Friday September 30 – Calgary Flames 2 – Vancouver Canucks 1
Guillaume Brisebois was the lone goal-scorer as the Vancouver Canucks fell to the Calgary Flames by a score of 2-1 on Friday night at the Saddledome. Here are your highlights:
Both Calgary goals came against goaltender Richard Bachman and were scored on the power play by newcomers—from Troy Brouwer in the first period, then Matthew Tkachuk off a rebound late in the second.
Two different Canucks penalty-killing units got burned. Brouwer’s goal came against Brendan Gaunce and Alex Burrows up front plus a blue line of Chris Tanev and Ben Hutton, while Tkachuk’s was against Joe Labate and Tuomo Ruutu, along with Tanev and Nikita Tryamkin.
The big forward Labate had an eventful night, considering he logged only 8:18 of ice time, with two shots on goal and one hit. The hit was a late one along the boards that sent Tkachuk to the dressing room for a short time early in the second period. Since Labate went after one of the Flames’ brightest prospects, he was required to answer the bell in a brief fight with Micheal Ferland.
Without Alex Edler and Troy Stecher, the Vancouver power play struggled. Puck possession was decent, but the Canucks went 0-for-5 with the man advantage. For the second game, Anton Rodin looked dynamic offensively – he assisted on Brisebois’ goal, which came just after the end of a second-period power play, along with Markus Granlund. The D pairing of Philip Larsen and Chris Tanev struggled to get dangerous shots on net with the man advantage. Unsurprisingly, Tanev remains a dedicated shot blocker and did move around well on the left side during the power play, but he remains reluctant to shoot himself—no sign yet of dividends from his offseason work with the shooting coach.
On Friday, the Canucks’ bubble players did little to advance their causes. Players like Tuomo Ruutu, Borna Rendulic and Michael Chaput failed to create any “wow” moments that will help to keep them around for the second week of training camp.
Jack Skille is probably the front-runner from that group for the moment. He had two shots on goal and took on Garnet Hathaway in a third-period fight after Hathaway put a hit on Brendan Gaunce.
In his 8:13 of ice time, Alex Grenier had one shot on goal and took a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for poking at a puck that had been frozen by Brian Elliott. Today, he was placed on waivers with the intention of being sent to Utica. Now 25, Grenier's development seems to have stalled. If he goes unclaimed, he'll be starting his fourth season with the Comets.
As for the ex-Canucks now with the Calgary Flames, Hunter Shinkaruk was largely invisible with two shots on goal in 14:13 of ice time. Shinkaruk is still waiver exempt this season—I didn't see anything last night that would lead me to believe that he'll start the season on the big club.
Chris Higgins was a bit more noticeable in 13:03 of ice time, 3:09 of which was on the Flames' successful penalty kill. Maybe his pre-existing relationship with Glen Gulutzan will help him earn a job as a veteran utility forward, but I would think that the odds are stacked against him.
Speaking of bubble players, the Canucks' Emerson Etem was originally scheduled to play on Friday, but was a late scratch for a very good reason.
This morning my amazing wife birthed the most beautiful and healthy baby boy. Laulo Cortez Etem 6lbs 8oz! Thank you all for the well wishes
As much as Brendan Gaunce seems to have a lot of positive momentum to make the team this year, I'm not yet convinced that'll happen at the expense of Etem or Markus Granlund. The pair, along with Derek Dorsett, had a good defensive game against Edmonton on Wednesday. That looks to me like the fourth line that Willie will want to use, although there are whispers that Desjardins likes the idea of having the flexibility of using both Gaunce and Granlund at centre or wing, whereas Etem works strictly as a winger.
This is one of the puzzles of camp that has yet to be sorted and will be something to watch in the days to come.
We also caught a bit of the dark side of Erik Gudbranson on Friday night. He took two of the Canucks' nine minor penalties, both on mean-nothing plays. That killed any offensive momentum that the Canucks might have been able to generate.
Good moments? Thatcher Demko was perfect in the third period, stopping 11 shots. Nikita Tryamkin got surly in the late stages with Troy Brouwer. And Anton Rodin has some flash in his game—considering all our concerns about his recovery from a serious injury, he has looked good in both his games so far and could have a legitimate shot at starting the season in the top six.
Next up—the San Jose Sharks, at Rogers Arena on Sunday, for a 5 p.m. start. I will try to get a blog up on Sunday before gametime!
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