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 Rogers Arena DJ Jay Swing for including Gnarls Barkley’s “Boogie Monster” in his Halloween-themed pre-game mix. Love that song.
Dropping the gloves with the Canucks first power play, which was as ugly as sin, including two bad giveaways in the defensive zone. Bo Horvat had an ugly one, a weak pass through the middle that Tyler Pitlick picked off for two shorthanded shots on goal.
Stick-taps to Tyler Pitlick for having the name Tyler Pitlick.
The first of many stick-taps for Jacob Markstrom, for being incredible. His best sequence may have come midway through the first period on the penalty kill. He came way out of his crease to stop Tyler Seguin, then recovered to stop Jamie Benn at the backdoor, swallowing it up so there was no rebound.
I’m dropping the gloves with Thomas Vanek for his brutal giveaway on the Canucks’ third power play. After plenty of struggles gaining the zone, Vanek got the puck inside the Stars’ blue line, then blindly passed it back to the point when no one was there, giving up a breakaway to Gemel Smith. Vanek then took a hooking penalty trying to chase Smith down.
Another couple gloves dropped with Vanek. Shortly after getting out of the box in the second, he took another bad penalty, getting his stick between the legs of Jamie Oleksiak, can-openering him to the ice. The Stars opened the scoring on the subsequent power play, as Tyler Seguin ripped a cross-ice pass into the top corner against the grain. Markstrom had no chance.
I’ve got to give a stick-tap to the guy in the absolutely perfect Luigi costume four rows up from the glass. Another tap of the stick to the guy in the penguin costume with the sign “Fin ate my parents.” Big hit with the fans, that one.
Best picture I could get from this far up, but there's a pretty fantastic Luigi at tonight's #Canucks game. pic.twitter.com/bMwWgSmq2h
— Pass it to BOO-lis (@passittobulis) October 31, 2017
Dropping the gloves with regression, for hitting Derek Dorsett from behind. Markus Granlund set up the Canucks’ leading goalscorer with a golden opportunity after a great forecheck and Dorsett fired it directly into Ben Bishop’s crest.
Big stick-tap to Markstrom for making his best save on what wasn’t even a shot: he kick-saved an Alexander Radulov pass that would have set up a wide open net. It was incredible, 100% saved a goal, and he even recovered to make another kick save on a subsequent slap shot.
Those are the sorts of saves that gets a crowd to chant your name Mr. Markstrom pic.twitter.com/mQwH8b5no4
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) October 31, 2017
Even more stick-taps for Markstrom — just give him all the stick-taps — for leaving his net on a shorthanded breakaway chance for the Stars to intercept the puck and prevent a scoring chance. The bold maneuver led to the Canucks’ game-tying goal. It was the best sequence of the night.
Markstrom prevents a break one way - #Canucks go back up and score
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) October 31, 2017
Game tied at 1 in the 3rd pic.twitter.com/yHSIibVcVu
Tap of the stick to Sam Gagner for scoring his first goal as a Canuck. He charged hard to the net and poked in a Thomas Vanek rebound with one hand on his stick. Gagner owned his promotion to the Horvat line, firing a game-high six shots on goal and adding a post shortly after scoring the lone Canucks goal.
A tap of the stick to Alex Biega. I’ve been hard on the Bulldog, but he was one of the best Canucks on the ice. He jumped up in the rush and occasionally even on the forecheck, but still played a resolute and physical defensive game. He and Pouliot led the Canucks defence in corsi percentage, as the Canucks out-attempted the Stars 14-3 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. His big hit on a forechecking Pitlick in the final minutes got a huge crowd-pop from a hyped-up Rogers Arena.
Dropping the gloves with the goal post that prevented Bo Horvat from scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. Instead, Alex Radulov handed Markstrom an undeserved loss. It’s likely the only time a goaltender has hated a goalpost.
