We’re already at the point of the season where we have to start finding positive signs or we’ll slip into a deep depression and get stuck there like Ryan North and his dog.
So, instead of actual victories, we start looking for moral victories, or at least victories-of-neutral-ethical-value. For instance, after two games without scoring, the Canucks got a goal! Then they got another one! What fun! Jake Virtanen got his first point! Woohoo! They held Alex Ovechkin pointless! Incredible!
But all of that is missing the biggest victory: the Canucks won a coach’s challenge, overturning a Capitals goal and delaying the inevitable crushing and very real defeat! Huzzah!
I watched this game.
- Jannik Hansen was back with the Sedins and immediately made the line better, but that’s no surprise. You can stick Hansen on any line and he’ll make it better. Sutter’s line. Horvat’s line. The BC Lion’s defensive line. A chorus line. I was once stuck in a line at ICBC with Jannik Hansen and it was the most delightful four hours of my life.
- Without Hansen on his line, Brandon Sutter suffered. He frequently got stuck in the defensive zone and ended up with the Canucks’ lowest corsi of the night. He got particularly run over by T.J. Oshie and his line, who I hope Capitals fans call the Oceanographers, but I know they don’t.
- The Canucks may have had Jan Hansen, but the Capitals had Johansson. Theirs was better. Marcus Johansson scored the Capitals’ first goal, assisted on the second, and scored the third. He was a one-man wrecking crew. Actually, that makes no sense: you can’t be a crew if you’re just one man. So I guess Johansson was more of a Crews. Terry Crews.
- I don’t dislike Dave Randorf as a play-by-play man as much as some people in the Twittersphere, but I am 100% not okay with him constantly calling a wristshot “a drive.”
- Cassie Campbell, on the other hand, is developing into a superb colour-commentator. Her knowledgeable and concise breakdowns were one of the highlights of the game. At one point she highlighted Loui Eriksson in the neutral zone attempting to break up plays with just one hand on his stick, futilely waving at the puck instead of getting engaged physically. She did a great job pinpointing an area where Eriksson needs to improve. It is a crying shame that CBC had her in an interviewing role for so long when she is clearly made to be an analyst.
- I’m a big believer in Brendan Gaunce and he mostly played well, but it was his giveaway that led to the Capitals’ opening goal. Giveaways in the defensive zone were a theme all night, but I personally blame the Rogers Arena DJ for playing so much Red Hot Chili Peppers all game.
- The Caps’ second goal came just 15 seconds later and can be pinned largely on Loui Eriksson, who lost a puck battle on the boards with, sure enough, one hand on his stick, then lost track of Tom Wilson coming in from the point, giving him an open shot from the slot. But hey, at least he’s not actively shooting the puck into his own net anymore. Baby steps.
- Hansen score one before the end of one to pull the Canucks to within one. With the Sedins forechecking, Zachary Sanford rushed a clearing attempt that Erik Gudbranson cut off at the line. He immediately threw it on net and Hansen swatted the rebound in with just over 5 seconds remaining, which doesn’t go with the “one” theme at the beginning of this bullet point at all.
- Before piling too much praise on Troy Stecher, let’s take note that at 5-on-5, the Canucks got out-shot 13-5 with him on the ice, second worst ratio on the team ahead of only Michael Zalewski. This means, of course, that we must turn on him, berate him for not being perfect, and run him out of town, as is tradition.
- Before you do that, though, keep in mind that he played nearly 22 minutes, led the team with five shots on goal, and the only goal against when he was on the ice was into an empty net. For his second ever NHL game, on the second night of back-to-backs, Stecher was actually pretty good. So cancel the Amazon order for torches and pitchforks, I guess.
- The line of Sven Baertschi, Bo Horvat, and Jake Virtanen was reunited and, while they took some time to find their groove, they eventually were riding it like they were George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, and Bootsy Collins, combining for a funky goal late in the second period. Virtanen picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone, cut to the slot, and created a rebound with a hard, low wristshot. Baertschi sent that rebound off the post and Horvat swatted it in.
- The only reason the Canucks were even in this game, apart from it being scheduled by the NHL on the Canucks home ice, was Jacob Markstrom. Despite the four goals against, Markstrom had a great game and kept the Canucks within striking distance until late in the third period. Unfortunately, like a Walmart employee, the Canucks couldn’t strike.
- At one point the fans started doing the wave during a power play while the Canucks were only down by a goal. That’s not the time for the wave, people. That’s the time for shouting, “SHOOT! SHOOOOOOOOOOT!”
- I honestly think Sven Baertschi might have been cursed during the summer. The poor guy has yet to score a goal this season and he was set up with a golden opportunity to tie the game by Horvat. Baertschi got in behind the defence, deked to the backhand, and went to roof the puck, but instead lost it in the corner. After which, I lost it in the corner: just curled up into a ball and lost it.
