Roberto Luongo will hear nothing of it:
“Nah … that’s not good enough.” He immediately replied when asked if a “moral victory” was any solace after the Canucks lost for the second time in 5 days to the Detroit Red Wings. “We had a good effort but that’s not good enough. The worst thing you can do, and I’ve been in this situation in the past, is be happy with the effort. It’s disappointing. There’s no excuse for it.”
Luongo is considered by many to be the best goaltender on the planet and one of the things that has elevated him to that lofty perch is his never ending commitment and desire to be the best that he can be. He always expects the best of himself and, subsequently, his team mates, with anything less being unacceptable. He is looked upon as a leader because of it, and should be commended for it. If goalies were eligible to be Captains of their teams in the NHL, rest assured, the “C” on Naslund’s Jersey would be transferred to Lui’s chest next year.
As far as being happy or content with a moral victory, in general, I fully agree with Luongo’s assessment. I’ve been around long enough to remember when getting the puck out of our own end was an accomplishment and something that caused Canuck fans to cheer but, thankfully, things are different now: winning is expected. Lui expects to win, and trying hard or putting in a good effort is a lot like kissing your sister … nothing wrong with it, but it’s not what we strive for.
Having said that, game #12 of this season followed the previous 11, and we all know that there hasn’t been a whole heck of a lot for us Canuck fans to be excited about. “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and you can’t just “flick the switch” … building blocks need to be put in place creating a foundation. From this foundation comes the potential for further success, and most importantly, confidence.
Heading into last night’s game against the Wings, the dreaded “first home game after a road trip” on the heels of barely surviving a 4-game journey east with a 2-2 record, the Canucks were fighting an uphill battle. 96 hours previous, the same Red Wing team had thoroughly demonstrated how long the road back would be if the Canucks were once again to be considered a contender in the very tough Western Conference.
There are a million reasons the team in red is considered one of the best in the league, having finished either 1st or 2nd overall in 6 of the last 7 years. The score last night was identical to the one in Detroit on Wednesday, but the games were at complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
After being thoroughly out-classed in Motown, the rematch at GM Place was, in my opinion, the Canucks best effort of this young season. The game was very fast paced, up-tempo, physical, with excellent goaltending at both ends of the rink. There’s no question that the fans at the garage got their moneys worth … those watching on pay-per-view may beg to differ after discovering that Shaw and Star Choice only have one channel for western telecasts, but that’s a different blog for a different day.
The Canucks perhaps deserved a better fate, but they went toe-to-toe with an elite team and more than held their own. Yes there were some glaring errors that directly led to all 3 goals against, but as far as I know, there weren’t many light switches to flick on back in the Roman Empire either.
Those who have been clamoring for a sixty minute effort from this team may now be asking for twenty. Letting in goals in the last minute of both the 1st and 2nd periods was easily the difference in the game, and allowing Detroit to score a mere 12 seconds after taking a 1-0 lead in the first certainly didn’t help the cause. Timing is everything. All 3 goals were momentum killers, and something that a team looking to find itself can rarely survive, and the Canucks didn’t.
After Matt Cooke finished off an excellent 5-man rush up the ice that was initiated by a top-end recovery of the puck behind his own net and a poised outlet pass by Alexander Edler that gave the Canucks a well earned 1-0 lead, it took a mere 12 seconds for Detroit to even the score.
For some inexplicable reason, Kevin Bieksa decided to try and knock the puck, which was traveling a good 5 feet above his head, out of the air with his stick. Unfortunately, he was successful as the puck fell directly onto Pavel Datsyuk’s stick who immediately snapped it at Luongo. Lui reacted quickly firing out his leg to make the save, but in doing so, gave up a juicy rebound to Tomas Holmstrom streaking towards the net, and he made no mistake.
Again, a Bieksa miscue started the play that led to Detroit’s goal with 17 seconds remaining in the first frame. After committing himself in the Red Wing Zone, the Wings turned on the jets heading up ice resulting in Samuelsson and Filppula making a mockery out of Willie Mitchell’s defensive prowess.
Coming in on a 2 on 1; not once, but twice, they were able to pass the puck through Willie leaving Luongo defenseless against an open net tap-in. Letting the first pass through is one thing, but not going down preventing the second pass, and forcing Flippula to try and beat Luongo, was very un-Willie-like and is another example of how he and this team is struggling.
As for the final Detroit tally 1 minute before the 2nd intermission, the hammer used for nailing the coffin shut was supplied by Edler. Jiri Hudler schooled the young defenseman to the nth degree; making him look more like a pylon as he left him in his wake than the soon-to-be excellent NHL’er he is. The goal came against the run of the play at the time and at the end of sustained pressure and quality scoring chances by the Sedin line.
Perhaps it’s fitting that Daniel and Henrik, who are definitely struggling 5 on 5 with the vast majority of their points coming on the power play, and are being criticized more and more frequently in coach Vigneault’s post-game analysis, were on the ice for the back-breaker after having their best shift of the night. What else would us long-suffering Canuck fans expect?
While not quite as bad as the past when having to be content with a simple clearing of the puck across our own blue line was an accomplishment, Canuck fans can refrain from jumping off the band-wagon this morning knowing that things appear to heading in the right direction. 10 days ago they went 31 minutes without a shot on goal against the Los Angeles Kings, so things are definitely looking up.
Bieksa and Edler, other than their previously mentioned momentum killing gaffes, for the most part, like the over whelming majority of their team mates, had very strong games last night. Lui said it’s not good enough, and he’s right. They lost the game, and that is not good enough.
However, in comparison to where they were less than 2 weeks ago, I’m more than satisfied with the effort and the fact that they followed up a must-win game in Washington 48 hours earlier (and a 6 hour cross-continental flight) with their best game of the season against an elite team … a team by the way, that now sits #1 in the NHL standings.
Our all-world goaltender said otherwise for public consumption, but I’m positive in private he would agree with Kevin Bieksa’s response to the same “moral victory” question:
“Ya, it was a solid game … building off the Washington game we kept moving forward … we’re close.”
The Grades …
A Pyatt
B Luongo, Kesler
C+ Ohlund, Bieksa, Salo, Morrison, Burrows, Ritchie, Linden, Naslund, Edler, Cooke, Isbister
C Miller, Mitchell, Raymond, SedinX2
Next up is the struggling Predators of Nashville (?) on Thursday before the Canucks start a grueling, and more than likely, tell-tale stretch of 8 games in 18 days against the other 4 teams that occupy the North West Division.
For those of you who may not be everyday visitors to HockeyBuzz and are not aware, you can access previous Blogs by hitting the drop-box at the top left of the homepage and clicking on my name. The Bloggers on here are typing fast-and-furious-like resulting in Blogs disappearing off the front page within hours … so make sure you look for any you may have missed.
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