Stick-taps and glove-drops is a recurring feature after every Canucks game giving some quick kudos and criticism before the longer I Watched This Game feature. Feel free to leave your own stick-taps and glove-drops in the comments.
Stick-tap to Ben Hutton, who provided the highlight of the game for Canucks fans: a massive hit on Brooks Orpik. Yes, that does mean this was a really terrible game for the Canucks.
I’ll drop the gloves with Devante Smith-Pelly, who felt the need to, well, drop the gloves with Hutton after the clean shoulder-to-shoulder hit. A side glove-drop to the Capitals fans on Twitter who seemed to think Hutton’s hit was an elbow.
Ben Hutton with the big hit on Orpik - then answers the bell from DSP#Canucks pic.twitter.com/JBTtPWOeDU
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) January 10, 2018
Brock Boeser gets a tap of the stick on the Canucks’ first (and only) goal, even if he didn’t contribute as directly as he usually does. On the power play, he had a great backcheck on Tom Wilson to erase his shorthanded breakaway. That led to Wilson getting back to the bench late, causing a too many men penalty and a 5-on-3 for the Canucks. Then, during the two-man advantage, the threat of his shot pulled the Capitals’ penalty killers way out of position.
Stick-tap to Alex Edler and Daniel Sedin, who took advantage of the open shooting lane. Edler sent a low wrist shot that was more of a pass to Daniel camped in front of Philip Grubauer, and he tipped it back through the goaltender to open the scoring.
Daniel Sedin gets the goal on the power play. #Canucks get the first goal.
— Wave the White Towel (@wavewhitetowel) January 10, 2018
1 - 0 ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/hJyoBq2ybO
Stick-tap to Nikolay Goldobin, who showed some flash in a game that seriously lacked it from a Canucks perspective. He created three scoring chances in one shift at one point in the first period, hitting the post with one of them. In a game against his idol, Alex Ovechkin, he stood out.
I’ll drop the gloves with Michael Del Zotto on the Capitals’ first goal. A collision behind the net cause Nic Dowd to knock the net on top of Jacob Markstrom, but the net never came off the pegs. Instead of letting it fall all the way down, Del Zotto turned his back on the play and fixed the net. Meanwhile, John Carlson scored on the distracted Markstrom.
Backstrom pushes Dowd into the net causing it to stand on it's pegs.
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) January 10, 2018
Markstrom is stuck, Del Zotto tries to put it back - Carlson puts it in.
Canucks have challenged for goalie interference #Canucks pic.twitter.com/f9VimzoZOQ
Travis Green gets the gloves dropped too, as his coach’s challenge for goaltender interference didn’t have a hope of being successful. Yes, Nicklas Backstrom elbowed Dowd into the net, but since the refs didn’t call a penalty for an elbow, they weren’t going to blame Backstrom for Dowd running into the net.
I’ll drop the gloves with Markstrom on the second Capitals’ goal. Yes, Lars Eller shot it through Ben Hutton’s legs, providing a bit of a screen, but it was far enough out that it shouldn’t have beaten Markstrom cleanly.
Dropping the gloves with Erik Gudbranson for the third goal, as he batted the rebound out of midair with his hand, only to knock it off Markstrom’s shoulder and into the net. To be fair, Evgeny Kuznetsov had his stick up near the puck as well, but full disclosure, Gudbranson and his partner, Michael Del Zotto, got crushed when they were on the ice. Shot attempts were 24-16 for the Capitals with Del Zotto on the ice at 5-on-5 and 23-17 with Gudbranson, leading to more chances for that kind of bad luck to occur.
Glove-drops all around for the makeshift “shutdown line” of Nic Dowd, Markus Granlund, and Loui Eriksson. They got pretty badly out-chanced and out-shot in this game, with Granlund on the ice for all three Capitals goals. It just doesn’t make sense to give this trio the amount of ice time that they get.
