Friday November 1 - Anaheim Ducks 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1 (OT)
The Vancouver Canucks have now collected points in their last six straight games, but perhaps they deserved a better fate in Anaheim, where they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Ducks in overtime.
Here are your highlights:
For all the talk of a new-look Ducks team, the incarnation that we saw on Friday looked a lot like last year's version — caved-in early on the shot clock, and heavily reliant on John Gibson to stay in the game.
Gibson's a soft-spoken guy, not prone to trash talk, but with the way he has played against the Canucks over the course of his career, I'm sure he oozes confidence every time he hits the ice against Vancouver.
On Friday, that led to a 19-5 shot advantage for the Canucks in the first period. But they went to the dressing room down a goal — and down a man — after 20 minutes.
The goal came shorthanded, while Adam Henrique was in the penalty box serving a puck-over-glass penalty. As the last man back, Quinn Hughes was nearly able to gain control of the puck after it escaped the zone but couldn't quite corral it. That allowed Jakob Silfverberg to skate in alone and shoot high over Jacob Markstrom's glove to give the Ducks their unlikely lead.
On his next shift, Hughes hobbled to the bench after apparently twisting his ankle while turning in the defensive zone.
In the second period, we heard that Hughes was done for the night. Iain MacIntyre reported in the second intermission that the injury didn't appear to be serious and there's a chance that Hughes will be able to play on Saturday in San Jose, but we'll have to wait till closer to game time to get a definite update one way or the other.
won't get an update on Quinn Hughes from Travis Green until about 4:45pm PST, but I think it's a stretch he plays tonight versus Sharks https://t.co/67NBvFJVPS
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) November 2, 2019
On Saturday, the Canucks recalled Oscar Fantenberg from his conditioning loan to Utica, but that might not be directly Hughes-related. There was always a possibility that loan would last less than 14 days. Ashton Sautner is also with the team, so he can dress on Saturday if Hughes isn't able to go.
With the minute-munching rookie's absence, fellow left-sider Alex Edler was extra-busy for the rest of the game. Edler played 8:23 in the first period, 9:04 in the second and a whopping 12:12 in the third, plus 46 seconds in overtime, for a season-high total of 30:25 — not exactly ideal in a back-to-back situation. That included 4:55 on the penalty kill and 5:28 of power-play time, but the Vancouver power play that was virtually unstoppable against Los Angeles on Wednesday came up dry on five opportunities against the Ducks.
That's the easy place to point when assessing how quickly Hughes has become a key piece of the Vancouver offense. Shot generation, too. All 19 Vancouver shots in the first period came before Hughes left the game. In the subsequent 42:30 before Ryan Getzlaf's overtime game winner, total shots were 24-21 in favour of Anaheim.
Of course, the other lineup change on Friday was the insertion of Adam Gaudette for his fourth game of the season after seven healthy scratches and a trip to Utica since the last time he suited up for the Canucks. Last season, Gaudette showed a penchant for scoring big goals, and for scoring in California. Two of his five goals last year came in L.A. against the Kings.
I initially thought Brandon Sutter got a piece of this, but on a night when nobody else could put the puck in the net, Gaudette got credit for the Canucks' only goal when he tied the game and secured that single point for the Canucks with 7:18 left to play in regulation.
Gaudette's shot goes off Holzer and in! COUNT IT! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/C2NE7JNQq5
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 2, 2019
Elias Pettersson came oh-so-close with a couple of chances as the final seconds of regulation time ticked down but in the end, it was off to overtime for the fourth time this season.
There was no scoring at 3-on-3 in any of the three previous games. The Canucks used the shootout to beat Philly and St. Louis before falling to Washington.
This time, play turned around quickly after Gibson stopped a shot from J.T. Miller. As Ryan Getzlaf raced down the ice, Jacob Markstrom came out aggressively to try to poke check the 34-year-old, but it didn't work. Getzlaf popped the easy empty-netter for the win — and to score in his fourth-straight game.
Markstrom giving Getzlaf an early milestone gift! pic.twitter.com/RZBzYxpsyK
— 🦆PatosNPucks🏒 (9-6-0) (@DucksNPucks) November 2, 2019
The Canucks may have deserved a better fate, but their dominance dropped significantly after Quinn Hughes left the game. Hopefully he won't be out for too long.
Quinn Hughes was outside #Canucks locker room postgame talking to his dad and others. Looked no worse for wear. Wasn't available to the media. Travis Green not ruling him out for tomorrow in SJ
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) November 2, 2019
Vancouver Canucks: 13 GP, 8-3-2, 18 pts, second in Pacific Division San Jose Sharks: 14 GP, 4-9-1, 9 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
Up next, the Canucks will finish their California road trip against a team that's coming into Saturday's game at an even higher level of frustration.
The San Jose Sharks outshot the Winnipeg Jets 53-19 on home ice on Friday night, but were handed a 3-2 regulation defeat. That's four-straight losses for the Sharks, who haven't scored more than two goals in any of those games.
The boost from Patrick Marleau's return to San Jose seems to have been short-lived. After scoring twice in his first game back with his old team on October 10, he added four assists in the Sharks' next five games, but has been pointless through the four-game losing streak. For now, though, his ice time has remained pretty consistent at around 15 minutes a game.
After Martin Jones got hammered in the media last year for his inability to make the key saves his team needed to win, this year isn't going much better. The Sharks currently sit 27th overall with 3.64 goals allowed per game — and they aren't scoring, either. They're also 27th offensively, at 2.43 goals per game.
Jones played Friday against the Jets, so the Canucks are expected to see Aaron Dell in net. His record is better at 2-2-0 but his numbers are about the same as Jones' — a 3.53 goals-against average and .891 save percentage.
On their own back-to-back, the Canucks will likely turn to Thatcher Demko, who's sitting at 3-1-0 with a 1.73 goals-against and .941 save percentage.
In addition to the Quinn Hughes intrigue, I'm curious to see if Travis Green will keep Adam Gaudette in the lineup after his goal on Friday, or if Sven Baertschi will draw in after his recall from Utica. Or maybe both? Perhaps Loui Eriksson goes back to the press box?
The Comets may have missed Baertschi on Friday night. They suffered their first defeat of the season in a 2-0 shutout loss to the Providence Bruins on home ice. No time to mope, though. They'll finish off their homestand against Rochester on Saturday.
Enjoy the game!