Saturday January 18: Vancouver Canucks 3 - Calgary Flames 2 (S/O)
We were worried that this game could be a snoozer thanks to two teams who can't score. Instead, by the two second mark we got a spectacle that won't soon be forgotten.
I'm surprised that Canucks TV has included the entire line brawl in the night's highlight package, but here it is—along with another 64:58 of hockey plus a shootout:
The trouble started when Calgary coach Bob Hartley submitted a starting lineup that featured all his tough guys. The home coach then decides who he wants to put out—and the belief is that he doesn't get a lot of time to make a cool, reasoned decision.
@DaveLozo @TSNBobMcKenzie it's pretty much immediate. Off-ice official brings in road lineup and stands in front of coach as he fills out
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) January 19, 2014Torts answers back with a meaty lineup of his own. Before the opening faceoff, he's jawing with Hartley as Kevin Bieksa steps in to take the opening draw in an effort to protect Kellan Lain in his first NHL game.
Thanks to all for the congrats/warm messages for my 1st NHL face off win! Took a lot of hard work but it was well worth it. #straightback
— Kevin Bieksa (@kbieksa3) January 19, 2014Bieksa won the draw, but Lain still ended up squaring off with Kevin Westgarth as all five guys got into separate fights.
I've seen some pretty crazy games live over the years. I was at Rogers Arena on the night of the Steve Moore/Bertuzzi incident, and last night I was remembering back to the donnybrooks that used to erupt against the Winnipeg Jets back in the Tie Domi/Kris King days of the early '90s, where the penalty box would fill to overflowing.
Last night was my first time seeing five fights at once, live, scattered all around the rink. It was surreal.
Of course, in my role as Stats person, I also had to sort out all those penalties and get them into the system as quickly as possible. From that point of view, I was grateful that the refs were so consistent, awarding fighting majors to all 10 guys and handing out eight game misconducts for all the 'secondary incidents.' It was hard to believe that both teams would have to play the entire game with four players unavailable—including Bieksa and Garrison for the Canucks—but after the way things went last Monday in L.A., I could appreciate the officials' desire to get a handle on the situation.
The Main Event
The rest of the scoreless first period passed in a bit of a haze, but the real drama kicked in at period's end, when John Tortorella lost his mind and tried to force his way into the Calgary dressing room to confront Bob Hartley. The shot's not great—Torts is right at the bottom of the picture—but you get the idea:
He wasn't willing to talk about it after the game, though—literally pleading with reporters not to press him on the issue.
I'm not seeing anything official yet, but Eliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada was at the game and says he thinks Torts will have a hearing in New York on Monday.
Sounds like John Tortorella will have a hearing with the NHL on Monday in New York
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 19, 2014Discipline for management falls under the domain of Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman, not Brendan Shanahan. No punches were thrown, but coaches should be held to a higher standard, and there's no doubt that Torts crossed the line. It's never easy to predict the decisions that come out of the NHL offices, but I'm expecting a suspension for Torts. Let the Glen Gulutzan era begin!
The Good Old Hockey Game
I'll talk more about the actual hockey game tomorrow as the team prepares to travel to Edmonton for its next game on Tuesday, but here are a few quick notes:
- We scored! Ryan Kesler finally snapped the goalless drought at 3:50 of the second period, about two minutes after the Flames had taken a 1-0 lead. Zack Kassian made a nice play to set up the goal. The relief of both players and fans was palpable. Yannick Weber added a power-play blast in the third period to once again tie the game, then he and Chris Higgins delivered in the shootout to give the Canucks the much-needed two points.
- Considering the opponent was the Calgary Flames, the game was unnervingly evenly-matched. The same way that the Canucks don't look like they're on the same level as, say, the Ducks, they do look like they're in the ballpark with Calgary. Unusual circumstances last night for sure, but this is the second Flames game to go to extra time this year.
- Roberto Luongo looked terrific in his first game back from his ankle injury. He was seeing the ice well, moving easily and playing with a ton of confidence. In a change of pace from the usual script, Luongo dazzled in the shootout, stopping four of five Flames shooters.
- Alex Burrows—not so much. It was a tough game for the feisty Burrows to be involved in. The big face shield protecting his injured jaw certainly didn't prevent Flames players from taking shots at him all game long. I'm not sure if the shield was affecting his vision, but he made some uncharacteristically bad plays, giving the puck away and passing to nobody. Most disturbing was in the shootout, when he stumbled and almost fell. He needed a full spin to get headed in the right direction again, but any chance of scoring was long gone.
- Henrik Sedin. This is a big one! The captain did start the game, but took a shot from T.J. Brodie in the second period that felled him, and was basically done after that. Torts said he told Henrik to take off his gear at the end of the second period. He also played down Henrik's ironman streak, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Henrik scratched against Edmonton on Tuesday.
- Yannick Weber and Zack Kassian were the two players who really advantage of their extra ice time on Saturday. Despite being one of just four blueliners for Vancouver, Weber skated miles in the third period. He played 28:22—which was still the lowest of the group, but 12 minutes more than any other game this year. He and Edler looked good together, especially on the power play. Especially on that tying goal. Kassian played 14:28, which is a more typical number for him, but he also served 16 minutes in penalties. He had a confident swagger in his play in the third period as well—let's see more of that!