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Trade chatter quiet after Vancouver Canucks are shut out by Islanders |
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Saturday February 23 - New York Islanders 4 - Vancouver Canucks 0
If you missed Saturday's game, you didn't miss much. Strong goaltending from Robin Lehner and unfortunate puck luck foiled all the Canucks' scoring opportunities as the New York Islanders finished out their Western Canadian road trip with a return to form in their 4-0 shutout win.
Here are your highlights:
I hate to see goals go to waste, so I've always figured it's better to win games by one goal and lose big than the other way around. But that didn't generate much of a feeling of hope on Saturday night. As soon as Casey Cizikas bounced that puck over Jacob Markstrom to give the Isles the lead at the 4:48 mark of the first period, I felt like it'd be tough for Vancouver to come back.
To their credit, the Canucks did outshoot the Islanders 36-23, largely on the strength of a strong second period where the shots were 15-3. But the flat power play failed again, including on a 24-second 5-on-3 in the middle frame. Vancouver is now 1-for-24 with the man advantage over its last seven games. As solid as Ben Hutton and Troy Stecher have been defensively during Alex Edler's absence, they haven't exactly brought it on the offensive side of the puck: Stecher has three assists in the nine games since Edler was injured and Hutton has two.
Alex Biega and Erik Gudbranson were the blueliners who had prominent nights with the puck, each with four shots on net. But even when they're getting their shots on net, those two aren't striking fear in the hearts of opposing goalies. When the *real* threats like Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser are being held to two and one shots, respectively, the Canucks are going to come out on the losing end of the score more often than not.
After setting my trade-rumour heart a-fluttering by missing Saturday's morning skate, Antoine Roussel did suit up on Saturday night but was pretty quiet, with three shot attempts and a minus-one in 14:19 of ice time.
Remarkably, in just a week, it looks like the Ryan Spooner trade has already gone from a no-risk proposition to an L for Jim Benning. Gifted with a prime spot alongside Pettersson and Boeser, Spooner's ice time dwindled over the course of the game. He played 14:15 and had four shots on goal against the Coyotes, but played just 1:46 in the third period on Saturday, mostly with Markus Granlund and Adam Gaudette, and finished the night with one shot on goal in 9:44 of ice time.
Meanwhile, Sam Gagner has scored in two-straight games and got the game-winner for Edmonton against Anaheim on Saturday. Sigh.
With that win, the Oilers are now just two points behind the Canucks in the Western Conference standings, with a game in hand. Colorado also won their fourth-straight game on Saturday—an impressive 5-0 shutout of Nashville—so the Avs passed the Wild to move into the second wild-card spot. They're now tied with Dallas with 65 points and leave the Canucks five points off the pace.
In relevant games on Sunday, the Stars visit the Blackhawks while the Wild host the Blues and the Coyotes are at home to the Jets.
Sunday's Canucks practice is an optional, but there are some positive sightings in the mix. Demko! Edler! Baertschi!!
We're now less than 24 hours away from the trade deadline, and the scene was mercifully quiet enough on Sunday morning to allow me to do a broad preview of what to watch around the league. Warning: no Canucks content.
There were just three scouts at Rogers Arena for Saturday's game, and two of them were from the Islanders organization, so I don't think teams around the league were chomping at the bit to get one last look before making a decision on Nikolay Goldobin—or anybody else.
I did enjoy the retro touches of the Canucks' Throwback-themed night on Saturday, including this awesome video.
Unfortunately, the on-ice product also reminded me of all.that.losing, especially in the 70s and 80s. Once again, it looks like this Canucks team is having a tough time keeping pace with its competition as the stakes get higher.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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