Saturday March 30 - Vancouver Canucks 3 - Dallas Stars 2 (S/O)
The Quinn Hughes era is off to a good start. For the second-straight game, the Canucks pulled off a shootout win as they downed the Dallas Stars on Saturday night at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
The Canucks got off on the right foot against Dallas, taking an early lead off first-period goals from Tim Schaller and Sven Baertschi. That held up until the third period. The Stars upped their intensity, outshooting Vancouver 13-8 and tied the game off goals from Andrew Cogliano and Alexander Radulov.
It was a little disappointing to see Jacob Markstrom victimized on a couple of tough plays after making some five-alarm saves throughout the game. But in a game that wasn't overflowing with excitement, I don't think anybody at Rogers Arena was complaining about another dose of overtime and a chance to watch Pettersson, Boeser and Hughes work their magic again at 3-on-3.
The sequel wasn't quite on par with the original, but it was still one of the best sequences of the game.
The kids are alright#Canucks pic.twitter.com/8oWyiddU0W
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) March 31, 2019
And call me crazy, but there's something pretty compelling about an eight-round shootout, especially when Jacob Markstrom is perfect against big-time scorers like Seguin, Benn and Radulov—even Klingberg and Heiskanen. According to the NHL Records page, Seguin is 21st all-time and eighth among all active players in shootouts with a 49.1 percent success rate—27 for 55 in his career.
The Canucks' top talents were also stymied. In the end, it was secret weapon Markus Granlund who delivered the win. He's not far behind at 6-for-15—tied with Radulov at 40 percent.
Granlund scores the only goal of the shootout in the 8th round. pic.twitter.com/vBOi4qhMlq
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) March 31, 2019
This is a crazy stat:
#Canucks have been to OT an #NHL high 23-times this season and lead the league with 11 shootouts. They are 7-5 in games decided in OT and 6-5 now in shootouts. Didn't win a single shootout last season
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) March 31, 2019
All told, 40 of the Canucks' 79 games this season have been decided by one goal—so they've been close about half the time. They have 17 wins by two goals or more, and 22 losses by two goals or more.
Of the one-goal games, they've won 17, lost 13 in regulation and lost 10 in overtime or a shootout. If 13 of those wins came in either overtime or a shootout, then they've won just four one-goal games in regulation.
How does all that compare to last season?
In 2017-18, the Canucks had just 29 games decided by one goal. Of those, they won 11, lost seven in regulation and lost 11 in OT/shootout. They won 20 games by two goals or more, but lost 33 by two goals or more.
That's interesting—three fewer big wins, but 11 fewer big losses, with three games left to play, of course. I would think that's part of the reason why this season *feels* like progress is being made.
I guess Hockey Night in Canada hopped on the Luke Schenn bandwagon on the broadcast? He was named the game's third star with another solid defensive outing—two shots, seven hits and four blocks in 15:38 of ice time.
The Canucks are taking Sunday off; they should practice on Monday before wrapping up their homestand—and their 2018-19 home schedule—on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks.
In addition to mentioning that the Canucks are looking to re-sign Schenn to bring him back next season, two other Canucks-related news items came up on the Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada.
First, it was mentioned that Trevor Linden had been approached about the possibility of taking on the job of president of hockey operations with the Ottawa Senators, but said he wasn't interested.
Second, apparently Will Lockwood has made the decision to go back to school.
#NTDP Alumni Update. Michigan forward Will Lockwood has informed the Vancouver Canucks that he will be returning to the Wolverines for his senior season. #Canucks.
— Stars n’ Stripes Hockey (@StarsStripesHKY) March 31, 2019
As I mentioned yesterday, this is an unfamiliar outcome for the Canucks, who have had great success at bringing their NCAA prospects under contract over the last few years. Drafted 64th overall in 2016, Lockwood will be a senior next season, which means he can become an unrestricted free agent if the Canucks don't sign him before August 15, 2020.
I haven't heard any official word on Lockwood's reason for his decision. One thing that may have hurt the Canucks' cause could be the plethora of wingers already in the system. Or maybe Jim Benning and company just weren't all that keen on what they saw with Lockwood—I don't recall ever having heard Benning get too excited about Lockwood's potential.
The other wrinkle, of course, is that the Canucks are currently very close to their total contract limit, with 48 of 50 slots already filled.
Our attention can now shift to Tyler Madden, whose freshman season ended Saturday when Northeastern dropped a 5-1 decision to Cornell in their first-round NCAA tournament game.
Despite his small stature, Madden had a great freshman year, finishing fourth in team scoring with 12-16-28 in 36 games. He also won a silver medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championship, playing his way onto the team at the pre-tournament selection camp, then earning key ice time and going 3-1-4 in seven games.
Madden also got some love from The Hockey News this week. In their '2018 Redraft' poll of scouts, Quinn Hughes moved up from seven to five overall but Madden took an even bigger leap—from 68th all the way into the first round at 31st.
If you had the chance to re-do the 2018 NHL draft, which players would be selected earlier? Who would fall? We asked a panel of scouts, and here are the results:https://t.co/xHoT9ZC2UW
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) March 31, 2019
I would still expect Madden to go back to school, but I'm a big fan of his tenacity, work ethic and his ability to rise to the occasion. I'll be keeping an eye on him.
F Tyler Madden’s season ended at Northeastern NCAA today, been told he is weighing his options and will take some time to decide to go pro or return to school.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) March 31, 2019