They are in! Vancouver clinches playoff spot with shutout victory in second last game of the season
April 5th, 2018 -
Jacob Markstrom pitched a nineteen save shutout and Patrick Sharp had a goal and an assist as Vancouver triumphed over the basement dwelling Coyotes and clinched third place in the Pacific in doing so.
The tone in the dressing room was celebratory but measured afterwards, as captain Henrik stated, "We have a lot of work to do and a long ways to go. We don't see getting into the playoffs as an achievement, we're focusing on being better every day and we want to have a long run and surprise some teams once we're there. This is just the beginning, the playoffs are a grind, we don't want to act like we've accomplished anything yet." There have been rumours this may be Henrik and Daniel's final year in the NHL, despite their recently signed extensions, as Daniel still hasn't returned from his concussion early in the year. If that is true this could be Henrik's final shot at hockey's greatest prize, unlikely though it may be.
Chris Tanev commented that "It feels better than making golf plans for next week, that's for sure. We've been on the wrong end of this too often the last couple years, it's going to feel great competing in playoff games. Looking forward to it."