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Flat, nonchalant, disinterested, ordinary… are all words that could describe most of the Vancouver Canucks play last night.
But one man stood tall and the team got the bounces to earn a point they had no business getting.
This game must have been like old times in Florida for Luongo because that’s pretty much the effort that the rest of the team played with.
Kassian opened the scoring by banging home a loose puck. You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good and Kassian was both as the puck found him for his fourth of the season. Four goals in six game isn’t too shabby for a guy the hatters were calling a fourth-liners at best. Predicting a quiet day on the boards today.
In the second period, Burrows kept the good luck going when Burrows made Quick look like a beer league all-star when he looked right, took the puck left and beat Quick to the post. This is a goal that Quick needs to stop if the Kings have any hope of turning this rough start around— 2-0 Vancouver.
Then it got bad… real bad.
Before the end of the period Jeff Carter would get Los Angeles’s first power-play marker of the season. On the goal, Garrison was beat to the puck by Gagne and then out worked will he centered the puck to Carter, who wasn’t being held in check by Lapierre and we have a game. Another point-blank chance and Luongo couldn’t bail Vancouver out.
As the game continue it was almost as if the Canucks were on life support. They had no real jump, no battle, no physical play, and real emotion. After Vancouver couldn’t close it out on the power-play, the Kings tied it with less than a minute to go. Vancouver couldn’t get the puck out of their own end for most of the last two-minutes and it was a goal that you could just see was coming.
This is the type of play that is holding Alex Edler back from being considered in that upper echelon of defenceman. First he couldn’t box his guy out so Luongo could see the play. And second, there was zero battle to make things difficult on the player once they got in front. Yes Edler can score. Yes Edler has upside. And yes Edler has looked lost a lot of the time in his own end this season.
All in all, this team looked to be running on fumes last night and they were lucky to get a point. After six games it is obvious who the leader of the Canucks is and it is unfortunate that he is serving double-doubles. Ryan, how’s the shoulder, the Canucks need you bud.
Canucks 3 Stars
1- Luongo- only reason Vancouver was in the game
2- Ballard- played real good again
3- Kassian- only player who had any gas all game
That’s a wrap.
Ian
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