|
Vancouver Canucks Game Review: First Loss; Bo Horvat Assigned to AHL Utica |
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday October 18: Tampa Bay Lightning 4 - Vancouver Canucks 2
For a hot minute last night, the Vancouver Canucks had the only perfect record in the NHL after the New York Islanders fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The distinction didn't last long, though. The Canucks fell behind just 53 seconds into their game against Tampa Bay thanks to a Steven Stamkos breakaway and never recovered. The Lightning captain tallied two goals and an assist and was named first star as the visitors handed Vancouver its first loss of the season.
Here are your highlights:
If you're looking for positives, it could be argued that, other than game-breaker Stamkos, the Canucks and Lightning matched up pretty evenly. Vancouver outshot Tampa Bay 32-24 overall, including 12-6 when trying to mount a third-period comeback. Henrik Sedin got owned by Stamkos on both his goals, but he did have his best game of the young season in the face-off circle, winning 60 percent of his draws.
The third defensive pairing of Luca Sbisa and Yannick Weber also handled themselves pretty well, going plus-one in about 14 minutes of ice time. The trouble on the blueline came from the usually-reliable pair of Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa, who were both minus-three.
That number comes from their matchup, often against the Lightning's top line, and was also probably affected by the facial injury that Hamhuis suffered on Friday night in Edmonton. Playing with a full face shield, seeing the puck may have been an issue. In his postgame comments, Willie Desjardins also suggested that Hamhuis probably didn't get much sleep on Friday night due to his discomfort, and gave him credit for bringing all that he had to give.
Though the Lightning ultimtely took 16 penalty minutes to Vancouver's 14 and the teams traded second-period power-play goals, discipline was an issue. Ryan Callahan's winning goal came with the man advantage, just two seconds after the Canucks had finished killing a five-on-three with two key penalty-killers, Alex Burrows and Kevin Bieksa, in the box.
It wasn't a great debut between the pipes for Eddie Lack. Perfect in preseason, his first goal against for 2014-15 came on the first shot he faced—but it was a Stamkos breakaway. He recovered to stop 20 of 24 shots. I expect we'll see Lack back in action during the Canucks' back-to-back road games against St. Louis and Colorado later this week.
Bo Horvat Send to Utica For Conditioning Assignment
Rather than throwing rookie Bo Horvat straight into the NHL lineup, the Canucks have elected to send him down to Utica to get back into game shape before he makes his debut.
Horvat has missed just over two weeks of action after injuring his shoulder in a preseason game against Edmonton on October 2. He follows in the footsteps of star Lightning prospect Jonathan Drouin, who is on the same path as he recovers from a hand injury.
In many ways, this is a good opportunity for Bo. At 19, he'd normally be ineligible for the AHL, but he can be sent down for up to two weeks as part of the rehab program from his injury.
He'll get some practices and games at the minor-pro level before he comes back to the Canucks to make his case to become part of the team this year.
After a 3-0 road win against the San Antonio Rampage on Friday, where Jacob Markstrom picked up the shutout, the Comets suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday as they fell 1-0 to the Calder Cup champion Texas Stars. That brings their overall record to 2-1-1, good for third place in the AHL's Western Conference.
Horvat should get a chance to see action when the Comets host Adirondack on Wednesday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»