With Daniel out at a big fancy stats conference, I’m stepping up to take over the IWTG.
I mean that the stats are fancy, by the way. I have no idea if the conference is fancy. If it is, I’m sure Daniel has been enjoying a nice five Corsi meal with all of his math friends. But I hope he’s also being careful. You know what they say about the advanced stats community: you have to keep your Fenwick Close, and your enemies closer.
I spent a lot of time thinking about advanced stats jokes when I watched this game.
- In what could be considered a slap in the face, the Predators rested four of their regulars and started their backup goaltender against the bottom-of-the-standings Canucks. It said a lot about how they view the Canucks, but, y’know, it worked. Can’t hate them for giving a few players a break when they still won. Well, you can, but I’m trying to excise hate from my life.
- It was clear from the opening faceoff that Travis Green wanted to match the Archibald-Sutter-Motte line against Nashville’s top line. Even though Daniel took all the advanced numbers with him to the convention, the eye test suggests that the plan didn’t work. That line spent most of their ice time hemmed in their own zone, and Markstrom was forced to make some great saves to bail them out.
- The Canucks opened the scoring with a quick goal on the power play. Bo Horvat helped Henrik on the faceoff and got the puck back to Daniel, who passed it right over to Edler. He wasted no time taking a shot, which was tipped by the “Bo-Dozer,” Bo Horvat. Yes, the Bo-dozer. I think that should be his nickname forever. Anyways it was great work by the first power play unit, who looked strong all night.
- Speaking of nicknames, Alex “Eagle” Edler passed Mattias Ohlund as the top scoring defenseman in Canucks history. That’s a huge milestone, and one worth celebrating. But I want to talk about his nickname, which may be one of the most underrated Canucks nicknames of all time. It’s one of those nicknames that, if this was a college dorm instead of a hockey team, no one would know his real name anymore. He would just be “Eagle.” All the freshmen would be in awe of him and try to guess his real name, but he’d never tell. Classic Eagle.
- The second period started off poorly, with the aforementioned third line spending a full minute in their own zone, chasing the puck and trying to fight off rebounds. The whole time, this music was running through my head. Thankfully, Jacob Markstrom made a series of saves to keep the 1-0 lead.
- Markstrom had a solid game overall, which was much better than the porous one he had on Wednesday night. Besides Guddy and the Eagle, he didn’t get a lot of help from his defense, but I wouldn’t really fault him on any of the goals he allowed in regulation.
- I’ve mentioned Sutter’s line as being a problem a couple of times now, but I have to give credit to Sutter himself. He really picked up his play in the second period, and then he totally redeemed himself with a sweet backhand goal to put the Canucks up by two. Both Boeser and Sutter deserve credit on that goal. Boeser kept the play alive and made a pretty pass to Sutter, who fought through two defenders to get the shot away.
- Then Mike Fisher scored. Did you know Mike Fisher is back? He unretired and went back to Nashville. Good for him! He’s obviously still got some good hockey left in him, and Nashville is poised for a deep playoff run. He found himself in the right place at the right time in front of the net and threw the puck in. It reminds me of the time he found himself at the Bluebird Café in Nashville and met Carrie Underwood for the first time. Some guys just know where to go.
- I’m trying not to talk too much about defensive mistakes, because at this point I expect a lot of them. The Canucks defence corps isn’t that strong and the team is giving the kids at forward more of a chance. But I do think it’s worth mentioning that Goldobin did just enough on that goal not to prevent the chance. He followed Arvidsson up the ice and gave him a few taps, but when he had a chance to clear the puck, he whiffed. Offensively Goldobin had a pretty good game, but these are exactly the kinds of issues he needs to improve if he wants to stick with the team long term.
- The game was pretty tame in terms of penalties, until all heck broke loose about halfway into the third period. A shoving match developed in the corner of the Canucks zone, which ended with Gudbranson getting speared in the junk by Ryan Johansen. You really had to feel for Guddy’s goodies. You could hear his yell above the noise of the crowd and the announcers. Ouch.
- Unfortunately, the Canucks got a penalty too, and the Preds capitalized at 4-on-4 with a beauty of a passing play. Ryan Ellis set up Kevin Fiala with a convincing slap pass, and Markstrom couldn’t get over to stop his shot in time. Personally I think the Sedins should get royalties on that goal. They pretty much invented the slap pass.
- The good news is the Canucks got three minutes of power play time after the 4-on-4 ended. Daniel Sedin, who is totally brinner right now (that’s Swedish for “on fire), made good, putting a shot on net and following up his own rebound for the goal. This is what I love about the Sedins. They must know that the entire city of Vancouver is wondering if they’ll play or retire next season, and they just keep going about their business. Daniel now has nine points in his last five games. What a consummate professional.
- Overtime didn’t last long. The Predators gained the zone, Markstrom was screened and Jarnkrok scored. I wasn’t a fan of Gagner being out for the first shift with Horvat. I could think of a few better options. Actually, just one. Put Boeser out there, always. Always Boeser. Never not-Boeser. Anyways, that’s what I was shouting at my TV while my family was sleeping.
- At this point in the season, doesn’t an overtime loss feel like the worst possible result? You can’t celebrate a win, but you’re stuck with a meaningless point that keeps you frozen in the standings. I’m not a tanking advocate, but I do wish the team was either hot or cold. They need to stop being lukewarm so I don’t have to spit them out.
