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.
Stick-tap to Alexander Burmistrov, who stepped into the lineup for the injured Bo Horvat after playing just two games since November 11th. He was solid, playing 3:45 on the penalty kill, holding his own on faceoffs, and playing an excellent puck possession game: the Flyers managed just one shot on goal when he was on the ice at even-strength.
Overall, Sam Gagner had a very good game, including going 9-for-10 on faceoffs, but I’m still dropping the gloves with Gagner for reaching his stick across the shooting lane while killing a penalty, so the shot hit his blade and deflected past Jacob Markstrom.
Dropping the gloves with Travis Green for putting Sam Gagner on the penalty kill. I mean, I know the Canucks need someone to take faceoffs, but Gagner just doesn’t have the defensive instincts to kill penalties. Green agreed: those 12 seconds he spent on the kill leading up to the goal were the only 12 seconds he played shorthanded.
Loui Eriksson gets the gloves dropped on the Flyers’ 2-0 goal, as he got caught puck-watching and lost his goal-side position on Michael Raffl. He could only watch as Raffl tipped Jakub Voracek’s pass by Markstrom.
I’ll drop the gloves with the Canucks’ discipline, as they seemed to take penalties at exactly the wrong time in this one, killing their momentum every time it looked like things were starting to go their way.
A tap of the stick for Brock Boeser, who continues to find ways to put up points. He scored the Canucks’ only goal, cleaning up after Sven Baertschi couldn’t score on a rebound created by Michael Del Zotto. Boeser finished with a game-high seven shots on goal, proving that he can perform even without Horvat centring him.
Brock Boeser scores his 14th of the season - the #Canucks are now down 3-1 pic.twitter.com/IwXLbNCzqQ
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) December 8, 2017
While he made a great play leading up to Boeser’s goal, I have to drop the gloves with Baertschi for missing a tap-in created by Ben Hutton when the Canucks’ pulled Markstrom for the extra attacker. He had a good game overall, but his inability to finish in this game hurt.
I have to drop the gloves with Alex Edler, who has been playing very well of late, but struggled in this game. He took three minor penalties, but still managed to be on the ice for both of the Flyers’ power play goals.
The Sedins get a tap of the stick each, as they created some excellent chances in this game, but just couldn’t get the puck to bounce their way when the shot finally came. Whether it was with Thomas Vanek or Loui Eriksson on their line, they looked consistently dangerous.
