from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

No matter how much a team soars past expectations, even doing things others thought impossible, no NHL season ever ends in defeat without sorrow and some regret.

The Vancouver Canucks weren’t even supposed to make the Stanley Cup tournament this season, but they won two playoff rounds and were a game away from advancing to the conference finals for just the fourth time in the franchise’s 50 years.

When their remarkable season, made more extraordinary by the summer of COVID-19, finally ended Friday with a 3-0 Game 7 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the regret was that there was just nothing left for skaters to draw on to help goalie Thatcher Demko.

Demko’s arrival in the playoffs this week, with starter Jacob Markstrom injured and the Canucks down 3-1 and facing elimination, was the most incredible plot twist of Vancouver’s amazing six-week adventure in Edmonton.

In three starts, Demko’s first action since the league shut down in March, he stopped 123 Vegas shots and allowed only two goals – and still that was not enough to carry his teammates past the Golden Knights.

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Watch the game highlights below of Vancouver's 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Also the handshake line and Ryan Reaves hit on Tyler Motte.