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Bo Horvat scores his 7th, PP clicks in Vancouver Canucks comeback vs. Kings |
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Tuesday November 14 - Vancouver Canucks 3 - Los Angeles Kings 2
Well, that was fun!
The 2017-18 Vancouver Canucks continue to tease the idea that things might actually be different this year—this time with a strong performance by the power play on the way to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Here are your highlights:
After lackluster losses in Anaheim and San Jose—and a rumoured rookie dinner in L.A. on Sunday night—it was tough to muster much positivity heading into the game against the Kings—a defensively stingy team that has played the Canucks heavy over the years.
Those fears were justified early on, when Anders Nilsson surrendered a weak goal on the first shot he faced after his nearly three-week layoff.
Derek Dorsett immediately did his best to light a spark under his team by squaring off with big Andy Andreoff, but the Kings extended their lead to 2-0 at the tail end of a Brendan Gaunce tripping penalty, just 3:14 into the game.
It looked like it was going to be a long night as L.A. recorded the first seven shots of the game. Brandon Sutter finally got the first Canucks shots onto Jonathan Quick after 9:34 of game action but then Vancouver started rolling, eventually outshooting L.A. 11-10 by the end of the first period.
When Alec Martinez got whistled for tripping Daniel Sedin with 7:02 to play in the first, we got our first glimpse of Travis Green's new power-play setup. Apparently Monday's three-unit system at practice was nothing more than a decoy—Green and assistant coach Newell Brown rolled out two brand new four-forward units and got one shot from each the first time around—and a goal from each as the game went on.
The Kings went into Tuesday's game with the best penalty killing in the league, having given up just five goals in 17 games. On Tuesday, they went 1-for-3, foiled by a Bo Horvat conversion of a Brock Boeser shot in the second...
...then a Sven Baertschi game-winner early in the third.
I was biting my nails as the Canucks got outshot 15-5 in the third to hang on for the regulation win and earn the much-needed two points to stay in the mix in the Pacific Division. The win sets up an important four-pointer Thursday in Vancouver's first-ever regular-season game against the Vegas Golden Knights, who are now just one point ahead of the Canucks in the standings after an 8-2 shelling in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Horvat's goal is his seventh of the year—tying him with Dorsett for the team scoring lead.
If you missed it, over the weekend Ben Kuzma of The Province posted an excellent in-depth look at Horvat's home life with his girlfriend Holly Donaldson.
Not surprisingly, Kuzma's portrait shows Horvat as intense, determined and always striving to be better. Though he was a top-10 draft pick, Horvat's skating was suspect as he came out of junior and he was generally projected to max out as a third-line checking centre.
We know how his offense and his all-round game has improved year over year—from 25 points in his rookie season to 40, then 52 last year.
After signing the new six-year contract that carries a cap hit of $5.5 million per season, Horvat has taken another step forward this season. His seven goals and 14 points in 18 games have him right on pace for another 14-point jump, to 32 goals and 64 points for the year.
Just 22, Horvat's still on the rise—and a huge part of his continuous improvement seems to originate from his approach to the game and the work that he's willing to put in.
Part of that work is clearly happening in the weight room. Horvat has always been a truck, physically, but I just noticed that he's now listed at 223 pounds—that's seriously bulky for a 6'0" frame.
Looking back, Horvat was listed at 203 pounds on the 2015 Canucks training camp roster, when he was 20. Last year, he was listed at 206. This has been a big jump—and there's no sign that the extra mass has slowed him down on the ice.
Horvat is two years younger than Winnipeg Jets stud Mark Scheifele. The pair grew up less than two hours apart—Scheifele's from Kitchener, about 150 kms northeast of Bo's home town of Rodney, Ontario.
Horvat became a full-time NHLer at 19, while Scheifele didn't break through till he was 20. Looking at their comparable seasons, Horvat's a little ahead of Scheifele's impressive development curve:
Scheifele:
Age 20: 2013-14 - 63 GP, 13-21-34
Age 21: 2014-15 - 82 GP, 15-34-49
Age 22: 2015-16 - 71 GP, 29-32-61
Age 23: 2016-17 - 79 GP, 32-50-82
Age 24: 2017-18 - 17 GP, 10-11-21 - on pace for 48-53-101
Horvat:
Age 19: 2014-15 - 68 GP, 13-12-25
Age 20: 2015-16 - 82 GP, 16-24-40
Age 21: 2016-17 - 81 GP, 20-32-52
Age 22: 2017-18 - 18 GP, 7-7-14 - on pace for 32-32-64
I became a huge fan of Scheifele's after watching him work on Team Canada at the last two World Championships. Seeing his name among the league's top scorers comes as no surprise to me, but it is impressive to see he could end up with close to 50 goals and 100 points this season.
Like Horvat, Scheifele is a tireless worker who has stayed continually focused on improving all aspects of his game. He's mature and serious—and his commitment has brought impressive results.
If Scheifele's success marks the path where Horvat is headed, Canucks fans have a lot to look foward to.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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