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.
Brock Boeser deserves most of the stick-taps for this game for providing all the goalscoring the Canucks needed. He recorded his first career hattrick, scoring on three of his game-high seven shots on goal, and added an assist on the insurance goal. The Canucks got outplayed by the Penguins in this game, but Boeser made sure it didn’t matter.
His linemates deserve their fair share of stick-taps too: Bo Horvat had a 4-point night, while Sven Baertschi had three assists. The 99-B Line looked like a true first line in this game, and that includes ice time: Horvat played nearly 20 minutes, while Baertschi and Boeser were each near 19 minutes.
A tap of the stick for Jacob Markstrom as well. He made 38 saves on 39 shots and it seemed like every two minutes he was making a ridiculous game-saving stop. Boeser doesn’t get the chance to play hero without Markstrom shutting the door.
With that in mind, a stick-tap to Chris Tanev for clearing the puck off the goal line on the first shot that Jacob Markstrom faced. If that puck goes in, this is a very different game.
Tanev pulls it off the line#Canucks pic.twitter.com/IhR6m1tAMG
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) November 5, 2017
Have to give an ever-rare stick-tap to the opposing team, but Sidney Crosby deserves a tap of the stick for his ridiculous between-the-legs pass on the Penguins’ first goal.
First tap of the stick for Boeser on the night is for the first goal, which showed his remarkable poise. Boeser cut to the front of the net, hanging on to the puck when Kris Letang got a piece of it, then calmly cutting to the backhand instead of just shoveling the puck at the net.
Brock Boeser drags it around Matt Murray and tucks it in to tie the game at 1!#Canucks pic.twitter.com/pPYVfwy5n2
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) November 5, 2017
Dropping the gloves with the Canucks for missing the net so dang much. Late in the first period the Canucks kept shooting wide, if they got the shot off at all. Boeser set up Ben Hutton for a wide open point shot; he missed. Alex Burmistrov had a great chance in the slot; he missed. Markus Granlund made a nice play to catch a pass in mid-air and drop it to his stick; he fanned on the shot completely. Half of the Canucks shot attempts in this game were blocked or went wide.
Dropping the gloves with Travis Green for keeping Jake Virtanen and the Sedins on the bench for most of the game. Virtanen had just over six minutes of ice time, but was noticeable for all the right reasons in those extremely limited minutes, while the Sedins each played under nine minutes. It’s hard to argue with a win and the Sedin line did have one rough shift early on, but they were more effective than the Burmistrov line.
Back to the stick-taps for Boeser: he gets another one for finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play from Horvat and Baertschi to put the Canucks up 2-1. Give Horvat and Baertschi some bonus stick-taps for those slick passes.
Bo -> Bae -> Boeser -> back of the net#Canucks up 2-1 pic.twitter.com/UAPHipwcfZ
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) November 5, 2017
Stick-tap for Greg McKegg, not for his admittedly nifty tip-in goal, but for the name Greg McKegg.
One more stick-tap for Boeser for his elite finish to cap off the hattrick. Horvat gained the zone, pulled up, and found Boeser trailing the play in the high slot. He ripped the puck past Matt Murray to make the hats rain down.
One final stick-tap for the 99-B Line, and it goes to Horvat for his finish after Boeser and Baertschi won a puck battle on the end boards. It’s a goal that Murray would probably like to have back, but he can’t have it. It belongs to Horvat now.
I’m not sure whether to give Boeser another stick-tap or to drop the gloves with him for passing to Chris Tanev when he had an empty net. On the one hand, it’s an unselfish play; on the other hand, going from Boeser to Tanev is a slight step down in shot quality. Shoot the puck, Brock.
