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Goals drying up but Canucks remain confident after 2-1 loss to the Devils

November 11, 2019, 2:42 PM ET [339 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Sunday November 10 - New Jersey Devils 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1

Quinn Hughes got an assist while Jack was kept off the scoresheet, but the Hughes brothers' head-to-head battle is now 2-0 in Jack's favour after the New Jersey Devils beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 at Rogers Arena on Sunday.

Here are your highlights:



I feel like Jim and Ellen Hughes have a heavy travel schedule this season, just making sure they get a chance to watch their boys play on opposite sides of the continent. Of course, it makes sense for them to attend when Quinn and Jack are both in the same game. And Vancouver was an easy destination for them after they watched youngest son Luke pick up a silver medal with Team USA at the World U17 Challenge in Medicine Hat on Saturday.

Luke finished the tournament with a goal and three assists in four games. And just to keep things confusing, there's *another* Jack Hughes on that U.S. team as well. He finished up with three goals and four assists.

After back-to-back losses in Chicago and Winnipeg, Travis Green made another tweak to his lineup on Sunday, re-inserting Adam Gaudette on the fourth line in place of Loui Eriksson, who had dressed in the previous seven but is pointless so far this season and averaging just 9:47 a game when he does get into the lineup. That's more than four minutes less than his average ice time from last season.

Gaudette got off to an energetic start and finished the night with three shots on goal. And snake-bitten Tanner Pearson, who hasn't scored since the fourth game of the season, led all Canucks with five shots on Sunday.

But once again, Mackenzie Blackwood was a stud in the New Jersey net, stopping 30 of 31 shots he faced and improving his career record against Vancouver to 4-0-0 with a .972 save percentage. Blackwood has given up just three goals in four games against the Canucks over the past two seasons, and two of his three career shutouts have come against Vancouver.

Blackwood also became the first opposing goaltender to earn a regulation win at Rogers Arena this season. The Canucks were 4-0-2 at home going into Sunday's contest.

Much like in Winnipeg on Friday, the Canucks were ultimately undone by taking two penalties in quick succession — their only two penalties of the game, as it turned out. Back in the lineup and seemingly no worse for wear after that Patrik Laine shot-block on Friday, Chris Tanev was sent to the box for a slash on Damon Severson midway through the first period. The Devils' power play looked dangerous, particularly with Taylor Hall threatening for much of the night. The Canucks got the first kill, but when Jordie Benn was whistled for a cross-check just 25 seconds after Tanev returned to action, the Devils continued to whip the puck around until Wayne Simmonds connected for his second of the year — just as Kyle Palmieri crashed into Jacob Markstrom and took him out of the play.

Twenty-two seconds later, Jesper Bratt scored what turned out to be the game winner, deflecting a Damon Severson shot past a screened Markstrom.

The Canucks were outshot 11-8 in the first period, but the feeling after the game was that they'd come out ready to play despite the quick turnaround from their road trip. And they got stronger as the game went on.

Vancouver's power play connected midway through the second period, when Brock Boeser sniped his eighth of the season past Blackwood.



That goal came off the rush, but one of the understated skills that Quinn Hughes has brought to PP1 is his ability to keep pucks in the zone by picking off airborne clearing attempts with his stick. That's some insane hand-eye coordination — when it works, it gives the Canucks lots more zone time with the man advantage and keeps the opposing penalty killers hemmed in their zone, unable to change.

The Canucks outshot New Jersey 14-11 in the second period and 9-5 in the third, where they kept the pressure on and did everything but score.

Travis Green mixed up his lines a bit in the second half of the game, most notably putting J.T. Miller back with Bo Horvat in an effort to get that second line going offensively at five-on-five.

After the game, he was supportive of his group once again, even though the goals have stopped coming.



A one-goal loss became a minor matter when we learned after the game — the Hockey Fights Cancer game — that Jacob Markstrom had lost his father.



Condolences to Jacob and the rest of his family.

The Canucks are back on the ice at Rogers Arena on Monday for practice, ahead of their Tuesday game against the Nashville Predators.

Micheal Ferland is reported to have skated on his own before Monday's practice so that's good news, 12 days after he suffered his concussion in Los Angeles.

And look who's in the main group!



After putting his lines in a blender during Sunday's game, I'm not surprised to see Travis Green experimenting further on Monday. I think the Baertschi-Horvat-Miller combo could be promising!

Josh Leivo finished up on Sunday with Pettersson and Boeser, and stays there on Monday.



The Preds are already in town after their overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

But fear not — these is still hockey action for Canucks fans to follow on Monday.

The Utica Comets are hosting a matinee game against the Syracuse Crunch at noon PT, after weekend games that saw them drop a 2-1 home decision to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night, then snap their four-game losing streak and win their first game in the month of November with a 3-2 overtime victory in Binghamton on Saturday.

Mikey DiPietro was in net for both halves of that back-to-back, his third and fourth games this month. He's quickly proving that he can handle himself at the pro level in his first AHL season — he has yet to give up more than two goals in any game and now boasts a 4-2-0 record with a 1.95 GAA and .930 save percentage. Zane McIntyre had Trent Cull's confidence at the beginning of the season, but that may have eroded a bit last week, when McIntyre was pulled after giving up four goals on 17 shots in 24 minutes against Rochester on November 2, then allowed three in the loss to Binghamton last Wednesday.

Thomas Drance of The Athletic spent the weekend watching the Comets, so he has plenty of observations about the team if you're a subscriber.



They really are separating their season so far into life before-and-after Sven Baertschi; his recall was when the offense started to dry up and those goals against became much more crucial. I'd argue that Reid Boucher's absence is also a very big deal. He hasn't played since November 1, when he suffered what's believed to be a groin injury.

At 4 p.m. PT on Monday, the CIBC Canada Russia Series continues as the Russians play their second game against the OHL All-Stars at Budweiser Gardens in London. The OHL team earned a 4-1 win last Thursday in Kitchener.

Though Vasili Podkolzin has yet to make a mark on the scoresheet, he impressed those who watched him in Kitchener.



For more on Podkolzin, plus a strong weekend from the Canucks' college prospects, let me direct you to Mike Raptis' very through prospects tracker:

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