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.
A tap of the stick to Alex Edler, who was on the ice for over half the game for the Canucks, eating up minutes like Pac Man ate up power pellets. Edler had 30:41 in ice time and effectively shut down the Ducks’ top line. He also played 3:27 of the four minutes the Canucks were short-handed and the Ducks managed just one shot on goal on the power play. Edler was a beast in this game.
Troy Stecher deserves a stick-tap as well, as he played just one second short of 26 minutes and was on the ice with Edler for the bulk of those tough minutes against the Ducks’ top line. It was an outstanding game for that pairing.
A tap of the stick to the Sedins, who continue to show that they still have more to give. The Sedins provided the bulk of the Canucks’ early pressure in this game and Daniel finished with a team-high five shots on goal, while their linemate, Sam Gagner, provided four more.
Speaking of, Sam Gagner gets a stick-tap, finishing off a Daniel Sedin rebound for the game’s opening goal. Sometimes there’s an art to being in the right place at the right time. Gagner was skating behind the net, then stopped up suddenly, losing his check, Ryan Kesler, in the process. When Daniel swung the puck on net, Gagner was wide open at the back door to put in the rebound.
I’m dropping the gloves with Wyatt Arndt, aka. @TheStanchion. I’m blaming him for the Ducks’ lone goal. A dump-in by Francois Beauchemin hit a stanchion behind the Canucks’ net and caromed to Andrew Cogliano in front. Unfortunately, Jacob Markstrom had gone behind the net to play the puck and couldn’t scramble back in time to prevent the easy goal.
A tap of the stick to Jacob Markstrom, who stopped every shot he actually faced. The only puck that got in the net came from that unlucky bounce off the glass. He finished with 23 saves and was sharp all night, staying in control and swallowing up rebounds.
Alex Biega gets a tap of the stick for scoring his first goal of the season and only the second of his career. When Darren Archibald missed the net with a shot attempt, the puck came around to Biega at the right point. His slap shot knuckled through the air and ducked just under the cross bar. He hadn’t scored a goal since his very first NHL game, back on February 16, 2015. Just like that goal, it held up as the game-winner.
A tap of the stick, actually, to both Biega and his defence partner, Ashton Sautner, who took the lesser competition they faced and ran roughshod over them. Shot attempts were 17-4 for the Canucks with Biega on the ice at 5-on-5, and 12-3 with Sautner.
Stick-tap to Brandon Sutter, who provided insurance with a pair of goals to go with his secondary assist on Biega’s goal. Sutter blocked a Ryan Kesler shot from the point, then burned past the former Canuck for a breakaway. His move to the backhand hit the post, but with Jonathan Gibson down and out and Kesler failing to follow Sutter, he had plenty of time to stop up and put the puck into the open net.
A stick-tap to the Canucks’ penalty kill for Sutter’s second goal. They were the ones who killed off his late-game penalty, allowing just one shot on goal, so that when he came out of the penalty box with the puck in the neutral zone, he could seal the game for the Canucks with the empty net goal.
