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Canucks acquire G Marek Mazanec after Mikey Dipietro gets crushed by Sharks |
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Monday February 11 - San Jose Sharks 7 - Vancouver Canucks 2
Just like that, the Vancouver Canucks' playoff future lies in jeopardy due to injury issues. With Jacob Markstrom and Brandon Sutter sidelined, the Canucks were crushed by the San Jose Sharks on a snowy Monday night at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
We found out on Monday morning that Zack MacEwen would make his NHL debut against San Jose, skating on a line with Bo Horvat and Antoine Roussel. All things considered, MacEwen made out all right. Travis Green held his ice time to 9:45; he finished the night as a minus-two with three shot attempts (two on goal), a hit, a block, a giveaway, one lost draw, and a high-quality dish to Derrick Pouliot in the slot for his first NHL point—a rare bright spot on a grim night.
As it turned out, MacEwen shared his big debut with Mikey DiPietro, the 19-year-old netminder who has been serving as Jacob Markstrom's emergency backup for the last week while Thatcher Demko recovers from his knee sprain.
Barely a month after his crushing quarterfinal defeat with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, DiPietro was back in net at Rogers Arena, this time to take on some of the sharpest shooters in the NHL.
I won't dwell too much on the details. The Sharks scored three times on their first five shots, with Melker Karlsson's deflection of a Brent Burns laser at the 8:48 mark of the first period standing up as the game-winning goal. One of the most threatening offensive forces in the league this season and favored by many as the Western Conference team that could challenge for the Stanley Cup, San Jose stretched its current winning streak to six games as it concluded its road sweep through Western Canada, and extended its current streak against the Canucks to 11-0-1. Vancouver hasn't beaten San Jose in regulation since March 31, 2016, at the Shark Tank.
As far as I can see, the Canucks' last regulation win over San Jose at Rogers Arena—including playoffs—came on January 21, 2012, when Cody Hodgson had two goals including the game winner.
Jacob Markstrom can also personally console DiPietro for how his night went. After he was acquired by the Canucks at the 2014 trade deadline, Markstrom played just four games for Vancouver the rest of that year. The following season, he was slipped through waivers, where he shone in Utica and eventually helped backstop the Comets to the Calder Cup Final.
Markstrom was also recalled by the Canucks that year, after Ryan Miller was injured in late February. He backed up Eddie Lack for three games before drawing his first NHL assignment of the year at Rogers Arena against the Sharks on March 3, 2015—and promptly let in three goals on four shots in 7:45 before being pulled. San Jose went on to win 6-2.
Markstrom was 25 when that happened—and already had 47 games of NHL experience under his belt. So while much is being made of DiPietro's age and inexperience, his task on Monday would have been tough for anybody.
It also made me think of poor Richard Bachman, who was shelled for six goals against in Minnesota in mid-November when the Canucks were undermanned in front of him, like last night, and Markstrom just couldn't go.
As is typical of him, DiPietro seemed to take the night in stride and find the positives.
On Tuesday, Jim Benning finally pulled the trigger and brought in an additional goalie.
Mazanec is a 27-year-old with good NHL size at 6'4" and 202 pounds. He was in his second season with the Rangers organization after being signed as a free agent during the summer of 2017, and has a 7-8-3 record with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack this season, with a .903 save percentage and 3.01 goals-against average.
After Mike McKenna was scooped up by the Philadelphia Flyers when the Canucks put him on waivers in early January, Jim Benning has been waiting for the Flyers to re-assign him as their goaltending roster got healthier. Because they were the team that lost him, the Canucks would have had the first crack at re-acquiring McKenna.
But Chuck Fletcher outwaited Benning. He assigned McKenna to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for a conditioning stint on January 30—and those are limited to two weeks, so his time is nearly up. But with back-to-back games for the Canucks on Wednesday and Thursday and Markstrom's status still somewhat unclear, Benning had to make a move today—and give up an asset to acquire a goaltender on an NHL deal.
They had no other choice. Demko's still on IR and down on the farm, Richard Bachman is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Ivan Kulbakov, who only has an AHL contract, has been carrying most of the load in Utica and has been helped out lately by Michael Leighton, who's still playing on a professional tryout contract. The only other netminder currently in the Canucks' system is 18-year-old Matthew Thiessen, who was drafted last summer. Not only is he even younger and more raw than DiPietro, he's also on his way to college next season, so he can't be signed to a pro contract.
Will Mazanec's arrival trigger DiPietro's return to the OHL? I guess that depends on Markstrom's health—whether his 'tightness' is a short-term thing that he can play through, or if it'll keep him out in California as well.
For the moment, the Canucks have the roster space to carry three goalies, now that Brandon Sutter is on injured reserve with a groin issue. Sutter didn't practice on Sunday but did take Monday's morning skate, which made me wonder if he'd been traded when I saw his name was missing from the roster sheet before Monday's game.
I wonder how long this issue has been bothering him? Sutter hasn't looked great since returning to the lineup in January after missing 26 games with his shoulder injury. He had just one goal and one assist in those 13 games, and was a minus-five.
Sutter's full no-trade clause this season hasn't quieted the whispers that he could be expendable at the deadline this year, but his injury most likely puts an end to that speculation. For the final two years of his contract, starting next year, he's allowed to specify 15 teams where he can't be traded.
As Sutter joins Alex Edler and Sven Baertschi on injured reserve, Benning's possibilities for potentially moving out a veteran in exchange for picks or prospects at the deadline have now all-but-evaporated.
After all that, I'm compelled to end on a couple of positive notes.
First, look how Petey fools Brent Burns before setting up Bo Horvat with this pass:
And second, congrats to Tyler Madden, who had one assist and four shots on goal as Northeastern won its second-straight Beanpot with a 4-2 win over Boston College.
In addition to the sweet move he makes in the corner to give his team a 2-0 lead late in the second, he's also the guy who goes fearlessly to the net—and gets flattened for his efforts.
This should put a smile on your face for the rest of the day.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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