It’s not often that you can watch a 5-0 game, look at the team that scored zero goals, and say, “That was the better team.”
I think I want to say that about this game. Really, this was a 2-0 game that devolved into silliness in the last two minutes and it was an unlucky bounce and a lapse in judgement that made it 2-0. The Canucks were unlucky not to score in a game where they got 41 shots on goal, the majority of them from in the slot or around the net.
And yet...it was still a 5-0 game. The Canucks didn’t score on any of their numerous chances, showing an IKEA-like lack of finish around the net. As much as the Canucks outplayed the Sharks, at some point the puck has to make its way into the net and, if you’re not getting the bounces, at some point you have to make your own.
It’s like Geppetto. For whatever reason (I won’t speculate), Geppetto can’t have a real child, so he gets to work and carves one for himself. The Canucks need to start carving themselves a Pinocchio. I watched this game.
- The Sharks opened the scoring just 48 seconds into the game. Jacob Markstrom made a stick save on Brent Burns point shot, but the rebound hit Tomas Hertl and went in. It’s the type of goal that if it happens midway through the second period you chalk it up as bad luck, but when it happens in the opening minute off the first shot of the game, you rend your clothing, don sackcloth and ashes, and curse the gods.
- The game didn’t go off the rails immediately after that facepalm of a goal; it took time, if it’s possible for a train to derail slowly. Jacob Markstrom actually locked in after that initial goal and stopped all 12 shots he subsequently faced in the first period.
- In fact, that was the only goal the Sharks would score at 5-on-5, which is where the Canucks most clearly outplayed the Sharks. If only the entire game could be played at 5-on-5, but alas, the NHL has not introduced a rule that lets you refuse penalties yet. The Canucks had five power plays; they had just four shots on goal with the man advantage and all four shots came on the same power play.
- If the power play had done anything good at all in this game, we’d probably be looking at Loui Eriksson’s game with a little more favour, as he drew the penalties for two of the Canucks’ five power plays. Even still, he was prominent in his return to the lineup, playing over 18 minutes and taking five shots on goal, but he won’t silence his critics until he starts putting up some points.
- Like Joaquin Phoenix’s forehead, Travis Green’s usage of his lines had an interesting wrinkle in this game. It was Eriksson and the Sedins that played against the Sharks’ top line, while Brandon Sutter’s line faced mainly the third and fourth line. Apart from not scoring any goals, the switch seemed to work: shots on goal were 11-1 for the Canucks when Markus Granlund was on the ice at 5-on-5 and the Sedin line created a number of good chances.
- The Canucks gave up three shorthanded goals, but only the first really mattered. It was the ugliest power play sequence since the Sedins tried to add shiny, disk-shaped beads to their jerseys. The Sedin unit gave up a 2-on-1 and a breakaway in quick succession. Logan Couture somehow made the ugly sequence high fashion, as Couture tucked the puck in on the breakaway.
- The Canucks may have stumbled upon something special by pairing Alex Edler and Derrick Pouliot. The duo were the best Canucks’ pairing with Pouliot in particular impressing with his ability to keep the puck in the offensive zone. He was like the Honda Crab, eagerly pinching at every opportunity, extending dangerous shifts. On one particular pinch, he set up Bo Horvat at the backdoor for one of the Canucks’ best chances, forcing a great save by Aaron "Dude You're Getting A" Dell.
- Edler himself had one of the Canucks’ best chances, but somehow wasn’t able to put the puck past Dell while the goaltender literally had his back to the play. It was like Carey Price in the All-Star Skills Competition a few years back, except in an actual game.
- Things got silly in the final two minutes after the Canucks pulled Jacob Markstrom. A dump-in without enough speed through the neutral zone led to the Sharks quickly turning the puck up ice and Couture scored into the empty net. Then Timo Meier butt-ended Michael Del Zotto in the face away from the puck, a move that ought to earn him a suspension. It was the most unnecessary butt-end since Kim Kardashian’s.
- With a five-minute major, the Canucks decided to go for it, pulling Markstrom and going 6-on-4. Unfortunately, an ill-conceived cross-ice pass by Brock Boeser led to Chris Tierney scoring another goal into the empty net.
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Like a meat department with a rump roast, the referees butchered the end. As Tierney broke out of the Sharks’ zone, Alex Edler gave him a hook. It was a penalty, certainly, but Tierney was free and clear from his own blue line and got a great scoring chance, ringing the puck off the post. The referees inexplicably gave Tierney a penalty shot, despite one of the requirements for giving a penalty shot being that it takes away a scoring chance. It was the wrong call and a slap in the face with the score already 4-0 and just 13 seconds left of the game.
