Canucks Drop Heartbreaker in Overtime 2-1 to the Stars

It shouldn’t need to be said, but this obviously isn’t the result the Canucks were chasing when they came into tonight. That they could outplay the Stars so handily as they did and still lose has to make the sting even worse.
If you squint hard enough, though, you can see almost everything that Canucks fans have wanted to see from this team for years. Fans want a fast team, an entertaining team. They don’t need them to win, either. Hell, they don’t even need to necessarily play well, but if the on-ice process is a step ahead of the results like it was tonight, they’ll gladly take it.
The Canucks outshot the Stars 39-29 in a back-and-forth affair that saw no shortage of chances exchanged in either direction. The website www.NaturalStatTrick.com counts 18 (11 for the Canucks to the Stars’ 7) of the high-danger variety at five-on-five alone.
Both goalies were up to the task. In spite of the barrage of shots and chances, neither Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom or Stars backstop Ben Bishop surrendered a single goal at evens.
On the power play, though, the Stars drew first blood. A poor in-zone read left Tyler Seguin all alone on the doorstep, and he put the Stars ahead by a goal just three-plus minutes into the second frame with a deadly accurate wrist shot that went post and in.
Little over a period later, the Canucks tied the game with a power play goal of their own on the strangest play from the unlikeliest of sources. There was a loose puck at one end, and there was Markstrom and a Stars forward racing for it. Markstrom wins the race, clears the puck and on the ensuing rush, Sam Gagner scores to square this game up at one.
This game went to overtime, where the two sides traded chances at a ridiculous pace before Alexander Radulov took the puck up ice on a two-on-one and sent a wrister past Markstrom for the win halfway through overtime.

Stats

Quick Hits

  • I’ve never been entirely sold on Jacob Markstrom, starting goaltender. That isn’t to say he couldn’t ever make me a believer. There just wasn’t a strong enough body of work for someone relatively advanced in age as Markstrom’s been in Vancouver. Nights like tonight? Yeah, a few more of those and I might start to see the light. Don’t believe the fake news about Bishop outdueling Markstrom. The Stars won, but it wasn’t because they had the better goalie. The Canucks and Stars were almost even by Corsica.Hockey’s expected goals surrendered at about three apiece. Markstrom also played a vital role in the Canucks only goal, though. Hell, he even had a penalty! Markstrom was everywhere. Not only could you not blame him for the two goals the Stars scored; Markstrom didn’t give up a stinker in the first five minutes.
  • Forget the season opener. This was easily the best work Brandon Sutter’s line has done all season. Canucks head coach Travis Green hard-matched his go-to defensive line against the Stars loaded top line with Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov — stiff competition. They won the on-ice shot attempt battle at even strength handily, beating that line 11-7. I think a lot of what people have been giving this line credit for, for most of the season, has been smoke and mirrors. They haven’t been good defensively; they’re just getting bounces, mostly. Tonight, they were legitimately great. Real recognize real.
  • Derrick Pouliot and Alex Biega were great tonight, too. This was easily the best game Pouliot’s had as a Canuck. The transitional data Darryl Keeping provided shows he was extremely effective at moving the puck, and the Canucks control of on-ice shot attempts with Pouliot on the ice (a +10 shot attempt differential) suggests he was pretty damn good everywhere else. Biega was good, too. Hardly a passenger. The coach was a big fan of his game today. Hard to argue with that assessment after the game he just had.
  • The Canucks had one player in the red by five-on-five on-ice shot attempt differential. If you guessed Erik Gubranson, you’re correct. It wasn’t a terrible night, really. No brutal errors or giveaways. There weren’t any good plays either though. Gudbranson has been even or better by five-on-five on-ice shot attempt differential once this season. I get the sense people think he’s improved this season, but most of the data suggest he’s been worse this year than the last.
  • Don’t get caught up in the result. This was the Canucks best game of the year. They dominated everywhere except on the scoreboard. If the Canucks play most of their games like this for the rest of the season, they can legitimately be in the contention for a Wildcard spot for most of the season. I don’t think that’s likely or even in the team’s best long-term interests. You have to like the progress Green is making with the team in just his first year, though. And how’s this for praise from Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock.
  • People are pissed with the Canucks decision to recall Jayson Megna and Michael Chaput, consecutively, while passing on youngsters Reid Boucher and Nikolay Goldobin. I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other. I can see the fans side. This season is supposed to be about integrating the kids and playing a more entertaining brand of hockey. It’s hard to do that with Megna and Chaput — we’ve all seen this movie before. It should also be about rewarding the kids, and both Boucher and Goldobin are Comets leading scorers, so what else could they have possibly done to earn the opportunity? By that same token, I’m sure the club wanted to see what Gagner could do in a more offensively inclined role, and they were able to do that by shifting him up to the Bo Horvat line, where Goldobin or Boucher would have undoubtedly played. The Canucks also have a glut of veterans in Utica, so anytime they can subtract from their excess veteran stockpile (they have eight veterans and can only play five a game) they’re going to try and do as much. Also, the Brock Boeser injury that paved the way for Megna’s season debut doesn’t seem serious. The Canucks have one opening in their lineup for either Goldobin or Boucher to play in, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to last for more than a game. Could the Canucks have used a goalscorer in a game like today? Probably. They might not have thought it worthwhile to mess with Goldobin or Boucher’s routine in Utica while they’re making so much progress for just the one game though. Goldobin will eventually get his chance, I am sure. This isn’t pitchfork territory. Not yet, anyway.