It was Grizzlies Night in Rogers Arena Monday evening, and I have to admit, the nostalgia was nice, even if I found it a little troubling to be invoking the spirit of a bunch of notorious losers right before a game. And when the Canucks took the lead into the third period, I found myself getting anxious, since blowing a late lead would be so Grizzlies. (In November of 1995, for instance, as part of a 19-game losing streak, the Grizzlies blew a 12-point, fourth quarter lead versus the Chicago Bulls when they let Michael Jordan score a poetic 19 points in the final six minutes.) But instead of screwing it all up, ala the Grizz, the Canucks got a big final push from Big Country to seal the win. Not very Grizzlies at all.
The more accurate Vancouver Grizzlies tribute actually came from the Grizzlies themselves, as the team, now based in Memphis, lost to the Golden State Warriors tonight by 50 points. It was the franchise's worst loss ever. Now that's a tribute. The only way to be more authentically Grizzlies would be to bring Greg Anthony out of retirement and let him brick three-point attempts all night. Although that might have happened -- I don't know, I didn't watch that game. I watched this game.
- The Canucks wasted no time getting on the board in this one, and they didn't waste much energy either. The opening goal looked downright effortless, as the Canucks made a flurry of quick passes to gain the zone and get the puck to Jannik Hansen, behind the defence. From there, Hansen casually walked around Steve Mason like the Israelites at the wall of Jericho. Fortunately, instead of going around Mason once a day for six days, then seven times on the seventh day, and then blowing a trumpet, Hansen scored right away. Although Hansen doing thirteen circles around Mason would have been worthy of the highlight-reel.
- Vancouver looked truly impressive in the first ten minutes, outshooting the Flyers 8-1 and pushing the pace of the game at every opportunity. I like that the Canucks can push the pace now. Thanks in large part to the injection of youth, and, I imagine, some tweaks to the breakout, they have a much higher top speed this season. It kind of undercut the theme of the evening, actually. It was Grizzlies Night, after all, but streaking around in those royal blue sweaters, they looked more like a team of Sonics.
- I want to blame Matt Bartkowski for his play on Claude Giroux's game-tying goal. I really do -- especially since, with Luca Sbisa out of the lineup, Bartkowski seems like the best bet to replace the Swiss D-man as Fan Unfavourite™. And there's no doubt that almost any other defensive play would have slowed Giroux up more. But the Flyers' captain remains one of hockey's top centres, as evidenced by the move he made on Miller a split-second after surviving Bartkowski's half-hearted mugging attempt. Giroux can do that to good defenders, so Bartkowski didn't have much of a chance.
- Bo Horvat restored the Canucks' lead midway through the second on a beautiful individual effort. With Mark Streit all over him, Horvat took the puck around the back of the net, then muscled his way to the hash marks, turned, and surprised Steve Mason with a nasty snapshot. Mason was probably kicking himself for letting it past him, but things could have been much worse: it could have been a nasty Snapchat.
- It really is amazing that it took Jake Virtanen so long to score his first goal. He's had so many chances. Heck, in the second period of this game, he had a puck swatted right off the goal line. But it finally happened for the kid in his ninth game. After poking a puck past his man in the neutral zone, Virtanen went in two-on-one with Alex Burrows. You had to know he was going to keep. Heck, even Burrows wanted nothing to do with a pass. Rather than staying wide, he went right at defender Radko Gudas in an attempt to give Virtanen more room. It worked, leaving Virtanen plenty of space to go right at Mason, and he made no mistake, scoring with a nifty backhand. It was a nice moment, made even nicer when Burrows joined the hockey hug and mobbed Virtanen like a soldier's dog welcoming him home.
- After several scary third periods, the Canucks never really looked in danger of blowing this lead. What was the difference? Some puck luck, to be sure, but I'll bet it also helped that not a single Canuck forward hit 16 minutes tonight. That's impressive icetime management. It all but guarantees that every skater over the boards is as fresh as possible. Of course, no matter how fresh anyone is, they're never going to be as fresh as Beyonce. Whoever you are, she's fresher than you.
- Jared McCann hasn't won a faceoff for two games. After going 0-for-6 in the circle on Friday, he went 0-for-4 tonight. So if you're trying to figure out why Willie Desjardins doesn't seem to trust him defensively, I'd start there. That said, I thought he acquitted himself nicely on the defensive end tonight, especially in his one-on-one battles. He laid a pretty nice hit on Luke Schenn during a neutral zone puck race in the second period, and he took Ryan White out of a zone entry with a well-applied hipcheck in the third. He's already starting to figure some of this stuff out, and we shouldn't be surprised. He's a smart player. If anyone can make those adjustments on the fly, the McCanndyman can.
- I know they scored a goal, but the line of Baertschi, Horvat and Hansen didn't look good tonight. Baertschi was a minus-11 in even-strength corsi, tied for the game-low with linemate Jannik Hansen, and the duo's centre, Bo Horvat, was an ugly minus-9 as well. Though I doubt Hansen and Horvat need to be as concerned by these numbers as Baertschi, who's still yet to earn a permanent home in the lineup. (Baertschi needn't worry too much about this stat, mind you -- if Willie cared about corsi, the winger probably wouldn't be in the doghouse at all.) In any case, here's hoping the goal is enough for Baertschi to keep playing. To my eyes, he looks like a man who doesn't really want the puck right now, and that's a sign of low confidence. Another healthy scratch probably isn't going to help him become more self-assured.
- Worth noting: the Sedin line started 80% of their shifts in the offensive zone tonight. I hope Willie keeps doing that. We haven't had much cause to overanalyze zone starts since the Alain Vigneault era ended.
- Finally, Alex Edler and Chris Tanev play so well together, and they keep getting better. Did you catch the little give-and-go they worked during that dominant Canucks' shift late in the second? That kind of chemistry is no joke. What kind of chemistry is a joke, you say? Well. I once asked a chemist if I could borrow some sodium hypobromite. He said NaBrO.
