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. That’s right: two post-game articles for the price of one! That price is still zero dollars.
A tap of the stick to my oldest son, who turned six today! We had a great time today, although it meant I didn’t get to watch the Canucks game until
I have to drop the gloves with Rogers Hometown Hockey for bringing in Nathan Lafayette pre-game to talk about the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals and showed multiple replays of him hitting the post. And, when they tweeted out the segment, they said they had him and Adam Graves on to “relive their 1994 Stanley Cup win.” I mean, come on, man.
ICYMI: @NHL alumni Adam Graves and Nathan Lafayette relive their 1994 Stanley Cup win. pic.twitter.com/G7OUYjj5LP
— Hometown Hockey (@hometownhockey_) November 26, 2017
A tap of the stick to Travis Green for some solid line-juggling with Brandon Sutter out of the lineup. Loui Eriksson, reunited with the Sedins, had one of his best games of the year, while Brendan Gaunce, Markus Granlund, and Jake Virtanen were one of the Canucks’ best lines and looked like a legit combo that could last a while.
Loui Eriksson gets a stick-tap for his overall dominant performance against the Rangers. He led all Canucks’ forwards in ice-time, created several quality chances with the Sedin, and opened the scoring with a wicked wristshot. He now has three goals and six points in his last five games.
Tap of the stick for both Sedins, who continue to prove they have a lot left in the tank. They were dominant on the cycle: shot attempts were 19-6 for the Canucks with them on the ice at 5-on-5, and that becomes 23-6 when you include all even-strength situations, such as the 3-on-3 overtime. They were fantastic.
Stick-tap to the Canucks’ penalty kill, who only allowed one shot on the Rangers’ two power plays. After giving up power play goals in two straight games, it was important to put up a clean sheet on the kill against a top-10 power play.
Virtanen gets a tap of the stick for a strong game and a great goal. He had a game-high 9 shot attempts and 5 shots on goal. He ripped a shot top corner after some strong work along the boards by Gaunce and Granlund to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead.
Alex Edler gets the gloves dropped for the Rangers’ first goal, as he was too deep and seemed to obstruct Jacob Markstrom’s ability to make the save. Markstrom seemed to miss the initial shot with Edler screening, allowing an easy tip-in by Jesper Fast in front.
I’m dropping the gloves with Markstrom, however, on the Rangers’ second goal. 19 seconds into the second period, Michael Grabner snapped a bad angle shot off the left wing and it went in off Markstrom’s glove. The shot was actually going wide.
The Canucks went back up by one less than a minute later: a tap of the stick to Sam Gagner, who scored his first goal in 9 games with a superb wrist shot past Henrik Lundqvist’s glove.
Have to drop the gloves for a moment with Eriksson, who may have had a great game, but got victimized on the Rangers’ third goal. He was back covering for Troy Stecher on defence and pivoted at the wrong time. Rick Nash blew past him and centred for Jimmy Vesey, whose move to the backhand was unstoppable for Markstrom.
Stick-tap to Brock Boeser and Sven Baertschi for being the only Canucks to score in the 7-round shootout. The duo had one of their weaker games on the season, getting soundly out-shot and failing to record a single shot on goal themselves, but they did come through in the shootout. Unfortunately, they were the only ones who did and Jimmy Vesey won the game for the Rangers in the seventh round with a perfect shot under the bar.
