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Vancouver Canucks Game Review: One That Got Away |
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Thursday November 14 San Jose Sharks 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1 (OT)
Here are your highlights from Vancouver's Thursday night homecoming to Rogers Arena:
I thought we'd finally see Mount Torts erupt after the Canucks blew a lead against a division rival, then fell in overtime. Instead, we got two and a half minutes of one-word answers and "We played a really good hockey game." See for yourself:
Last time I checked, hockey games are 60 minutes long—and are rarely won with just one goal. Those two aspects of the Canucks' game on Thursday were very bad.
The first period was a yawn, with no flow at all. Rather than being pumped up to play an important rival, both teams looked bored and tentative. Going through a bit of a rough patch, the Sharks weren't skating with their usual swagger.
By the second, the Canucks had gotten their legs under them. They controlled the play in the period, firing 20 shots at Antti Niemi and being rewarded with a power play goal (!) by Kevin Bieksa to take the lead at 13:40. From there, the pressure stayed on. Vancouver was clearly the better team at the end of 40 minutes.
But rather than bring out the new, aggressive, John Tortorella Canucks in the third period, we got the old sit-on-the-lead and lose-your-focus Canucks. Vancouver got four of its seven third-period shots in the first three minutes of the frame, then the chances started to come for the Sharks.
It's fine to say that Thomas Hertl's tying goal with the goalie pulled was undefendable after Dan Boyle whiffed on his shot, but the Sharks had spent much of the period sniffing around while Roberto Luongo defended his shutout.
What happened to the puck possession strategy, keeping the play at the other end of the ice? Why didn't Tortorella preach any of those mantras after the game?
And Henrik Sedin, what were you thinking when you took that penalty in overtime? Yeah, Jason Demers had a scoring chance, but it's Jason Demers! He has one goal in the last two seasons. No matter how good the Canucks' penalty-killing has been, four-on-three is a different animal and the risk is not worth it—as Dan Boyle quickly demonstrated.
Losing a game on a video review has to be one of the most depressing finishes I've ever witnessed. I initially thought Boyle had hit the post, but the tape clearly showed otherwise.
Maybe that's part of the reason this loss felt like such a kick in the teeth but for me, there were three big issues in play on Thursday:
1) The Canucks have scored just one goal in every one of their six previous regulation losses. It seemed inevitable that a single wouldn't hold up against the high-scoring Sharks.
2) The team lost focus in the third period and played into the Sharks' hands. The Sharks were able to agitate Brad Richardson and Kevin Bieksa into dropping the gloves and Vancouver stopped playing its puck-possession game. How is it a "good game" when the Canucks didn't get a single shot after the midway mark of the third period—including overtime? The team's 35th and final shot of the game came from Alex Burrows with 11:53 remaining in the third.
3) The impact of the blown lead in the standings is massive. If the Canucks had hung on to win, they'd have been at 26 points, still one up on the Kings, with the Sharks at 27. Instead, San Jose opens up a four point lead and L.A. leapfrogs into fourth place in the Pacific thanks to their games in hand.
It also would have been nice if the Canucks could have closed out their season series even with the Sharks—a small measure of revenge for last year's playoff defeat. Instead, they got owned again, in a finish that brought back some unwelcome memories of the playoffs' Game 2.
The schedule doesn't get any easier from here. The Canucks' next game is on Sunday against Dallas. The Stars are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and blew out the Flames 7-3 on Thursday.
Quick Hits:
- Canucks prospect Hunter Shinkaruk was at Rogers Arena to watch the game on Thursday. His Medicine Hat Tigers are in town to play the Vancouver Giants on Friday night. He recently returned to the lineup after missing five games with a hip injury and is 5-8-13 in 11 games played this season.
- Fans at the arena gave Gordie Howe a long and well-deserved standing ovation when he was introduced from a suite midway through the game.
- The third line showed some early promise but disappeared as the game went on. David Booth finished with two shots, a missed shot and a penalty in 12 minutes of ice time. 'Nuff said.
- The fire sale has begun in Florida, with Kris Versteeg's trade back to the Chicago Blackhawks. I expect Versteeg will find his game again now that he's reunited with his old buddies. The interesting part of this deal is the Panthers' ability to retain half of Versteeg's remaining salary—and cap hit, apparently. I wasn't aware that was allowed under the CBA. Do the Canucks' chances of moving Booth improve if they were willing to swing a similar deal? Even $2 million in cap relief could help with player acquisition...
- Expect more deals to come from the Panthers, who will be in town to play the Canucks next Tuesday. Goc-watch is on—but is a guy who has never scored more than 30 points really the offensive catalyst that Vancouver needs?
The Canucks are taking their third day off this week on Friday, then will practice on Saturday ahead of Sunday's 5:00 game against the Stars.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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