Monday January 27: Edmonton Oilers 4 Vancouver Canucks 2
Well, even Vancouver's perfect record against the Edmonton Oilers this season has now been shattered. Here are the highlights from Monday's game:
Both teams were on the tail end of back-to-back games, but the Oilers seemed buoyed by their 5-1 victory over Nashville on Sunday. They showed some offensive spark—especially the line of Perron, Yakupov and Gagner—never trailing as they built a 4-2 win.
The score actually flatters the Canucks. Jordan Schroeder brought a good dose of energy in his first game back after missing three months with an ankle injury, but both of his goals actually deflected into the Edmonton net with the help of Oilers' defenseman Corey Potter. If Potter can score for Vancouver, perhaps the Canucks should deal for him??
To repeat: no one from Vancouver was able to shoot the puck past Ilya Bryzgalov at any point in this game. There were a couple of posts and a couple of whisker-close goalmouth scrambles, but once again, the offense was non-existent.
It goes without saying that the power play failed once again. Vancouver only had two chances, and one was abbreviated after overlapping calls to each team, but the personnel deployment was even more puzzling than usual. Why dress Yannick Weber as a seventh defenseman if you're not even going to put him on the ice with the man advantage? Weber finished the game with 3:48 of ice time, none of which came on the power play. Strange.
Speaking of odd personnel deployment, why did Roberto Luongo play this game? His save percentage does drop in the second game of back-to-backs, and he has a huge game coming up against Chicago on Wednesday. Luongo has played every second of the last five games since returning from his latest injury. For the most part, he's been good, but the Canucks have a busy schedule coming up in this final stretch before the Olympics. I thought we had moved beyond the days when he needed to play every game?
I will give Luongo credit for one of the coolest saves I've ever seen—made with his team down by a goal in the third period. How did this not spark the boys to get one back for their goalie?
When even the return of a Jordan Schroeder provides such a spark to the Canucks, it's easy to imagine the possibilities if they were to bring in a bona-fide NHL scorer. We have about 10 days till the pre-Olympic trade freeze on February 7—and the Canucks play five games between now and then. As much as I think Vancouver could use a shakeup, or some help, I have no feeling at all that a deal will come down before the Sochi break. Without Vinny Prospal, they've got nothing.
Odds could improve when the teams reconvene after the Olympics. Players still receive their regular paycheques while the league is shut down, so cap hits for the rest of the year will be significantly less for any players that are moved in the brief 10-day window between the end of the Games and the final trade deadline on March 5.
Two more games on the sidelines for Torts before he can rejoin the team next week in Detroit. What do you think he's up to during his time off—other than walking his dogs? How closely do you think he's in touch with Mike Sullivan? Sully has been speaking a bit longer at the post-game pressers, but is sounding many of the same notes, including talk about "mindset." He seems to like playing "hard" on the puck better than Torts' patented "stiffness"—that's the biggest difference I've picked up.
Quick Hits:
- As it turns out, even with a win on Monday, the Canucks couldn't have caught the L.A. Kings for third in the Pacific. Los Angeles managed to beat streaking San Jose 1-0 in the Shark Tank on Monday night, finally getting one past Alex Stalock after he'd set a team-record shutout streak. The Kings' win means they're back to three points ahead of Vancouver, who remain five points clear of ninth place in the West.
- News1130 is reporting that a decision could be made as early as today about how to proceed with Mike Santorelli's shoulder injury. I imagine the choice is clouded by his contract status—if he has surgery, that'll probably end his year and make it difficult to sign a better contract next season. Can he rehab and get back to help the Canucks this year?
Lots of doctors and opinions to look over when it comes to Santorelli. Whats the best short and long term for the shoulder.
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) January 28, 2014- Henrik has now been out for a week. He's still being referred to as 'day-to-day,' but Mike Sullivan said after the game on Monday that he's not skating. If I was Team Sweden, I'd be getting very nervous right about now.
- Utica Comets goaltender Joacim Ericsson was named the AHL Player of the Week after going 3-0-0 with a .953 save percentage, 1.35 goals-against and one shutout last week. Goaltending expert Kevin Woodley says Ericsson benefited tremendously from working with Rollie Melanson while he was up with the Canucks:
Joacim Eriksson AHL player of week; diff since time w/ Canucks G coach Melanson staggering + makes wonder why no full-time G coach in Utica
— Kevin Woodley (@KevinisInGoal) January 27, 2014- Marco Sturm has officially retired from the NHL. A Canucks' free-agent signing in the summer of 2012, Sturm played just six games with Vancouver before being packaged with Mikael Samuelsson for David Booth. Samuelsson and Shane O'Brien both cleared waivers this week and have been assigned to the AHL, while Booth continues to hang by a thread with the big club.