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.
I have to drop the gloves with myself, which sounds like a hockey version of an existential crisis. I’ve been doing livestreamed game day previews on Facebook this season. For this game, I honestly thought that a well-rested Capitals team facing a road-trip-tired Canucks team would lead to an ugly result for the Canucks. I could not have been more wrong.
Lots of sticks to tap in this one, as the Canucks utterly dominated the Capitals. Let’s give the first stick-tap to the coaching staff, who apparently prepared the Canucks very well to start this game, as they out-shot the Capitals 15-4 in the first period.
Stick-tap to Thomas Vanek for opening the scoring with some nice hand-eye coordination, batting in a puck out of mid-air after Braden Holtby tried to snag it with his glove but whiffed. Vanek just keeps quietly chipping in points.
Brock Boeser gets stick-taps for a three-assist game, setting a new career-high in points in a game. That puts him above a point-per-game on the season and vaults him into a tie for third place in the rookie scoring race.
Tap of the stick for Sven Baertschi for his own three-point night, potting two goals and an assist. His assist was his nicest play, passing a puck between his own legs to Bo Horvat.
with the ridiculous pass to Horvat to put #Canucks up 2-0 pic.twitter.com/vpSMoPccXf
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) October 27, 2017
Derek Dorsett gets a tap of the stick for keeping his surprisingly hot start going with a goal and an assist. He scored on a backhanded wraparound that Holtby reacted to late, leaving just enough gap for the puck to squeeze through.
Stick-tap to the Roxy.
A tap of the stick to ice’s lack of friction for helping out with Baertschi’s first goal. Derrick Pouliot’s shot hit Baertschi and slid ever so slowly across the goal line. Could have used some sweeping.
An unheralded stick-tap to Ben Hutton, who played a key role on three Canucks goals and yet somehow didn’t get a single point. He had three big keep-ins on the power play prior to Horvat’s goal, a well-placed dump-in that led to Dorsett’s assist on Granlund’s goal, and took the initial shot that led to Baertschi’s second goal. That’s all while playing over ten minutes against Evgeny Kuznetsov and 9:40 against Alex Ovechkin and posting a positive shot differential against them.
Dropping the gloves with Tom Wilson, who is a joke. He went to throw a big hit on Erik Gudbranson and just bounced off him. He then chased Gudbranson all over the ice, looking to start a fight, but earning a penalty instead. Finally, he literally jumped Gudbranson after the whistle, forcing a fight. It was incredibly stupid and may have resulted in a right hand injury for Gudbranson, who wiped the floor with Wilson in the fight.
Finally, a tap of the stick for Anders Nilsson, for making 14 saves in the third period to close out the win as the Capitals pushed hard for a comeback. It was a great first home start for Nilsson, who is making goaltending decisions a lot easier for Travis Green.
