Thursday January 16: Phoenix Coyotes 1 - Vancouver Canucks 0
For the second time in three games, the Vancouver Canucks failed to muster any offense at all, dropping a game to a division rival by a 1-0 score. Even the crack team at Canucks TV is off their game—right now, the so-called highlights from last night's game are actually the package from the 4-3 OT loss to Anaheim back on January 7. Thus, I give you the package from NHL.com instead. Maybe it'll somehow look better through a different lens?
Anyone who hoped the Canucks would come back angry after their blowout loss in Anaheim the night before was sorely disappointed. The Canucks put up just 18 hits on the night, played a mild style, and squandered plenty of opportunities to gain an advantage, including three first-period power plays—one a 5-on-3. Instead, it was Phoenix who made Vancouver pay with an Antoine Vermette shot that deflected in off Dan Hamhuis while Jason Garrison was in the box serving a first-period holding minor. That was the difference in the game.
There was a glimmer of hope in the third, when Henrik Sedin turned his celebration up to 11 in an attempt to obscure the fact that he'd deflected the puck past Mike Smith off his glove. The goal was waved off on the ice, and the call stood after video review. Apparently it'll take more than that to snap this funk.
The Coyotes are reporting that goalie Smith got their wrestling-style belt as player of the game. It's been awhile since we've seen our Haida Hat, hasn't it?
HIGH-FIVE Vermette said last night all the guys were happy for Smith. "He got the belt and it was well-deserved." pic.twitter.com/fhE14Y48jG
— Phoenix Coyotes (@phoenixcoyotes) January 17, 2014Well-deserved? I guess a shutout always carries a certain sparkle, but I don't think many of Smith's 29 saves were of the challenging variety. The Canucks had plenty power-play time on Thursday, but went 0-for-7 with 10 shots on goal. The game-ending four-minute PP was the worst of all, with the Canucks unable to even sustain enough pressure to get Eddie Lack off the ice for the extra attacker. It was a one goal game—they needed to bring everything they had! Instead, in four minutes, Kevin Bieksa was the only player who even managed to put the puck on the net.
Of course, by the time we got to the closing minutes, the Canucks were way short of forwards thanks to one-man wrecking crew Martin Hanzal. Over the course of about five minutes, he managed to injure Mike Santorelli, Henrik Sedin and David Booth with his stick. Here's the video:
Santorelli left arena with right arm in sling. Could be shoulder injury. #canucks
— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) January 17, 2014Henrik Sedin also getting post-game treatment for stick in ribs, Booth for stick in the face. #canucks
— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) January 17, 2014The loss is bad enough; the possibility of losing bodies makes me feel like Vancouver would have been better off just conceding the games and playing golf down south for four days. One goal in three games—ouch.
Alex Burrows—and possibly Roberto Luongo?—should be back this weekend. Who will they have to play with? Henrik will play through just about anything, but it sounds like Santorelli's is the most serious injury of the bunch. David Booth has had serious concussion issues in the past so I'm worried about him as well. Utica call-up Kellan Lain didn't dress in Phoenix. Will he—or any of his other AHL teammates—join the lineup against Calgary on Saturday?
Torts manages to keep his voice even-keeled in his postgame comments, but the frustration is evident. He's not willing to give the guys a pass with the "lack of confidence" excuse, says it's "unacceptable" that the power play couldn't make a mark at the end of the game, and admits that things need to change pretty quickly.
Minnesota won last night, so they've now moved into a tie with Vancouver with 57 points, though the Canucks have a game in hand. The Coyotes now sit four points back in ninth place.
If there's any good news at this point, the opposition eases considerably over the next five games. Vancouver plays Calgary, Edmonton, Nashville, Phoenix, then Edmonton again—all non-playoff teams. If they don't get it together and squeeze six points or more out of these very winnable games, they could well be sitting outside of a playoff spot themselves but the time the boys head off to Sochi.
Quick Hit:
I don't expect we'll see any big player movement before the weekend, so I'll try to end this gloomy blog with a bit of levity. ET Canada is theorizing that the Canucks' bad luck has rippled all the way over from Europe, where former head coach Marc Crawford joined die-hard Canucks fan Michael Buble pre-concert for a rendition of "The Hockey Song" in Zurich. That's Crow in the bottom left corner, with the glasses.
.@MichaelBuble & former VCR coach Marc Crawford sing The Hockey Song in Zurich. That night, Canucks lose 9-1. http://t.co/BRp74PINqB
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) January 17, 2014