It was a slow first period Sunday in the Canucks’ afternoon tilt with the Dallas Stars. When the horn sounded, the shots were 8-6 Vancouver, but you’d be hard-pressed to remember any of them. In recent years, with Marc Crawford coaching the team, these games have been played at a fairly nice clip, but with the Stars’ new system under Glen Gulutzan, this one was reminiscent of the 2007 playoff series between the two teams (which, coincidentally, is where the “Pass it to Bulis” name comes from).

But there was one standout moment. With four minutes to go in the period, the Stars went offside near the Vancouver bench, and when the camera cut to Alain Vigneault shortly thereafter, he was caught cracking up so badly he had to cover his face with his lineup card.