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Vancouver Canucks shut out for 2nd time in 3 games, this time by Sabres |
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Thursday January 25 - Buffalo Sabres 4 - Vancouver Canucks 0
I'll embed last night's video recap as usual but I'm not sure what you'll find in the way of highlights. The Vancouver Canucks hung around until late in the third period but never threatened in their 4-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
The Canucks weren't alone in getting humiliated by Buffalo this week. The Sabres went 3-for-3 on their western swing, beating Calgary 2-1 in overtime on Monday, then shutting out Edmonton 5-0 on Tuesday.
With his new close-cropped hair and clean shave, Robin Lehner's back-to-back shutouts are the first for the Sabres since Ryan Miller did the deed nearly six years ago—and the franchise's longest shutout streak since 2003. It was an easy night for the fiery Swede, who stopped 30 shots but was rarely tested. He wasn't even named one of the games three stars! (1. Sam Reinhart, 2. Rasmus Ristolainen, 3. Brock Boeser)
Put it this way—as much as we love the try in Alex Biega, something's wrong when he's your team's shot leader for the night, with five. Brock Boeser was right behind with four—and he had some moments, including generating a scoring chance by sweeping the puck to the slot from his backside after falling on a buttonhook attempt near the left-wing boards.
There was a lot of random falling in the game, by both teams, as well as plenty of pucks in skates and passes that completely missed their intended targets. Not exactly a textbook speed-and-skill outing on either side.
One significant low point was Alex Biega negating the Canucks' first power-play opportunity of the game with the score 1-0 in the first period, when the play was stopped after he shot the puck over the glass. Another was Jake Virtanen's no-look back pass to a non-existent Sven Baertschi, which quickly turned into Buffalo's second goal when Nicholas Baptiste was sprung free for his first of the year.
Baptiste must love playing in Vancouver. The 22-year-old journeyman fourth-liner has four goals in his 20-game NHL career. He has scored both times he has played at Rogers Arena.
Starting with the same line combinations that looked like genius against Los Angeles on Tuesday, Travis Green had his lines in a blender by the middle of the first period and kept making changes throughout the game.
In the end, Bo Horvat led all forwards with 20:40. One game after killing it in the faceoff circle against Anze Kopitar and the Kings, he was crushed by the Sabres, going 1-for-5 against Ryan O'Reilly and 2-for-5 against Johan Larsson on his way to a 3-for-14 showing for the night.
With their three-game winning streak, the Sabres are poised to soon crawl out of the Eastern Conference basement. They're now just two points behind the reeling Ottawa Senators, who have lost five straight since coming back from their bye week. Is Phil Housley's team starting to find a pulse?
One Sabres player who was barely noticeable on Thursday was Jack Eichel, who was pointless with three shot attempts in 16:43 of ice time. Perhaps he was saving himself for this weekend's All-Star festivities? Despite his team's woes, Eichel has been a solid contributor this year, leading the Sabres with 20 goals and 49 points in 49 games.
The Canucks, of course, are sending Brock Boeser, who goes into the break leading all rookies with 24 goals but trailing Mat Barzal by eight points in the overall rookie scoring race.
The Professional Hockey Writers Association brought back its mid-season awards voting this year, and today's results saw Boeser now sitting second in the Calder Trophy race.
I just found out that All-Star Weekend in Tampa coincides with the city's annual Pirate Fest. That should make for some lively scenarios—and entertaining memories for Boeser:
The revamped Skills Competition features some new and re-tooled events and will go Saturday at 4 p.m. PT, followed by the 3-on-3 Tournament on Sunday at 12:30 on Sunday.
I didn't get a chance to tune into the CHL Top Prospects Game on Thursday, so that's also on my hockey agenda for this weekend.
I'll close today with some Olympic reading—a tournament preview I put together for Forbes, now that all the key nations have announced their rosters:
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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