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After 1-goal loss at MSG, Vancouver Canucks get back at it vs. NY Islanders

November 13, 2018, 2:57 PM ET [457 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Monday November 12 - New York Rangers 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1

Can't *get a point* in 'em all—although Elias Pettersson's last-second shot came tantalizingly close to extending the Vancouver Canucks' streak to seven games on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

Here are your highlights from the first outright loss of this six-game road trip:



In a game that was short on highlight-reel moments, it kinda makes sense to start at the end, where the clock ticked down as Petey tried to set up for the perfect game-tying shot—almost like it was basketball, and he didn't want to give the opposition a chance to go back the other way.

Officially, there were five seconds left on the clock when Pettersson got his shot on goal. That left enough time for both Jake Virtanen and Bo Horvat to try to collect the garbage before the final buzzer sounded. It was also pretty much Vancouver's only threatening moment of the night with the man advantage.




The Canucks were 0-for-4 on the power play on Monday and have now failed to convert with the man advantage in three of their four games on this road trip so far. The only exception was their 2-for-5 performance in Boston. There's no doubt that Brock Boeser and Alex Edler are missed on PP1.

That being said—it sure looked to me like new coach David Quinn has the Rangers playing some structured, defensively sound hockey. The Canucks were outshot for the first time in six games (27-26) and held to less than 30 shots for the first time in five.

It wasn't the most exciting game, since chances were at a premium on both sides, but Quinn seems to have gotten good buy-in from his players after dropping the hammer with early-season moves like the healthy scratch of veteran Kevin Shattenkirk. With the win, the Rangers are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division. Rebuild over, or will they still try to move impending UFAs Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes as the year rolls on?

Much has been made of Nikolay Goldobin's inability to convert on his scoring chances, so it was nice to see him fire a laser past Henrik Lundqvist after being freed from the penalty box in the second period, for Vancouver's only goal.




Yes, his defensive game still isn't quite all there, but I do think his chemistry with Pettersson makes him valuable. And by the way, his eight assists this season are already a career high; his previous best was six assists to go along with his eight goals last year, in 38 NHL games.

I'd say the turning point in the game was Michael Del Zotto's post-crossbar-post shot, less than a minute after Goldobin's goal. If it had gone in, the Canucks would have had a 2-0 lead that might have been enough to deflate the Rangers. It was also too bad that the officials incorrectly called a goal on the ice and stopped the play. I wonder if the Canucks would have been able to keep the pressure on if the play had been allowed to continue?

Instead, after the video review, Cody McLeod dropped the gloves with Darren Archibald in a classic old-school momentum-changing move. Eight and a half minutes later, the next goal went to the Rangers, tying the game, after a lost draw by Bo Horvat on the penalty kill.

The game winner was a quick strike, too. With 8:41 to play in the third, 20-year-old rookie Brett Howden tallied his 10th point of the year. After an icing, Markus Granlund lost the ensuing draw to Jesper Fast. Goldobin blocked the initial shot by Jimmy Vesey before Howden found the loose puck and beat Jacob Markstrom.




Onwards.

Tuesday November 13 - Vancouver Canucks at New York Islanders - 4 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650

Vancouver Canucks: 19 GP, 10-7-2, 22 pts, first in Pacific Division
New York Islanders: 16 GP, 8-6-2, 18 pts, fifth in Metropolitan Division

The NHL schedule was light on Monday night, so the Canucks' loss didn't cost them first place in the Pacific. That may change if they don't pick up points on Tuesday in Brooklyn.

The Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks are currently both one point behind Vancouver, but the Flames are idle until Thursday. Keep an eye on the Sharks as they host Nashville tonight; that'll be the late game that runs on Sportsnet after the Canucks take on the New York Islanders.

Much like the Rangers, this Islanders team was supposed to be in shambles this season but has come out of the gate pretty well under a new coach. The Islanders' .563 points percentage ranks them 14th overall, two spots behind Vancouver (.579), and the team that led the league by a mile in goals against last season (3.57 goals against per game) has trimmed that number by more than a goal under Barry Trotz—they're fifth-best at 2.56 heading into Tuesday's contest against the Canucks.

A big part of that has come from improved goaltending. A resurgent Thomas Greiss boasts a 1.98 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in nine appearances, while newly sober Robin Lehner is a respectable 2.59 and .921.

If you missed it, the fiery Lehner wrote a first-person account for The Athletic at the beginning of the season, talking about how his bipolar disorder had been driving him to drink and what he has done to change course.




It's terrific to see more and more players who are willing to open up about their personal challenges. When players like Lehner emerge successfully on the other side of treatment, that has to be encouraging for others who might be struggling but are hesitant to speak up or get help.

Lehner gets the night off on Tuesday after giving up three goals and taking the loss in both of the Islanders' last two games: on the road against Tampa Bay last Thursday and Florida last Saturday. Greiss' last game was a 4-3 shootout loss to Montreal on November 5.

You may remember that our old pal Luca Sbisa turned a PTO with the Islanders into a one-year contract out of preseason? Well, the Isles' blue line is a lot healthier so far this year. After playing in three of the Islanders' first five games of the season, Sbisa has been healthy-scratched for 11 straight games, but will be in the lineup tonight.




After losing John Tavares, the Islanders are not as powerful offensively as they were last season, but Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson are showing that they can also be successful without Tavares as their centre. Nelson leads his team with eight goals and Bailey has actually picked up his scoring pace after signing a contract extension that pays him $5 million a year for the next six seasons. Bailey has 17 points in the Islanders' first 16 games.

It's too bad that we're missing out on another head-to-head matchup between last year's top two Calder Trophy finalists. Playing between Bailey and Anders Lee, Mat Barzal continues to put up points—14 so far—but is also tied for a team-worst minus-9 as a first-line centre. With Brock Boeser home in Vancouver tending to his groin injury, I guess the matchup of young studs tonight will be Barzal vs. Elias Pettersson.

No morning skate on Tuesday for the Canucks, who didn't even have to change hotels for this particular back-to-back. So nothing's official yet, but the feeling seems to be that Jacob Markstrom will start in net once again on Tuesday.

We'll have to wait and see if Travis Green makes any other changes to his lineup after the loss.

Enjoy the game!
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