The Vancouver Canucks cruised past the Chicago Blackhawks with a convincing 5-2 win on Tuesday night to earn two points in Rick Tocchet's debut as head coach.
Tocchet's squad brushed off early boos and a jersey thrown on the ice from an uneasy home crowd to capture the victory. Vancouver was in control of play for the entire contest, outshooting Chicago 48-14 while owning 74% of shot attempts, 74% of scoring chances, and 82% of expected goals at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.
A pair of tallies from Andrei Kuzmenko in the second period left it tied heading into the final frame, where goals from Dakota Joshua, Sheldon Dries, and Bo Horvat sealed the two points.
The strong performance eased tension in the arena as the game went on, and Tocchet seemed to appreciate the fans' passionate support.
"That's a great fan base," Tocchet said, per TSN's Farhan Lalji. "They were loud as hell. It was fun."
Tocchet officially took over head coaching duties from Bruce Boudreau on Sunday after weeks of highly public speculation that the latter's job was in jeopardy.
Prior to being hired by the Canucks, Tocchet's most recent coaching job was in 2020-21 with the Arizona Coyotes.
Vancouver's next test comes Wednesday against the Seattle Kraken.
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