Nikolay Goldobin recalled after Canucks suffer power outage against Flyers (sven baertschi)

sven baertschi

Nikolay Goldobin recalled after Canucks suffer power outage against Flyers

By Carol Schram

Nov 26, 2019 • 4:05 pm

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Monday November 25 - Philadelphia Flyers 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1

After bumping their slump in Nashville last week, the Vancouver Canucks deservedly congratulated themselves for not being one-and-done thanks to their hard-fought win in Washington on Saturday.

Whether they over-celebrated their success on a Sunday off-day in Philly that included a Seahawks-Eagles game that drew a large contingent of Vancouver sports media types to the City of Brotherly Love, or whether they're just tired as this road trip and a busy month of November grinds on, the Canucks ran out of gas after the first period in their loss to the Flyers on Monday night.

Not much to see here, in your highlights:

For all the criticism the Canucks have taken for allowing the first goal so often this season, it's ironic that this loss came when they actually opened the scoring. J.T. Miller, fresh off some morning praise from his old coach Alain Vigneault on the opposite bench, converted a sharp Bo Horvat feed off a Michael Raffl giveaway into his 10th of the year, giving the Canucks a 1-0 lead midway through the opening frame.

Shots after one period were 9-8 for Vancouver, and the Canucks went to their locker room with a 1-0 lead. Then, they pretty much called it a night.

Vancouver managed just four shots in each of the second and third periods. Their 60-minute total of 17 was equal to the damage that the Flyers did in the second period alone, when Thatcher Demko stood tall in net but Sean Couturier got the equalizer when he converted the rebound of a Jake Voracek shot, six minutes into the second.

Despite the lopsided flow of play, the Canucks hung on until after the midway point of the third period, when Voracek's sixth of the year proved to be the eventual game winner. Even in the dying stages of the game, with Demko out of the net, the Canucks played like they thought they could manufacture a miracle and grab a point. Quinn Hughes' body language showed utter disbelief when he whiffed mightily on a big point shot just before the final buzzer sounded.

The 2-1 outcome is exactly the same as what happened when the Canucks visited Philly last year — and Couturier and Voracek had the goals last year, too, in the same order. But Carter Hart's night was very different. Last year, the Canucks got down 2-0 before Brock Boeser scored the team's only goal in the second period, but Vancouver pressed all game. Hart earned first-star honours for stopping 41 of 42 total shots last year, including 18 in the third period alone.

After the game, the team moved quickly on to Pittsburgh, where Tuesday's practice held plenty of intrigue.

A Micheal Ferland sighting!

While Brandon Sutter skated for a second-straight day, he did not take a regular spot in the forward rotation. Jay Beagle did not skate at all.

Brendan Batchelor bent my brain a bit here by listing the Leivo-Pettersson-Boeser line third. But as he warns on his Twitter page. "I tweet the lines in the order that they skate. Put them in whatever order you want. Don’t @ me." Point taken.

Though it seems like the Canucks are close to getting some bodies back up front, the team took advantage of its proximity to Western New York to make a forward swap on Tuesday, sending Sven Baertschi back to Utica and calling up Nikolay Goldobin.

Baertschi has been scratched for the last three games, which coincides with the end of Vancouver's losing streak, unfortunately for him. During the six games that he dressed for the Canucks this month, the team went 1-4-1. Baertschi averaged 11:49 of ice time per game and tallied two assists and a minus-two.

Baertschi was recalled by the Canucks on November 1, after his torrid 2-8-10 start in seven games in Utica. By sending him back down within 30 days of his recall, Baertschi does not need to clear waivers again at this time.

After the confidence that he showed in Utica in October, I was hopeful that Baertschi would be able to translate that back to the NHL level. But he didn't do enough to stick this time. Maybe more injuries will earn him another opportunity as the season wears on.

As for Goldobin, he has been a good soldier during his time back in Utica.

After a hat trick in his last game against Laval on Saturday, he took over the Comets' scoring lead with 8-12-20 in 18 games — one point ahead of Reid Boucher, and good for eighth overall in AHL scoring at the time of his recall.

Coming off a loss, and with his forwards looking fatigued, it'll be interesting to see if Travis Green inserts Goldobin against Pittsburgh on Wednesday in an effort to inject some energy into the lineup.

For now, that would appear to be his only option. Doesn't seem like Sutter, Ferland or Beagle will be ready to go.

I'll wrap up today with a couple of fun facts that I was alerted to by you fine folks in yesterday's comment section. Thanks for everything you do!

1. Now with 24 points in 25 games, J.T. Miller is comfortably tracking for the best offensive season of his career. His previous career high was 58 points with the Rangers and Lightning in 2017-18.

What makes this interesting — and this is where you come in — is that Miller is currently outscoring every member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. That being said, the Lightning have played just 21 games, compared to 25 for the Canucks.

Tampa Bay's leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov, has 21 points in 20 games, while Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman each have 20 in 19 games. They're all averaging over a point per game, while Miller is just below that mark.

The other thing that jumps out about the Lightning's stats is that even with their so-so start to the season, they already have 12 players with 10 points or more. Vancouver, by contrast, has just eight — even with those four extra games played.

2. Adam Gaudette is quickly approaching the end of his waiver-exempt period.

Because he was 21 when he signed his entry-level contract in March of 2018, Gaudette is only exempt from waivers for a total of 80 NHL games or three NHL seasons, whichever comes first.

Monday's game in Philadelphia was his 76th at the NHL level, leaving exempt for just four more games. Though he's pointless on this road trip, his four points on Vancouver's last homestand were a bit of a coming-out party. And let's face it, as long as Beagle and Sutter are sidelined, Gaudette's third on the depth chart at centre. For the moment, his job is secure, but his status could be something to watch if the team does start getting healthier down the middle.

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