Tuesday December 2: Vancouver Canucks 4 - Washington Capitals 3
The Vancouver Canucks' first line went to work as the team improved its record on the current seven-game road trip to 2-1-0 with a win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. Here are your highlights:
The Caps actually put up some impressive plus-minus numbers, but for all the wrong reasons. Brooks Orpik and John Carlson were both plus-three thanks to Carlson's three-point game—and the fact that the Canucks scored three of their four goals on the power play. Even with Barry Trotz at the helm, the Caps play that loose defensive style that allows the Sedins to work their magic—similarly to their success rate against teams like Edmonton and Toronto.
Washington came into the game ranked second in the league with the man advantage, but Vancouver played a disciplined game and only surrendered one power-play opportunity—when Kevin Bieksa was whistled for slashing late in the second period.
The Canucks' first goal was a beauty from the fourth line. Derek Dorsett's hot shot off a pass from Bo Horvat was so quick, it bounced in and out of the net in the blink of an eye. The referee initially waved it off, but the replay clearly showed that the puck bounced out from the back of the net.
Vancouver fans can be forgiven for wondering about all the fuss surrounding Alex Ovechkin. The "Great 8" only got one of his seven shot attempts on goal on Tuesday. He also recorded three hits and took a third-period interference penalty with his Caps trailing by a goal.
Ovechkin failed to record a point against Vancouver in two meetings this year, a drop-off from the single power-play goal he tallied last season.
The goalie question remains open for further discussion. Ryan Miller got the win for Vancouver, as he tends to do—the Canucks have only lost back-to-back games once all season. It's strange—Miller didn't look especially sharp, and he gave up three goals on 25 shots for an .880 save percentage. But he's getting the job done.
As the previously deep-in-goal St. Louis Blues turned to Martin Brodeur for backup on Tuesday and the also previously deep-in-goal Anaheim Ducks brought back their old teammate Ilya Bryzgalov on Wednesday, I wonder whether or not teams are second-guessing their willingness to have let Miller, Jonas Hiller and Jaroslav Halak all walk as free agents last summer—especially when the Canucks, Calgary Flames and New York Islanders are all hanging near the top of the league?
Tuesday's win actually brings the Canucks back to the top of the Western Conference by virtue of their game in hand over Anaheim: both teams have 35 points. But the Canucks rank fifth overall, behind four Eastern teams: the aforementioned Islanders, Tampa Bay, Montreal and Pittsburgh—who they face tomorrow night.
It seems the argument can go both ways about whether Miller was looking out for himself or really trying to take care of Eddie Lack when he gunned for the start on Tuesday, but as Botchford points out in The Provies, there may be a deeper lesson to be learned here:
Lost in the goalie debate this morning was the fact Willie Desjardins was meeting with his goalies. You know, in the same room as them. You know, talking to them.This qualifies as a quantum leap forward in terms of “communicating with your players.… It was something lacking in both of the previous two regimes.
Now, if he’s going to talk to them, he’s going to have to listen to them. And listen he did.
Also noteworthy—the fact that Willie shared the news of this conversation with the media. Earlier in the season, he'd said he won't comment on starters. Yesterday, he clearly wanted to share the message behind his decision-making.
It seems weird to us now, but maybe we'll get used to it?
One More Week for Bo?
Botchford also muses that the Canucks have about one more week to decide whether or not to lend Bo Horvat to Team Canada for the World Junior Championships. He's betting they won't.
The best indicator yet was probably the Sunday game in Detroit. Horvat wasn’t having his best game and still played nearly 11 minutes...Things could change. He’s going if he’s not playing much. But hard to see that happening the way Desjardins has been deploying him.There is value in playing for the world junior, but the Canucks aren’t going to loan him out if it makes their team weaker.
Right now, it does.
“It’d be a great experience for him but he’s become a big part of our team,… Dorsett said. “But I also see it from a player’s point of view. It’d be exciting to go and represent your country.…
Horvat was back to his old tricks in the faceoff circle on Tuesday, going 5-2 for a 71 percent success rate.