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Vancouver Canucks Game Review: Another Loss, More Injuries, Can't Score |
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Tuesday February 4: Boston Bruins 3 - Vancouver Canucks 1
The Vancouver Canucks have become a very consistent hockey club these days—consistently poor. Now the owners of the NHL's longest current losing streak at five games, the Canucks can't score and continue to lose more bodies to injury every day.
The loss to Boston on Tuesday wasn't quite as dismal as Monday's defeat in Detroit. With a couple of worthy highlights, lets take a look:
First off, let's celebrate the shining light that was Raphael Diaz! The undersized defenseman who couldn't get into the Montreal Canadiens' lineup might have been the Canucks' best player on Tuesday. With Dan Hamhuis the latest blue-liner to join the injured list, Torts threw Diaz right into the fire. He led the team in ice time in his first game with 25:39 and was a plus-1, scoring the Canucks' only goal on a long shot from the point midway through the second period.
If Tortorella keeps using Diaz at that rate, he should be just as tired as the rest of his teammates by the end of the week.
In addition to Hamhuis' absense, Chris Higgins was the other Canuck to disappear with an undisclosed injury on Tuesday. Just for the record, here are the players now on the shelf for the Canucks:
Forwards:
- Mike Santorelli (out for season)
- Brad Richardson (undisclosed)
- Chris Higgins (undisclosed)
Defense:
- Kevin Bieksa (injured reserve—bruised foot)
- Chris Tanev (injured reserve—broken thumb)
- Yannick Weber (injured reserve—shoulder?)
- Andrew Alberts (injured reserve—concussion)
- Dan Hamhuis (undisclosed)
For what it's worth, Hamhuis' agent Wade Arnott has told News1130 that his client's injury is relatively minor:
If not for his brute stubbornness, I'd think Henrik Sedin could be on the injured list as well. In his second game back, the captain played 20:30 but has a completely blank stat line except for taking one face-off—which he won, interestingly enough.
Henrik was in obvious discomfort during the game, and was taking action during the play to protect his injured ribs. In a situation like that, it's impossible for him to play close to his normal level. I don't blame him for that natural tendency to exercise caution, but it makes me even more nervous that the injury could get worse without much contact at all.
Henrik's being a warrior, and seems to be trying to make up for his lack of contribution with the puck by being a much more vocal leader than we're used to seeing. John Tortorella once again took the Canucks' time out to rest after an icing call, but Henrik called the troops together away from the bench to go over some strategy. Is he just trying to be a motivator, or does that show a certain lack of faith in Tortorella and the rest of the coaching staff?
The team's so short of bodies, I don't think they'll pull Henrik from the lineup unless he requests it—which he won't. Expect to see him struggling around the ice on Thursday in Montreal.
Who's next to join the injury parade? My money's on Ryan Kesler.
He bravely stood in the empty net and blocked two shots from Bruins' defenseman Kevan Miller in the dying seconds—when the loss was already assured. Valiant, but dangerous. I wasn't the only one to notice that the last one looked like it did some damage—he was in obvious pain as he staggered off to the dressing room after the final horn:
For a game against the Bruins, the proceedings were generally pretty subdued. Unlike the last time Vancouver played in Boston, there were just 10 minutes in penalties dished out on the night, though Boston's game-winner by Jarome Iginla came on the man-advantage in the second period while Jason Garrison was off for holding.
David Booth had another feisty night, finishing with three shots and six hits—though he was also minus-2. Booth may have played his most physical game as a Canuck as he got into it with Johnny Boychuk throughout the night—not exactly a carryover from 2011, but one of the few examples of sustained truculence that we witnessed.
After all his kind words towards Roberto Luongo earlier in the week, Milan Lucic sniped him for Boston's opener on a terrific play, but Brad Marchand was denied his goal after it was ruled that Torey Krug had interfered with Roberto Luongo in his crease on the play.
Marchand's disallowed goal came less than two minutes after Diaz had scored to bring the Canucks within one, and looked like an opportunity for Vancouver to press for the tie. They tried, but managed just two shots before Daniel Paille was able to scoop up a David Booth giveaway and shoot the insurance marker past Luongo.
The Canucks are now the proud owners of the worst record in the NHL in 2014, and the shouts are getting louder that something must be done. The clock is ticking towards the Olympic trade freeze at the end of the week. Will Mike Gillis make another deal before then?
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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