Tuesday October 21 - Dallas Stars 6 - Vancouver Canucks 3
It's not like we didn't think this could happen. The Vancouver Canucks' unbeaten streak is quickly becoming a distant memory after the team lost its second straight game on Tuesday night in Dallas.
Such as they are, here are your highlights:
I'm most concerned that this game unfolded so similarly to the Canucks' games against Dallas last season. Pretty good effort, lots of shots, but Kari Lehtonen was good when he needed to be and Vancouver was out of it early.
Ryan Miller got the hook in his first loss of the season after giving up five goals on 13 shots in just over one period of play. He didn't look good, but was also dealing with plenty of bad luck.
Chris Tanev crashed into him and took him out of the play on the third goal while Tyler Seguin's shot deflected into the net off his goal-stick for Dallas' fourth tally of the night. As Eddie Lack was getting ready to enter the game, Cody Eakin put the game out of reach with a fifth goal just 29 seconds later, before Lack could even get onto the ice.
Not sure about that coaching decision, Willie. Wouldn't it have made more sense to take a moment there to slow down the game and get Miller out of the line of fire?
With five even-strength goals by the Stars, there's plenty of blame to go around in plus-minus. Kevin Bieksa was the worst of the bunch at a minus-four, but he also logged more ice time than any other Canucks player, at 24:59.
Remarkably, Yannick Weber was a plus-two on the night, while Luca Sbisa was a plus-one. Sbisa started the night with Bieksa, while Weber was playing with Hamhuis, but Willie shuffled the defense combinations once the game was out of reach, putting Hamhuis and Bieksa back together and pairing the two Swiss nationals.
I think this is the better way to go. Sbisa and Weber have played together in the past and seem to have a degree of comfort that lets them play their best.
How much do the Canucks miss Ryan Stanton? They're now 0-2 since he was injured last Friday. Details remain sketchy, but here's what we know so far, from
Ben Kuzma at
The Province:
Ryan Stanton was injured blocking a first-period shot Friday in Edmonton and everybody I’ve talked to believes the defenceman suffered a knee or groin injury on the play.
“He was banged up a little going into it (Friday) and we thought he could get through it and he didn’t quite get through,” said Desjardins. “There’s no sense pushing him, we’ve got lots of hockey coming.”
It doesn't sound like he'll be out for too long, but he's also not going to ride to the rescue on this road trip.
I caught part of Willie Desjardins' interview on TSN1040 this morning with Sekeres and Price.
He said he hated the outcome but didn't hate the effort last night. Thought the first period was pretty evenly played, despite the score, but warned that Vancouver's big shot total was misleading, since most of those shots came after the Stars took their foot off the gas with the big lead.
When asked about the second line, he said he liked their game last week against Edmonton. He plans to keep them together for at least a couple more games, though he says he could mix things up during games.
That being said, it's starting to sound like we have a Bottom Nine instead of a Bottom Six.
He admitted that the Sedin line has separated itself from the rest of the forwards and says that he's not as worried about naming a second, third and fourth line as he is about getting contributions—and scoring—from everybody.
The Canucks got clobbered in the face-off circle again on Tuesday, winning just 43 percent of their draws. They're now 29th in the NHL—ahead only of Buffalo at 45.7 percent through five games.
Desjardins says there's not much more he can do, in terms of his options at center. "We've gone through all the guys. The best faceoff guys we have are going now."
He does suggest that about 30 percent of faceoffs end up as scrambled draws, where the puck sits in the circle waiting for a winger or defenseman to retrieve it. Willie thinks the Canucks can gain possession more frequently if the team attacks those lose pucks.
He pooh-poohs the idea that the faceoff woes have something to do with the change in the hash marks. "It's the same for both teams."
This, I think, is where we're most glaringly noticing the absence of Ryan Kesler.
Willie agreed that Ryan Miller would probably like to get the start against St. Louis on Thursday to make a statement after his rough tenure in a Blues uniform last week, but Desjardins wouldn't commit to a plan for tomorrow night. Eddie Lack went 3-0 against St. Louis last year, giving up just three goals, so a case could be made that he'd be the better choice as starter.
All told—a disappointing but not unexpected result in Dallas. The big question remains unanswered: does this team have the talent to win against playoff-caliber competition?
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