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.
The biggest stick-tap of the night goes to Brendan Gaunce, who nearly had a hat trick in this game. Seriously! He scored two goals, intentionally, with his stick and everything. The puck went where he wanted it to go and beat an actual goaltender. Twice! And then he had a shot at an empty net blocked and just missed the empty net from his own end of the ice.
Dropping the gloves with Derrick Pouliot on the Blackhawks’ opening goal. He drew back into the lineup after several games of being a semi-healthy scratch — he had a hand injury that was hampering him — and he allowed Nick Schmaltz to sneak in behind him when he got caught cheating towards the puck-carrier, Brandon Saad, in the middle. Schmaltz had plenty of room to cut to the net and tuck the puck five-hole on Jacob Markstrom.
Gloves dropped with Erik Gudbranson as well. Pouliot and Gudbranson were the Canucks’ worst pairing, losing the puck possession battle despite starting primarily in the offensive zone, while facing primarily the third and fourth lines of the Blackhawks.
A tap of the stick to Troy Stecher, who set up Gaunce for his first goal with a nice bank pass. Gaunce skated in and sent a quick snap shot through the five-hole. Stecher then picked up his second assist of the night on Bo Horvat’s 2-1 goal.
Proof that Gaunce scored an actual goal involving an actual shot that didn't involve a broken stick pic.twitter.com/DJBiA7jUUn
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) February 2, 2018
Bo Horvat gets a stick-tap on the goal, but Brock Boeser deserves a stick-tap too. Boeser was held off the scoresheet and had just one shot on goal, but he still found a way to contribute, winning a puck battle to move the puck to the point. Alex Edler moved it to Stecher, whose shot was tipped neatly between Anton Forsberg’s legs by Horvat.
Troy From Richmond hooking up with Bo Horvat, pulling the ol' Richmond Night Market moves on Chicago pic.twitter.com/rqhIwHsmva
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) February 2, 2018
Michael Del Zotto gets a stick-tap for one of his best games as a Canuck. He may not have picked up any points, but he was active offensively. He had a game-high seven shot attempts, while playing big minutes against the Jonathan Toews line. He led the Canucks in ice time with 23:18.
Stick-tap to Ben Hutton, who took his healthy scratch with a huge smile and thumbs up for the camera, as he helped take calls for the Canucks for Kids Fund telethon with the other scratches during one intermission.
Ben Hutton: the happiest health scratch in the league!#Canucks pic.twitter.com/4Caf18tLtj
— PUCKS ON NET (@Pucksonnetca) February 2, 2018
Stick-tap to Daniel Sedin, who had a big impact despite playing a team-low 11:05 in ice time. When Jake Virtanen wheeled and threw a puck towards the net, Daniel tipped it down under Forsberg’s left pad for what would stand as the game-winning goal.
Boeser gets the gloves dropped on the Blackhawks’ second goal. He rushed a clearing attempt in the defensive zone, attempting to throw the puck up the boards instead of making a more well-considered play. The puck was cut off and Boeser attempted to rectify his error with an aggressive play on Toews, but that just left Alex Debrincat open to rip the shot top corner on Markstrom’s glove side.
Markstrom gets a tap of the stick. The Canucks did well to keep most shots to the outside and limit scoring chances, but Markstrom still needed to make a few big stops. His best save actually came on Debrincat a moment before he scored, flashing out the right pad on a shot from the slot.
Seriously, one more stick-tap for Brendan Gaunce. His second goal was great, as he got his stick on top of Brent Seabrook’s to deflect in Loui Eriksson’s centring pass. Not only did he score two goals, but he and his linemates were hard-matched against the Patrick Kane line and not only held them off the scoresheet, but out-scored them and won the possession battle to boot.
Gaunce with his 2nd goal of the game, gotta lock that guy up long term now before he gets too expensive pic.twitter.com/fOqkOM5FaA
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) February 2, 2018
Finally, a stick-tap to the Canucks for Kids Fund, whose annual telethon is still running until midnight. Go and donate!
