Monday March 14 - Winnipeg Jets 5 - Vancouver Canucks 2
Once again, the Vancouver Canucks were unable to string together three straight wins, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
Though the Canucks fell into a 5-0 hole before picking up late goals from Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen, I thought Jacob Markstrom had a pretty good night in net. He got beat by awkward deflections and off massive defensive breakdowns in front of him.
Markstrom earned a big cheer from the crowd at Rogers Arena when he made this big glove save on Paul Postma with the Jets already leading 1-0 in the first period.
Markstrom had lost his stick and his blocker a few seconds earlier as the scrum developed in front of the net. He waved his bare hand at the ref, but didn't get the whistle, so he got back to work.
With all those sticks and skates around him, something could have gone so terribly wrong. I think the Canucks' biggest win of the night was that their goalie of the future didn't get hurt on the play.
He sure was pissed that he didn't get the whistle, though. He took a strip off the referee in the ensuing TV timeout.
Though Markstrom made it to the end of the game in one piece, the same could not be said for three of his teammates.
Markus Granlund didn't make it past the first period after being injured on a hit from Marko Dano, then Luca Sbisa left the game midway through the second after this hit from Adam Lowry:
The Tryamkin hype train has been steamrolling pretty hard over the last week, but I'm glad we'll get a chance to see what the big guy can do in a game situation. The Canucks have looked good matched up against the Avs this year, winning both their games to date, but Colorado has some good goal-scorers on its team. That'll be a good test.
I wonder if there will be more injury call-ups?
Here's a little clarification on yesterday's transactions.
For clarity, Grenier up on emerg recall for Burrows. Gaunce was emerg for Hansen, who is practising. Transactions not simultaneous.
Teams are limited in the number of call-ups they can make after the trade deadline, unless they're for emergency injury-replacement purposes, which is why this matters.
If the injuries continue to pile up, there could be room for more recalls. No announcements so far today.
We didn't see much from Alex Grenier last night. He finished the night as a minus-two with one shot on goal, one giveaway and one penalty, playing primarily with Bo Horvat and Derek Dorsett.
At the beginning of the third period, I wondered if he was feeling the effects of the time change and the long travel day. Jason Botchford broke down Grenier's "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" adventure in Monday night's Provies:
It wasn’t just that Alex Grenier was asked to play four games in four nights. It was also the reality he flew in today from Utica, which includes a drive first to Syracuse and then two flights to get to Vancouver.
It was also that the three previous games were all on the road, in Rochester, Albany and finally Providence, a four-hour drive from Utica....
Here’s the thing, Grenier’s only other NHL game was in November when he played his third game in three nights.
Hopefully Grenier will get a better opportunity to show his stuff. “I’ve learned a lot from this game,” he told Botchford. “I’m going to build on it. It’s a high speed game out there and every little mistake, even if you’re tired, is going to cost something.”
For once, the Canucks finished the night with the edge in the faceoff circle, winning 56 percent of their draws, but it didn't help at all. The final box score also showed a close 29-28 game in shots, but 15 of those shots for the Canucks came in the third period, after the Jets took their foot off the gas once they had a 5-0 lead.
Also disheartening—the loss came without Dustin Byfuglien in the lineup for Winnipeg. He was a late scratch, but unlike Evander Kane last year, track suits do not seem to have anything to do with his absence. Winnipeg also started Michael Hutchinson, who has the worst record of all three Jets goalies this season with a .905 save percentage and 2.96 goals-against average, but I don't think the Canucks had a decent scoring chance in the first 40-plus minutes of play.
Jake Virtanen did pick up his seventh goal of the year on a nice individual wheel-and-shoot effort from the slot in the last minute of play, but he was pulled off the Sedin line by the second period—it looks like Willie shuffled his lines after Granlund was injured. Linden Vey slotted in with the twins initially but—whaddaya know—Radim Vrbata actually saw some ice time with his old pals in the third. That'll showcase him nicely for his upcoming free agency!
Finally—what is it about Marko Dano and games in Vancouver?
Last season, Dano scored two goals and added an assist when the Columbus Blue Jackets routed the Canucks 6-2 on March 19. Last night, he did it again—two goals and an assist, this time for Winnipeg.
Dano only scored eight goals in 35 games in 2014-15. Coming into last night's game, he had two in 21 games this year with Chicago and Winnipeg. The 21-year-old looks like a superstar when he plays in Rogers Arena. I wonder if he would have been able to produce like that if the Canucks had been able to acquire him as part of a Dam Hamhuis swap with Chicago?
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