Sherwood’s hat trick propels Canucks’ gutsy shootout win over Blues

The most remarkable aspect of Kiefer Sherwood’s team-saving hat trick on Thursday was not the skill it required, but the health.

With nine players injured and the Vancouver Canucks a player short after Brock Boeser was hit in the groin by defenceman-teammate Elias Pettersson’s first-minute slapshot – roughly the same area the hockey gods have been kicking the team since the National Hockey League season began – Sherwood’s hat trick matched the St. Louis Blues’ offence and made possible his team’s gutsy 4-3 shootout win in Missouri.

Goalie Kevin Lankinen continued his shootout mastery and aced the Blues in the tie-breaker, while struggling Jake DeBrusk lifted Vancouver’s third shot under the bar to win it for the understaffed Canucks, who winched themselves back to .500 (6-6-0) after losing four of their last five games.

Sherwood somehow missed in the shootout – by about an inch as his shot hit the post square-on to the left of St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington.

“You lose Boes in the first shift, a good player like that. . . you’re like, ‘No, here we go again.,” Canucks coach Adam Foote said. “I just told them, it’s pretty incredible for me as a coach – and I’ve been here… almost three years – and it’s the best team game I’ve seen since I’ve been here as far as being resilient.

“I mean, with what’s going on with our group, to be that resilient is the key to build on.”

Foote told reporters in St. Louis that he expected Boeser to be back for Saturday’s game in Minnesota

“Yeah, we’ve got to find that person with the voodoo doll,” Foote joked. “I mean, I don’t believe in that stuff, but I’m like, ‘What is going on here?’ If we can handle it and be resilient, stick to what we’re doing, we’ll all grow from it. And once we get another guy back, another guy back, another guy back, now we’ve got depth. Yeah, it’s tough. But I’m just proud of the group; they’re becoming a very good team in there, and that’s huge.”

Maybe the nine players missing – half of an NHL lineup – for the final 64 minutes and shootout on Thursday will be the Canucks’ medical nadir. The injury manifest is headlined by the team’s best player (Quinn Hughes), and leading scorer (Conor Garland), second-line centre (Filip Chytil), and a couple of key penalty killers (Teddy Blueger and Derek Forbort) who were missed again Thursday as the Blues’ power play went 2-for-3.

Until Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers, we had wondered aloud where the Canucks would be without Garland, who was steamrolled by Sam Carrick in open ice. We also wonder where they’d be without Sherwood.

In the final year of his contract, the player who broke the single-season NHL record for hits last year has scored nine goals in 12 games. And if you want to give him the Cy Young because he has no assists, that’s fine, but you can give Sherwood the MVP trophy, too, as long as Garland is out.

Actually, the most valuable Canuck has been goalie Thatcher Demko, which is why it was encouraging on Thursday that Vancouver won with Lankinen in net and the starter resting at the bench.

Lankinen didn’t look very good on either of the first two St. Louis goals – although maybe we should just credit shooters Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud for hitting their spots – but was spectacular on several of his saves, especially in the third period when Vancouver was outshot 16-5.

Sherwood, on setups by Evander Kane and Drew O’Connor, countered Holloway and Snuggerud, then gave the Canucks a 3-2 lead at 7:04 of the third period when he picked up the puck after Aatu Raty broke his stick trying to shoot it and surprised Binnington with a heavy short-side wrister.

But former Canuck Pius Suter, a valuable role player (like Sherwood) who left as a free agent in July after failing to secure an extension in Vancouver, tied it 3-3 on a power-play rebound at 10:48 after a handful of strong saves by Lankinen.

Kane, whose acquisition in June made it harder for the Canucks to keep Suter, appeared to finally score his first goal for Vancouver with 2:42 remaining in regulation. But the potential winning goal was overturned for goalie interference after a coach’s challenge by Jim Montgomery.

The NHL Situation Room’s ruling that minor-league callup Mackenzie MacEachern obstructed Binnington was questionable, of course, but the Canucks survived challenges in Chicago and Washington on their last road trip so the coin was due to land the other way.

At least, the Canucks made it to overtime, where their conservative, puck-possession tactics work perfectly with Lankinen, who has now been beaten just six times on 44 shootout attempts in his career.

Lankinen, whose only other win this season was a 3-2 shootout decision in Chicago two weeks ago, stuffed St. Louis shooters Snuggerud and Jordan Kyrou before Blues’ captain Brayden Schenn lost control of the puck on his attempt and sent it dribbling into the corner.

DeBrusk’s forehand flip was the same move he tried in Chicago when he hit the crossbar. Boeser won that shootout in the fourth round.

So, somebody else was going to have to win it for the Canucks in St. Louis.

Sherwood played like a giant, and the Canucks will need others to elevate their games in order to survive the current injury crisis.

Unless he is hurt, Demko will be back in goal Saturday when the Canucks visit the Minnesota Wild before ending their three-game tour Monday against the Nashville Predators.

ICE CHIPS: Top centre Elias Pettersson, now more alone in the spotlight due to injuries to others, did not register a point in St. Louis but still played like a first-line centre should. In 23:29 of ice time, he had four shot attempts, two hits, two blocks and went 13-7 on faceoffs. … Canucks coach Adam Foote used all his players. Defence prospect Tom Willander played 19 composed minutes in his second NHL game. And the least-used Canuck, Raty (10:33 TOI) won three defensive-zone faceoffs in the last 3 ½ minutes of regulation.