from some very talented young players. And a clinic from arguably the best goalie in the league.

But it’ll likely be remembered for one play.

https://twitter.com/botchford/status/1081003762301440000

The “takedown” (by fellow rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi) as it’s being called, has already been hotly debated in Canuck fandom. Hopefully, it’s all for naught and Elias Pettersson is ready to play in Toronto on Saturday night, or shortly after.

There were some signs that hint towards that.

https://twitter.com/sportsnetmurph/status/1081032252526518273

A 2-0 loss to a competitive Eastern Conference team isn’t the end of the world, but losing Elias Pettersson for an extended period of time would be. Not just for the Canucks playoffs hopes (let’s be real, the goal shouldn’t be to sneak into the postseason and get destroyed), but for the team’s general watchability for the rest of the season.

There might not be a team in the league that loses so much of its appeal in terms of on-ice product with one player out of the lineup than the Canucks with Pettersson—save for the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid.

Here’s what else we saw in the Canucks’ 2-0 loss in Montreal.

Three that impressed

1. Jonathan Drouin

Woof. The kid is fast, incredibly skilled, and seemed to have his way with numerous Canucks defencemen whenever he wanted. He’s on pace to shatter his previous point totals, and that makes sense, as he’s blossoming into the franchise forward the Habs need him to be. No one’s really hating on that Sergachev trade anymore, are they?

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/946483740309516288

Yes. Yes, it was.

2. Carey Price

One of the best goaltenders in the league hasn’t gotten off to a great start this year, with a .908 save percentage on the season. But he brought his best tonight, stoning the Canucks several times on his way to a 33-save shutout.

3. Brandon Sutter

In his return to the lineup the veteran centre didn’t show much rust. And while fans don’t exactly want to see him centring Sven Baertschi and Brock Boeser in Pettersson’s wake, he had an effective game, playing over 19 minutes of ice time and posting the best faceoff percentage among all players.

Three that didn’t

1. Markus Granlund

The drawn penalty was nice, but the one he took on Kotkaniemi wasn’t. And he also looked incredibly harmless on the powerplay and in the offensive zone in general. One of Montreal’s best chances was off a missed Granlund opportunity that careened wide and was taken the other way by Drouin. There’s talk that he could find his way to the press box when Nikolay Goldobin comes back to the lineup, and tonight didn’t put an end to that chatter.

2. Michael Chaput

You know when a person you used to casually hook up with shows up and you’re just so glad things didn’t progress between the two of you?

3. Chris Tanev

For a few games in a row, Tanev hasn’t really seemed himself. He’s getting beaten on the rush somewhat routinely and couldn’t seem to handle Montreal’s speed tonight, especially when Drouin and Brendan Gallagher were on the ice.

Notable

- Green wouldn’t give away much on Pettersson’s injury, just calling it a lower body injury. If he’s out against Toronto—which seems somewhat likely—then Goldobin would slot back into the lineup and they’ll need the skilled forward. He hasn’t shown an ability to produce without Pettersson, but he’ll have a chance to prove he can.

- Jake Virtanen was using his speed effectively, especially on one particular sequence where he burned Shea Weber, made the defenceman lose his stick and set up a quality scoring chance.

- Tim Schaller took a bad penalty, but he was also buzzing around the ice and hitting Canadiens whenever he could. He looked like a guy desperately trying to stay in the NHL.

- Brock Boeser was in fine form tonight. He did turn the puck over before a Montreal goal, but he was also Vancouver’s most dangerous forward after Pettersson left the game, and it wasn’t close. Boeser rang a couple shots off the iron and had six mostly quality chances gobbled up by Price.

Quotable

“It’s not a dirty play by their player at all…It’s not a penalty.” - Canucks coach Travis Green on the Kotkaniemi play

“I liked our effort all the way through the game, just couldn’t find a way to get that first one.” – Brandon Sutter

“It was an accident, but sad thing” – Jesperi Kotkaniemi on the Pettersson play

“They’re a fast team. People should know they play a quick game…As a team I think they’ve flown under the radar a little bit. I don’t think people were quite ready for them. Give Travis Green a lot of credit.” – Montreal coach Claude Julien on the Canucks