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I Watched This Game: Canucks 3, Wild 2

Vancouver at Minnesota, November 25th, 2015
I Watched This Game
I Watched This Game

With Jordan Schroeder sidelined by an illness, the Minnesota Wild made an emergency call-up from their AHL farm team in Des Moines Wednesday morning, bringing up Cristoph Bertschy from the Iowa Wild.

 

With that announcement, hockey fans across North America—nay, the world!—rose up as one in anticipation of Christoph Bertschy facing off against Sven Baertschi, a sure-to-be-legendary Bertschy vs. Baertschi battle.

 

It would be the first time the two B(a)ertsch(i/y)s would appear in the same game since the 2012 World Junior Championships, when the two played in two games as teammates for Switzerland, and possibly the first time the two had ever played against each other. The stakes could not possibly have been higher; this game would surely go down in the annals of history.

 

Alas, it was not to be.

 

Bertschy played, but Baertschi didn't, sitting in the pressbox so Jake Virtanen could get in the lineup, and the world was robbed of the Bertschy vs. Baertschi meeting they deserved. This game could have broken every viewership record in the books, such was the international interest, but hey, at least I watched this game.

 

 

  • Seriously, though, the potential confusion for John Shorthouse with two B(a)ertsch(i/y)s on the ice could have been delightful, particularly since they inexplicably both wear #47. I mean, Shorty’s a pro, so he probably would have been fine, but I was really hoping for “Burrows to Bartkowski, up to Baertschi, taken away by Bertschy, but Bartkowski pokes the puck away and now Baertschi battles Bertschy along the boards.”
  • This game did not start out well for the Canucks, who got hemmed in the defensive zone for long stretches in the first period. Ryan Miller was up to the challenge, giving up lots of rebounds, but recovering well to make some good saves early on, keeping the Wild off the board like a surfer’s broken leg.
  • Here’s the thing: even a broken leg can’t keep a committed surfer off the board and Miller couldn’t do the same for the Wild for long, who opened the scoring on the power play, as the Canucks’ penalty killers all fixated on the puck along the boards, leaving Thomas Vanek, the Wild’s leading goalscorer, alone in the slot. In my professional opinion as a hockey writer, they shouldn't do that.
  • The one positive that could be taken out of Sunday’s ugly game against the New Jersey Devils is that Radim Vrbata did break his slump, even if it was with less than a second remaining in the game. Even if it was meaningless in that game, it wasn’t meaningless for Vrbata, who seemed to take it as a positive sign. It literally wasn’t, as it was a power play goal, so he didn’t get a plus.
  • Despite being dominated in the opening frame, the Canucks managed to tie things up before heading into the first intermission thanks to Vrbata’s freshly-buoyed confidence. Also thanks to Jared McCann’s lovely backhand pass to set up Vrbata, who then confidenced the puck just inside the far post. Confidently.
  • Underrated part of that goal: Alex Edler’s no-look, cross-ice pass to send McCann into the offensive zone. I mean, he’s no Jason Williams—he’s severely lacking in swag—but look how much room McCann has on the right wing: every Wild player got sucked over to Edler’s side of the ice because he didn’t spare a glance towards McCann before passing.
  • This was one of McCann’s best games, picking up the assist, taking a team-high 7 shot attempts, 4 of them on net, and even winning the majority of his faceoffs, going 5-for-9. More than that, his line with Vrbata and Chris Higgins was dominant in puck possession, something we haven’t been able to say about McCann, like, ever. The Canucks outshot the Wild 12-2 with McCann on the ice. The Wild only had 4 shot attempts with McCann on the ice. Never separate McCann and Vrbata. McCann should wear one of those toddler safety harness backpacks and Vrbata always has to hold the tether. Even for bathroom breaks. It's for chemistry.
  • Vrbata kept the good times rolling with another snipely goal. After a great save by Miller on a shorthanded Charlie Coyle breakaway, the Canucks power play set up. Henrik tried to find Dan Hamhuis backdoor, but his pass was picked off by Mikael Granlund, landing directly on Vrbata’s stick, almost like Henrik...planned it...holy hell, what if he did?
  • One-goal lead heading into the third period: certain loss, right? Jannik Hansen breakaway: no chance at a goal, right? Wrong, you stupid hypothetical person asking those questions. Daniel Sedin sprung Hansen on the breakaway and the Honninggrævling took the puck and roofed it like the net was a mouth and he was peanut butter .
  • Does that simile make sense? No. But it sure seems like it should.
  • The goal was necessary, as the Wild pulled within one in the final minutes. Really, the Canucks played well in the third period, forechecking hard, creating offensive chances, and overall refusing to sit back defensively. It still took a crossbar and some lucky bounces to keep the Wild from sending this game to overtime. The Canucks’ defence, like Heironymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, goes all to hell in the final frame.
  • It’s not the youth to blame, either. Coyle’s goal that made it 3-2 was preceded by a brutal turnover by Henrik Sedin in the defensive zone and the Wild’s final-minute push for a tying goal was enabled by an Alex Edler penalty that came after Radim Vrbata turned the puck over in the offensive zone with an over-ambitious centring pass instead of getting the puck deep and killing the clock. I guess the Canucks need to start benching their veterans in the third period for these rookie mistakes.