After a lengthy homestand, the new and improved “youth movement” Vancouver headed north to face the Edmonton Oilers. It’s easy to get excited by a team like this; the young players are finally given free rein to play a fast, attacking game, and the vets are there to back them up. I’m talking about the Oilers, of course.
Outplayed the last three games, Vancouver hasn’t just been failing, they have been fLailing; yep, intentionally capitalized L. Determined to muster a better effort, they found their skates and pushed hard against the Oil. But as you might expect when trying to push any sort of hydrocarbon, they just ended up with a mess. The Canucks played well and Richard Bachman deserved a kinder result, but like that time the Science Guy didn't show up, Vancouver was de-Nyed.
In games I've covered, I’ve watched Vancouver get shutout at least five times this season. I grudgingly bore witness to another one when I watched this game.
- Richard Bachman started for Vancouver in goal, remember him? The undersized journeyman goalie has spent most of the season in Utica. It’s a bit of a homecoming for Bachman, who played two seasons in the Oilers organization. His only other game in a Canucks jersey was notable: he scored a tough win against the Ducks. When asked whether he felt qualified to start, the netminder gruffly replied, “I’m Bachman.” He’s not the masked hero Vancouver deserved, or asked for, or needed from a playoff race perspective, but he’s the one that existed.
- Around seven minutes into the game Leon Draisaitl skated in and try-saitl’d to bury a puck at the side of the net on a dangerous chance. But lurking unseen in a dark alley was the Bachman, who leap across the crease and batted away the puck like an errant batarang. Deny-saitl’d! Later, after a Canucks giveaway, the Bachman killed a Patrick Maroon chance from in tight. Well, he subdued the chance non-lethally... the Bachman never kills.
- The first period was even in shots, 8-7 for Vancouver, but Edmonton out-chanced them handily. This was the story of the game: way more shots for the Canucks, but it felt like every one the Oilers fired was dangerous. The best opportunity came when Chris Tanev pinged a shot off the bar. I knew it wouldn’t go in, Tanev only scores in overtime.
- Five minutes into the second period Zack Kassian was sprung on a breakaway, but luckily he ran into a concrete slab and fell over. Nikita “Concrete Slab” Tryamkin got in his path and simultaneously poked the puck to safety. It’s hard to believe that the player with the least subtle frame plays the most subtle game, but he does. He CAN be physical (and if he ever DID maybe the outcome would be different) but the guy makes hay with his reach and stickwork.
- Halfway into the game, Bo Horvat bulled his way through the defence and rushed up on net, almost lifting the puck over Cam Talbot. It wasn’t a goal, but it shifted the momentum in Vancouver’s favour. I’m realizing I overuse the word “bulled” in reference to Horvat, so for the sake of variety let’s brainstorm some alternative descriptors: Rhino’d? Terminator’d? Trogdor’d? Those are all accurate. The Canucks’ leading scorer plays best when he’s running roughshod over his opponents.
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Markus Granlund had a great game. He was a Granimal, playing a Granimated, Graggressive game. He skated mostly alongside the Sedin twins, and I counted at least five quality chances for the winger. His most dangerous came in the second period when he cut through the middle and backhanded a test on Talbot. He did that twice in the second, actually.
Management: are you planning to expose this guy in the Expansion Draft? How about no! Am I crazy to think that Granlund’s 19 goals could just be the tip of the iceberg? - Things were going well, but then Connor McDavid. That’s the whole sentence. Stepping into the middle ice at high speed, he unleashed a hard, accurate shot that no one saw coming, not even the Bachman. He didn’t even turn his head before he shot, giving no indication of the goal to come. Like my inconsiderate Great Great Uncle Mortimer, he never telegraphs.
- Edmonton has become a seriously tough team to solve. Big and skilled; the exact blueprint you’d expect from a Peter Chiarelli-built squad. With Kassian, Milan Lucic, Patrick Maroon and Darnell Nurse throwing bodies around it was an uphill battle building any sort of cycle, and most of the play was pushed to the perimetre. Too bad, because Vancouver had puck control often.
- Tru Fakt: Tryamkin's name originates from the time his ancestor brought home a new root vegetable for family dinner, exclaming, "Try yams, my kin!" With only ten minutes remaining, a desperate Canucks team pushed hard in Edmonton’s zone, stringing together chance after chance. Tryamkin blasted a slapshot which beat Talbot but couldn’t solve the post. Don’t be sad, Nikita, that shot was still pretty sweet (potato).
- The Canucks haven’t scored a power play goal in Edmonton since 2014, the last tally coming off Radim Vrbata’s stick. With yet another ineffective man advantage in the third, they clearly needed rehabilitation. They needed a clinic. Who better to put one on than Edmonton? Alex Edler was called for holding, and after an utterly dominant one-and-a-half minutes in which Bachman made several unlikely saves, Mark Letestu eventually cracked the Bach Knight’s kevlar armour and expanded the lead to two goals.
- With the goaltender pulled, Leon Draisaitl was racing in on net when Chris Tanev tripped him. It saved the Canucks a goal, and for fans there was much rejoicing. Nah not really, but for a moment the weeping was a little bit subdued.
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So it ended in a shutout. Sigh. Feels bad, man. But don’t worry, I’m gonna put on a level of insane positivity, you know, the kind that says, "I'm happy but also RIGHT on the edge!" Clark Griswold style (NSFW).
Despite the score, Vancouver clearly played well. They had the Oilers on their heels for most of the third period, and they had a dominant Corsi score. They outshot Edmonton 33-22. The only thing that stood between Vancouver and overtime was the dang goal post. But that’s the thing: the Oilers executed, the Canucks didn’t. So the team might benefit from giving proven finishers an opportunity to get the job done. Like Reid Boucher for example, who had just 10 minutes of ice time.
Whoops! No negativity here! Ha ha ha! How about that effort? Real good.
