I apologize for the lateness of this IWTG. That’s what happens when the Canucks pull off a blockbuster* trade right after a game: I get side-tracked researching a 27-year-old journeyman centre instead of making observations and jokes about the game.
Rest assured, I did watch the Canucks take on the Flyers on Thursday night and, while they clearly missed Bo Horvat, I thought they weren’t that bad. If they had shown a little more discipline in staying out of the penalty box, this could have been a very different game.
It’s been a dozen games since the last time the Canucks gave up six power play opportunities, and the penalty kill that had been so effective of late couldn’t hold back the Flyers’ attack, giving up two goals. That was the difference in the game; if only the Canucks could have taken a few fewer penalties.
But I didn’t watch that hypothetical game that was entirely played at 5-on-5, in which the Canucks battled to a 1-1 tie in regulation. Instead, I watched this game.
*That is Blockbuster in reference to the once-great video rental chain, of which there are still some locations that have not shut down, rather than “blockbuster” in the sense of “very large.”
- The Canucks were dominant to start the game, but unfortunately that dominance only lasted about 10 minutes. They had the first nine shots on goal, including four on an early power play, but like a typewriter with broken shift and caps lock keys, they just couldn’t capitalize. Any time a team can’t make something out an early shot imbalance, my inner cynic says, “Uh-oh,” and starts expecting the game to go south faster than a Canadian retiree.
- That dominant stretch ended with a Canucks penalty, which became a pattern in the game. Any time the Canucks seemed to gain some momentum, they killed it with an ill-timed penalty. So it wasn’t just that the penalties gave the Flyers’ power play a chance to score, but that they interrupted the Canucks’ best stretches at even-strength. It was like planning an elaborate marriage proposal, where you take your loved one to their favourite restaurant, then go on a romantic walk to where you had your first kiss, with rose petals strewn about, candles lit, and a string quarter playing an arrangement of her favourite song, but when you got down on one knee, instead of pulling out a ring, you pulled out a knife and stabbed yourself in the leg.
- With no Bo Horvat, Travis Green had to get creative with his deployment, particularly on the penalty kill. Sam Gagner actually has the Canucks’ best faceoff percentage this season at 55.65%, so it’s understandable that Green would send him out to win a shorthanded faceoff. He lost the draw and 12 seconds later, a point shot deflected off his stick and into the net. That was the only 12 seconds that Gagner played on the penalty kill, despite the Canucks taking six penalties.
- The Canucks’ power play couldn’t come through with a goal, but still looked good, firing 10 shots on goal on just two opportunities. Markus Granlund filled in for Bo Horvat as the net-front presence on the first power play unit, leaving the second unit entirely intact, which makes sense: they’ve been nearly as effective as the first unit since they were put together. Granlund had three scoring chances himself on the power play, so he was in the right place at the right time, but didn’t have Horvat’s finish.
- Jacob Markstrom made some stunning saves in this game — the very first shot he faced required a desperation stick save — but he probably should have done better on two of the three goals he gave up. On the Flyers’ second goal, he seemed to anticipate Michael Raffl cutting across the crease, so pushed into the middle a little too early, so when Raffl simply tipped Jakub Voracek’s pass, it squibbled past Markstrom’s skate as he lunged back to his right.
- The 3-0 goal is also likely one that Markstrom would like to have back. Although it was a hard one-timer on the power play by Claude Giroux, no goaltender likes to be beat shortside. John Garrett even hypothesized that the shot must have deflected off Chris Tanev, because Garrett is a proud, card-carrying member of the Goaltender’s Union, whose credo states, “There is always someone else to blame.” But no, the shot beat Markstrom cleanly.
- Troy Stecher has yet to score a goal this season and, in fact, has gone 29 games without a goal. Sam Gagner set him up with a golden opportunity in the second period, but he flubbed the shot, sending it a good three feet wide, which is almost impressive given how close he was to the net. As a reminder, Stecher misses the net more than any other Canucks defenceman. I wouldn’t say he can’t hit the broad side of the barn, but I could get you pretty good odds on the narrow side.
- The Canucks finally got a goal and, unsurprisingly, it came from Brock Boeser. Unlike Stecher, Michael Del Zotto got the puck on net, where Sven Baertschi tried to tip it past Brian Elliott. That created a rebound and Boeser made like Matt Kuchar and chipped it on the backhand.
- Derrick Pouliot continues to impress. He was fantastic on zone exits: according to Darryl Keeping, who tracks these micro stats, the Canucks exited the zone after 27 of Pouliot’s 28 touches, a stunning percentage. 17 of those exits were with control of the puck. When he touched the puck in the Canucks’ zone, Pouliot got out of there like a character in a slasher movie that actually listens to the audience.
- Travis Green gave the Line Blender 3000 a spin late in the second period and in the third period. The lines changed so much that it’s barely worth trying to track them all. One of the more significant changes was moving Thomas Vanek to the Sedin line, but every line got scrambled as Green poked at the Canucks like White Ninja with a stick, trying to get them to do something.
- They didn’t do something.
