|
Quinn Hughes named Rookie of the Month as Canucks move on to Columbus |
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday February 29 - Toronto Maple Leafs 4 - Vancouver Canucks 2
I was on Whitecaps detail on Saturday, so I didn't get to watch all of the Canucks' loss to the Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.
And — Canucks content — I did spot Daniel and Henrik Sedin almost as soon as I arrived at B.C. Place, escorting a throng of kids up to a suite. They're everywhere!
Honestly, I don't feel like I missed much, game-wise. The Canucks followed a similar template to their previous two games on this road trip — get down early by two, fight back, then give up a backbreaker early in the third period.
If you'd care to watch for yourself, here are your highlights:
Early on, it looked like we were going to be treated to a 9-8 thriller, didn't it?
Both teams scored on their first shots of the game: Freddie Gauthier for the Leafs at 2:45, then Tyler Motte with a hard-working effort for his fourth of the year at 5:28.
Less than a minute later, Toronto re-took the lead on Auston Matthews' 45th of the year, then Tanner Pearson re-tied the game at 11:01.
After that, the meaningful scoring chances started to dry up on both sides. But once again, the Canucks didn't seem to be ready when they came out for the third period, which allowed defense call-up Martin Marincin, of all people, to go all Bobby Orr on us: carrying the puck all the way in from his own blue line and following up on his rebound after hitting the post on his initial shot.
Tyler Myers and Oscar Fantenberg have been burned a fair amount on this trip, but the listless defensive coverage on Marincin's goal came courtesy of Chris Tanev and Quinn Hughes.
Despite their well-publicized defensive shortcomings, the Leafs did a great job of shutting things down after their go-ahead goal — at least, until I had to leave to go to B.C. Place. Even though the shots in the final frame were a surprising 13-11 for Vancouver, the Canucks generated nothing of significance off a William Nylander penalty early in the period and took two penalties of their own later on, losing valuable minutes of potential offensive time.
Zach Hyman sealed the win with an empty-netter, and in their debuts at the ACC, Hughes finished with a minus-two and saw his point streak snapped. Elias Pettersson was also pointless, a minus-one and had three shot attempts, none of which ended up on goal.
Just as I typed that, a very expected email landed in my inbox.
Hughes didn't need Leap Day to earn his first Rookie of the Month honour. He led all rookies with 15 points in February, and his 13 assists tied him for the league lead in that category.
The rest of his achievements, you've already heard about — tying Ray Bourque as the only defensemen with four three-point games in their rookie years and joining Nick Lidstrom as the only other blueliner to hit 50 points in his first season.
The other rookies who earned honourable mentions in February were goaltenders Mackenzie Blackwood and Igor Shesterkin and forwards Dominik Kubalik, Denis Gurianov and Ryan Suzuki as well as Cale Makar.
Victor Olofsson is the only player to have won Rookie of the Month twice so far this season — in October and December. He has been back in the Buffalo lineup since mid-month after missing 15 games due to injury, but is now pointless in his last five games after putting up five points in the first three games following his return.
After the losses in Ottawa and Toronto, the Canucks went 5-6-2 in the month of February — on par with their other rough month, when they were 5-7-3 in November. They bounced back from that, so the question now is whether they'll be able to do the same down the stretch.
They started the month sitting first in the Pacific, and had built a nine-point playoff cushion by the time they knocked off the New York Islanders on Feb. 1.
By the time the dust settled on Saturday night, they were third in the Pacific — six points behind surging Vegas, and just two up on Nashville, Winnipeg and Arizona — who are occupying eighth, ninth and 10th in the West.
Sunday March 1 - Vancouver Canucks at Columbus Blue Jackets - 4 p.m. - Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 64 GP, 34-24-6, 74 pts, third in Pacific Division
Columbus Blue Jackets: 66 GP, 31-21-14, 76 pts, fifth in Metropolitan Division
A fourth game in six nights on a road trip is not normally a recipe for success, but the Canucks very much need to collect some points in Columbus on Sunday — in their last game of the year in the Eastern Time Zone.
With the quick turnaround between games, we won't get much lineup information until game time, but we do know that winger Justin Bailey has been recalled from the Utica Comets on an emergency basis.
That would suggest an injury to a Canucks forward on Saturday night — and Jay Beagle certainly seemed to be labouring after blocking a slap shot from Calle Rosen with 5:08 to play in the second period.
After that, Beagle played just four more shifts. His last appearance came when he helped to kill Alex Edler's third-period penalty; he didn't play in the last 6:36 of the game — although that could also have been because the Canucks were looking for a goal.
Travis Green is scheduled to meet with the media a couple of hours before gametime, with a roster update.
I also wonder if Louis Domingue will get the nod in net against Columbus, giving Thatcher Demko a rest after a heavy week of work?
As for the Blue Jackets, this will be the first of two meetings in a week between the two teams. They'll meet again next Sunday at Rogers Arena to wrap up their season series.
As I'm sure you've heard, John Tortorella has worked his way back into the Jack Adams conversation this season — keeping the Blue Jackets in playoff contention even though the team lost a bunch of big-name players to free agency last summer and has had its depth tested even further by a Canucks-like rash of injuries this season.
Key players who aren't expected to be in uniform against Vancouver include defenseman Seth Jones, rookie goaltender Elvis Merzlikins and forwards Cam Atkinson, Josh Anderson, Riley Nash, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Alexandre Texier. Defenseman Ryan Murray was activated on Saturday after missing 34 games with a lower-body injury and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo is expected to make his third appearance of this week. He returned to action as a backup on Monday after missing 24 games with a knee injury and was immediately thrust into action when Merzlikins was injured during the game.
The Blue Jackets have just one win in their last 11 games — in overtime — but the five points from OT and shootout losses have been enough to let them keep pace in the Metro playoff race. They're coming into Sunday's game in the second wild-card spot in the East, one point ahead of Carolina and two up on the Rangers, who are getting hammered by Philadelphia in the Sunday morning game on NBC.
Also on the out-of-town scoreboard, Canucks fans should keep an eye on Calgary (73 pts) at Florida, at 1 p.m. ET, Washington at Minnesota (71 pts) at 5 p.m. PT and, to a lesser extent, L.A. at Vegas (80 pts) at 7:30 p.m. PT.
With that, you're up to date. Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»