Thursday January 26 - Arizona Coyotes 3 - Vancouver Canucks 0
John Shorthouse mentioned it during the live broadcast of the Vancouver Canucks' shutout loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night, not long after I thought it. The Canucks are limping into the All-Star break on a disappointing note, just as they did before the Christmas break.
Can you find a highlight worth watching in this package from Thursday night?
In the end, this game will likely be best remembered for the fact that the Canucks didn't record their first official shot of the game until the 8:12 mark of the SECOND period—and that was a length-of-the-ice clear by Alex Burrows on the penalty kill, which just happened to reach Arizona goaltender Mike Smith.
Since NHL started tracking play-by-play in 2003 no team has gone as long as the #Canucks did tonight for their 1st shot on goal (28:12)
Considering that Vancouver squandered nearly half the game without even testing Smith, it's almost impressive that they did manage 19 shots by the end of the game.
The sequence where they needed to score was when they hemmed the Coyotes into their own zone for close to three minutes in the late stages of the second period. With the score 1-0 for Arizona, play began in the Vancouver zone with 3:24 on the clock, when Alexander Burmistrov won the draw over Michael Chaput. But a missed shot by Connor Murphy quickly turned the flow in the other direction, and the Canucks rolled through all four of their lines before the next stoppage in play with just four seconds left in the period.
The Sedins didn't come into the mix until near the end. It was largely the fourth line and the Sutter-Granlund-Megna line that kept the pressure on and prevented the Coyotes from changing their personnel. Check out these shift lengths for the trapped Arizona players!
• Connor Murphy (D) 3:17
• Jakob Chychrun (D) 2:43
• Alexander Burmistrov (C) 2:10
• Christian Fischer (RW) 2:10
• Jamie McGinn (LW) 2:04
With all that pressure—and facing TWO rookies in Chychrun and Fischer—the Canucks fired 10 shots toward Smith during that sequence. Only three got through. Two were blocked by Chychrun and five missed the net, including three wild forays by Alex Burrows that eventually allowed the Coyotes to change and, ultimately, caused the Canucks to lose possession.
It was Vancouver's best chance to score and a goal would have tied the game, but it was not to be.
So, Ryan Miller records his first-ever loss in Glendale and since the Canucks didn't catch a break on the out-of-town scoreboard either, they'll head off for their All-Star vacations on the outside of the playoff picture—back in 10th place in the Western Conference standings thanks to Thursday-night wins by Calgary and L.A.
For all the success that the Canucks have had over the last month, it's startling to realize that their position in the standings at this point almost the same as it was at this time last year.
The Canucks fell out of a wild-card playoff spot with two straight losses right before the 2016 All-Star break. Their record at the break was 20-19-11 for 51 points in 50 games, putting them fifth in the Pacific and 23rd overall.
This year, Vancouver has three more wins and one more point, and they're sitting 19th overall, but last night's loss slides them back to sixth in the Pacific thanks to the wins by the Flames and Kings.
As you know, the Canucks' real collapse came in the late stages of last season, when the injuries piled up and the team went 11-19-2 in its last 32 games—despite playing 19 of those last 32 games at home and just 13 on the road.
This year, the team is getting healthier heading into the break—Philip Larsen returned to action last night and Jannik Hansen and Ben Hutton shouldn't be too far away after the break, so that leaves only Erik Gudbranson and Derek Dorsett out long term. But the Canucks still have 17 more road games on their schedule—and that could be a problem for a team that is a grim 6-15-3 away from Rogers Arena this season.
The first test will be six games in 10 nights on the road in mid-February. March begins with a typical three-in-four California trip and also includes a tough Western Conference five-gamer—Edmonton, Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota and (whew) Winnipeg. Three of the team's final five games will be also be on the road in April. The traditional end-of-season home-and-home against the Oilers looks a lot more daunting than it has in past years!
SportsClubStats reports that last night's loss cut the Canucks' playoff chances almost in half, dropping them by 10.9 percent to odds of 14.9 percent that they'll get into the postseason. With so many teams bunched so close together in both conferences, the playoff picture will remain volatile, which is going to make for a murkier-than-usual atmosphere heading towards the February 28th trade deadline.
All-Star Schedule
For now, let's set all that aside and focus on first-time All Star Bo Horvat and what should be a fun weekend in Los Angeles.
Click here for Ben Kuzma's Horvat profile in The Province, which includes some insight into his relationship with his girlfriend Holly Donaldson and where he'll fit in this year's All-Star mix.
The festivities begin tonight with the unveiling of the rest of the 100 greatest NHL players. That runs at 6:30 p.m. on Sportsnet.
Saturday, catch Horvat in the new Four-Line Challenge and up against Vladimir Tarasenko in the Fastest Skater competition at the Skills Competition, which runs at 4 p.m. on Sportsnet and CBC. The broadcast will begin, as usual for a Saturday, at 3:30.
The broadcast for the 3-on-3 All-Star Games will begin on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
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