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Sunday December 22: Vancouver Canucks 2 Winnipeg Jets 1
The Vancouver Canucks head into their Christmas break with only one loss in their last 11 games after a 2-1 win over Winnipeg on Sunday at Rogers Arena. Here are your highlights:
The win gives Vancouver an even 50 points in the first 39 games of the season, good enough to move them back into sixth place in the Western Conference and sixth points out of ninth—for now. Every Western team in the league except Vancouver is in action on Monday night before the league's new CBA-mandated three-day holiday break.
The game wasn't pretty but there were some important contributions from the Canucks' youngsters that earned them the two points.
The most important moment of the game came with 3:30 to go in the first period. Tom Sestito won a fight with Anthony Peluso, then during the subsequent TV timeout, Roberto Luongo was replaced in net by Eddie Lack.
Luongo hadn't been involved in the play before the break, so no one knew quite what was wrong—lots of speculation about a washroom emergency. But the starter didn't return to the game; he didn't even return to the bench.
NHL.com has video of Luongo stretching what appears to be his leg or groin before he left the ice:
After the game, Torts announced simply that it was a lower-body issue, and that Luongo would be day-to-day.
Farhan Lalji of TSN thinks the trouble started from a collision between Luongo and his old nemsis Dustin Byfuglien:
Luongo's old friend Byfuglien clipped his foot in front of net mid-way through period & caused him to stumble. #canucks
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) December 23, 2013Luongo also had a close encounter with Blake Wheeler shortly afterwards:
Luongo got tangled up with Wheeler in the crease. May have suffered a strain. #canucks #jets
— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) December 23, 2013The fact that Luongo didn't leave the game immediately makes it seem like it's not something serious, but groin issues can be tricky with goalies—see Jonathan Quick at the moment. The Canucks don't play again till next Sunday but with the Olympics just seven weeks away, I'd hope that Luongo doesn't have to miss any significant time.
The Canucks will practice on Friday, so we probably won't get any further news till that time.
The positive on Sunday is that Eddie Lack looked terrific in net for the Canucks when he was suddenly pressed into action. Lack was appearing in his third straight game after relieving Luongo in Dallas, then earning the dramatic shootout win in Chicago. He made 15 saves on 16 shots through two-plus periods, allowing just one goal on an Evander Kane power-play blast and helping the Canucks earn the win in a low-scoring contest.
Now that he has appeared in 11 NHL games, Lack has made his way onto the NHL's "Goaltending Leaders" list. He's fifth in the league with a 1.93 goals-against and eighth with a .928 save percentage.
Luongo's numbers going into the break: 13th with a 2.24 GAA and 16th with a .920 save percentage.
If Luongo's out for any period of time, Goalie Controversy 2.0 could gather some real momentum. Lack has looked great all year and is quickly endearing himself to Canucks fans with his cheerful, unflappable personality. He earned a couple of "Eddie, Eddie" chants from the faithful at Rogers Arena on Sunday, including when his father and grandmother were spotted in the crowd and shown on the Jumbotron.
One other interesting note about Lack: so far this year he's 6-2-0 in his 11 appearances. Over in New Jersey, Cory Schneider is 4-7-5 in 16 appearances. Who would have predicted last summer that at this point in the season, Lack would have more wins than Schneider? Cory has played nearly twice as many minutes—he has 977 to Lack's 559—but his situation with the Devils might be even tougher than what he faced in Vancouver.
Stellar performances from backup goalies are all the rage this year in the NHL. Perhaps the Canucks just want to show that they're hip to the trend.
Lack wasn't the only member of the 2012-13 Chicago Wolves to shine on Sunday. Chris Tanev continues to draw attention to himself—on this night, with a terrific defensive effort and the game-winning goal. The third-period marker was set up by a terrific effort from Zack Kassian when he steamrolled down the right wing after a pass from David Booth, took a sharp-angle shot, carried his rebound behind the net, then laid a perfect pass onto the stick of Tanev, who was in great position in the high slot.
Tanev may not have the hardest shot around, but he picked the top corner beautifully to seal the win. In a change from games earlier in the season, it was the Jets who didn't manage a single shot after they fell behind—not even with the goalie pulled near the end of the game. After Mark Shiefele recorded Winnipeg's final shot with 12:52 to go in the third, the team had two attempts blocked and that was it—not even any misses. Kudos to the Canucks for shutting down their opposition so effectively at the end of a four-game-in-six-night marathon.
I think Torts is starting to understand that west-coast travel schedules do, in fact, make for tired teams. He talks about that, and the continuing evolution of Chris Tanev, in his post-game comments:
If you're headed to Whistler over the Christmas break, it sounds like you might spot a Canuck or two wandering through the village:
I hope you have a great holiday week! Thanks for reading and for being so engaged with the blog—it's been a fun ride so far. I will be posting throughout the holidays and plan to have a little fun this week, so feel free to stop by and share your thoughts when you need a little break from real life at your house.
Quick Hits:
- The impact of the Jets fans at Rogers Arena on Sunday wasn't as dramatic as I'd expected. Perhaps the novelty has worn off since Winnipeg's first appearance, or maybe the Jets' record has caused them to lose some support? Or, maybe it was just the nature of the game? Winnipeg never led and really didn't do much worth cheering about. The "true north" shout during the anthem was noticeable, and I heard a few "Go Jets Go" chants get drowned out by the Canucks fans over the course of the game, but the impact of Winnipeg fans paled in comparison to what we've seen from Boston, Toronto and Montreal so far this season.
- Evander Kane looked great on Winnipeg's power play goal. But...he was also on the ice for the Tanev goal, when Kassian was allowed to roam into the offensive zone untouched. The responsibility probably falls more directly on the shoulders of the defensive pairing of Mark Stuart and rookie Jacob Trouba, who were generally pretty solid on the night. The forwards could have helped prevent Tanev from putting himself into such a terrific scoring position.
Trouba was noticeable throughout the night and was named the game's second star. Rookie Mark Schiefele was also at the centre of much of the action but at this point, he looks like a high-risk, high-reward rookie. Schiefele was also on the ice for the winning goal.