If the Vancouver Canucks lost to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night at Rogers Arena, the hometown team would have entered the All-Star break in fifth place in the Pacific Division, on the outside of the playoff picture.

Instead, the team put on something of a clinic against San Jose, winning 4-1 while outshooting the reeling Sharks by a stunning 39-18 and now stands alone atop the division with 58 points in 49 games.

One couldn’t help but feel like it was a major statement game for the Canucks. The Sharks have been bad this season, yes, as an old core increasingly looks like they can’t hack it with the NHL’s elite anymore.

But the Canucks, who haven’t exactly made a habit of outshooting teams, were all over San Jose for the majority of the game, something you wouldn’t be able to say for the vast majority (all of them?) of the team’s past contests against San Jose.

Sure, the Pacific isn’t exactly a murderers row right now.

Vegas, currently in fourth place in the division and just a point back from Vancouver, fired its head coach a couple days ago. Which should more or less tell you how things are going overall.

No other current division leader has less than 68 points. And there are four teams, like Vegas, just one point back from the Canucks.

The Golden Knights play one more game before the break, as they visit the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. If Vegas win, they’ll take back the top spot from the Canucks, but they’ll also have three games in hand on Vancouver.

Will we look back on last night’s game against San Jose as the moment that things changed for this team after four years out of the playoffs? Or will it be a bleak reminder of what could have been?

It’s hard to not go with the former, isn’t it? The Canucks are playing well; heck, fans were chanting “LOUUU” for Loui Eriksson last night. Seriously.

We should gather some crucial information shortly after the break, when the Canucks welcome the St. Louis Blues to Rogers Arena before taking off on a five-game road trip that will see them play, among others, the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins. 

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