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Vancouver Canucks facing first bumpy patch under new coach Travis Green |
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Is the honeymoon over?
Two tough outings in California have quickly shattered the sense of optimism that has surrounded the Vancouver Canucks through the early part of this season.
The 5-0 final score in San Jose on Saturday is the biggest margin of defeat of the season. In some ways, it looks worse than it was—the Canucks outshot the stingy Sharks 41-31 and were in the game until the dying minutes, when the Sharks scored the first of two empty-net goals with 1:41 to play. But the Canucks were shut out by a backup goaltender, and the game was lost at the 48-second mark of the first period, when a puck bounced off Tomas Hertl's leg on a rebound that counted as the Sharks' second shot of the game.
Once again, the Canucks were undone by their power play, which didn't just fail to score for the fifth time in six games, it also got dinged for three shorthanded goals against thanks to all the ugliness in the last minute of the game.
The Canucks *are* drawing penalties—their 71 opportunities through 17 games are third-highest in the league behind Chicago and Pittsburgh, who have both played more games. So their 10 power-play goals scored is actually middle-of-the-pack-ish—tied with San Jose and Detroit for 19th and twice as many as the Columbus Blue Jackets, who were power-play beasts last year but have scored just five times with the man advantage this season. Maybe they do miss Sam Gagner?
But once you factor in those five shorties, the Canucks' net gain on the power play is just five goals through a little more than 20 percent of the season. That differential is only better than the Buffalo Sabres (+2), the Blue Jackets (+3) and the New York Islanders (+4), who lead the league with seven shorthanded goals against.
Not surprisingly, Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov lead the league with 14 and 12 power-play points, respectively. The Canucks' top scorer Brock Boeser, has 14 points in total and leads the Canucks with six power-play points.
In part because of the three games he missed, Boeser actually ranks ninth on the Canucks in power-play ice time. Say what you want about how the units are being used differently, but Daniel and Henrik have still logged more minutes with the man advantage than any other Vancouver players. For all that ice time, Daniel has managed just five shots on goal in 17 games. He has one power-play goal and two assists. Henrik has just one shot on goal and is pointless with the man advantage.
It's a fine line with the twins. They deserve respect for everything they've accomplished in their careers and they've already seen their 5-on-5 ice time hacked back. Is it time to consider splitting them up on the power play, or is their chemistry still their best asset?
The Canucks will need to turn things around in a hurry if they hope to stay within sniffing distance of a playoff spot.
Two losses was all it took to get bounced to the wrong side of the playoff cut line—still tied with wild-card teams Calgary and Dallas with 18 points, but with one more game played. After Saturday's loss, the Canucks are also now in the red with three more goals allowed than what they've scored—and with one goal in their last two games, they've fallen to 27th in scoring, averaging 2.53 goals per game.
Defensively, though, they're still pretty solid. Even after giving up nine goals in their last two games, they're still ranked sixth overall at 2.65 goals against per game. If I was trying to help boost the boys' confidence at practice today, that's where I'd start. Considering that they've already suffered key injuries to defensemen and that Jacob Markstrom has been carrying an extra-heavy workload, that number could even get better.
Yes, it's worrisome that the team is now 0-2 without Chris Tanev, whose injury absences always seem to create big holes. But one silver lining from Saturday's game was the strong play of the new Alex Edler-Derrick Pouliot pairing.
As a rule, coaching changes yield strong early results but can sour over time. I like Travis Green's approach to the team so far, but I keep thinking about how Torts and Willie also got good early results. So let's compare apples to apples:
Tortorella (2013-14): 10-5-2 through 17 games, 22 points, sixth overall, 47 GF, 42 GA, 10.9 PP%, 87.9 PK%
Peak moment: December 29, 2013 (23-11-6); Finished season with 83 points, 25th overall
Desjardins (2014-15): 12-5-0 through 17 games, 24 points, first overall, 51 GF, 47 GA, 19.0 PP%, 86.4 PK%
Peak moment: December 4, 2014 (18-7-1); Finished season with 101 points, eighth overall
Looking at these numbers, I'm reminded that the Canucks were a long way from rebuild mode back then—especially in the Torts year, when he rode the Sedins and Ryan Kesler into the ground and Roberto Luongo was still in net for the first five months of the season.
Travis Green's record of 8-7-2 through 17 games suddenly looks rather humble but roster-wise, he hasn't been dealt the same hand.
The Western Conference standings remain super tight, with just five points separating the third-place Vegas Golden Knights from the 13th place Minnesota Wild. Even a two or three-game streak can move a team significantly right now.
The Canucks have three more four-pointers this week—against the top three teams in the conference. They'll need to stop their slide if they hope to stay in the mix in the middle of the standings.
A couple of more positive notes to wrap up today...
Catch goaltending prospect Michael DiPietro with Team OHL against the Russian Selects at 4 p.m. on Sportsnet Pacific.
And tune into the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony on TSN2 at 5 p.m. B.C. natives Paul Kariya and Mark Recchi will be honoured along with the always-entertaining Teemu Selanne plus Dave Andreychuk, Danielle Goyette, Clare Drake and Jeremy Jacobs. I've really come to enjoy this event over the last few years, it's worth a watch.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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