The Rundown

The Vancouver Canucks finished up their mini road trip tonight down in Glendale, Arizona as they squared off against the Arizona Coyotes. The Canucks came into the game in first place in the Pacific division but were without Brock Boeser, Alex Edler, Elias Pettersson, Chris Tanev, Sven Baertschi, and Jay Beagle to injuries. Another gutsy effort would be needed for the Canucks to return home with a full 4 points on the road trip. Michael Del Zotto would slot in for his first game in the past 9, and the Canucks would see the return of Alex Biega and Darren Archibald after being recalled from Utica in the past 48 hours. Anders Nilsson would start the latter half of the back to back.

 

1st Period

The Coyotes wouldn’t be afraid to test Nilsson early in the game, forcing the big Swede to make a solid stop just a minute into the hockey game. It didn’t get much better for the road team, as 4 minutes later Loui Eriksson tripped Alex Galchenyuk and put the Coyotes onto their first power-play of the night.

 

The Canucks would showcase their brilliant penalty kill throughout most of the season, and suffocated the Arizona attack. The Coyotes would fall to 0 for 1 on the power-play. The Coyotes would keep pressing with the better of the scoring chances, with Nilsson being forced to make a couple more saves, none bigger than a blocker save on former Canuck Brad Richardson.

 

A few minutes later, the Canucks would have what turned out to be the best scoring chance of the first period. Bo Horvat corralled the puck by the benches and came in on a 2 on 1 with Eriksson. After giving Eriksson a beautiful pass, Horvat could only watch as Loui was robbed by Arizona goaltender Darcy Kuemper who would keep the game tied.

Best scoring chance so far tonight: Horvat to Eriksson. pic.twitter.com/VH0NZCGida

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 26, 2018

 

30 seconds after the Canucks chance, the Coyotes would cause a scramble in front of Nilsson’s net, but couldn’t put the puck past him. On the play, Vinnie Hinostroza would be called for an interference minor, putting the Canucks on the power-play for their first opportunity. The Canucks power-play would come close when Derrick Pouliot hit the post with a one-timer, but they dropped to 0 for 1 on the power-play. The teams would head into the intermission deadlocked at 0’s.

 

2nd Period

Just like a couple nights ago in Vegas, the Canucks would surrender the first goal in the hockey game not long into the 2nd period. After another early scramble in front of Nilsson, Alex Goligoski would pick the puck up, dance around Michael Del Zotto and put home the backhand shot to give the Coyotes the lead only 43 seconds in.

There it is. The goal song. ? pic.twitter.com/ssdsBGIX6K

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) October 26, 2018

The Canucks would answer back less than 2 minutes later. Adam Gaudette would win a faceoff back to Troy Stecher, who would wind up and take a shot from the point which would be deflected home by Darren Archibald. Gaudette would get his first point in 11 career NHL games, Stecher would see his point streak extend to 4, and Archibald would score in his first game of the season.

Stech tees it up, Arch puts it home ➡️ ? pic.twitter.com/eQHGJsStCH

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 26, 2018

 

A couple minutes after his shot was tipped home, Stecher attempted to score one of his own with a great wrist shot labeled for the top corner. He beat Kuemper but was just a touch off as he rung the shot off the crossbar and the score remained tied at 1. After the scoring chance, Derrick Pouliot would take an interference minor after a collision with Dylan Strome. The Arizona Coyotes would try to retake the lead with their 2nd man advantage of the game. Again, the Canucks penalty kill was strong, and the Coyotes couldn’t muster up a goal as their power-play fell to 0 for 2.

 

The chippiness in the game amped up just a bit when Antoine Roussel and Clayton Keller get entangled a few minutes later. A scrum would ensue, but the only extra minor penalty would be given to Roussel. The Coyotes would go back to the power-play for the 3rd time in the game. Just like the previous 2, the Canucks penalty kill was rock solid and killed off the Coyotes power-play.

 

The physical play would carry to the end of the period, the last of which being some pushback from Kelle who tried to lay the boom on Erik Gudbranson. Keller would be on the wrong end of the collision, and was slow getting up with only 20 seconds left before the intermission. The score would remain tied at 1, and the Canucks would head into the 3rd with a chance to escape with at least a point if they could keep up the hard work.

Clayton Keller just bounces right off Gudbranson's arm #Canucks #OurPack pic.twitter.com/PJNcjpCcq4

— Vanessa Jang (@vanessajang) October 26, 2018

 

3rd Period

The Canucks needed to have a better start in the 3rd period than the prior 2, but the Coyotes would be the aggressors to start the frame with Hinostroza deflecting a puck on goal forcing Nilsson to make another great save a couple minutes in. 2 minutes after the Hinostroza chance, the Coyotes would score to retake the lead. Pouliot was stripped of the puck for a 2nd consecutive game and was forced to watch Keller come on in and slide the puck underneath Nilsson to make it 2-1 for Arizona.

Ain't gonna hold him down. ? pic.twitter.com/2mwl5Gy0yZ

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) October 26, 2018

The Canucks would trade chances with the Coyotes, but the dogs of the desert would again have a higher quality scoring chance with Brendan Perlini deflecting a shot on goal, forcing Nilsson to make a great blocker save to keep the Canucks down by just one goal.

Eight minutes to play. #Canucks down a goal. pic.twitter.com/Pm7qfZnFg0

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 26, 2018

 

Nilsson was forced to make another good save after a second Pouliot turnover in the game, doing what he could to keep his team in it. The boys would finally start to respond with some shifts in the Arizona end of the playing surface. The Canucks would see Jason Demers take a hooking minor penalty, and the Canucks went to their 2nd power-play of the game with the intent to tie it up.

 

Not even 30 seconds into the power-play, a goal would be scored. Not a power-play goal, however, as former Canuck forward Brad Richardson came down on the Canucks, would follow the play and bang home a rebound to give the Coyotes a 3-1 lead while shorthanded.

Brad Richardson, PK extraordinaire. pic.twitter.com/0O1A7gnpVv

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) October 26, 2018

The Canucks power-play wouldn’t be able to get a goal back and fell to 0 for 2. A few minutes after their second failed power-play, they’d be given a 3rd when Pouliot was drilled head first into the boards by Hinostroza.

 

With the game winding down, head coach Travis Green decided to pull Nilsson to make it a 2 man advantage opportunity. Right as he did, the Canucks lost possession of the puck and watched as Lawson Crouse shot a puck from his own end down into the Canucks vacant net, giving the Coyotes their second shorthanded goal of the night, and 4th goal of the game. The Canucks would fail to convert on their power-play, ending the game 0 for 3 as they fell to the Coyotes 4-1.

 

Advanced Stats

 

Wrap Up

For most of the early portion of this season, the Canucks have been a team that’s been able to come back while they played hard in 3rd periods. Tonight was not one of those games, as the team seemed to run out of gas in the final frame in Arizona. Horvat was held off the scoresheet, and the lack of offensive firepower reared its ugly head. A couple of players to single out tonight for a variety of reasons, some good and some bad.

 

Anders Nilsson: A well-played game from Nilsson tonight, despite the 4-1 outcome. He had numerous saves in this game to keep the Canucks in the game despite the numerous defensive lapses. After the injury bug struck the night before, Nilsson had to know he’d need to be great in order for this one to be close, and he was. I hope Nilsson doesn’t come out of this game feeling any less confident, because games like this are just the reality of the team in front of him right now.

 

Derrick Pouliot: Probably fortunate Edler wasn’t able to play tonight, or he’d be up in the press box instead of the ice. His giveaway last game in Vegas was pretty awful, and another horrendous giveaway tonight leads to the game winning goal. Yes, young defenseman make mistakes and need to be given the freedom to do so, but there needs to be a line crossed with Pouliot. We’ll see how Travis Green handles the blueline in the future.

 

Adam Gaudette: In his limited time on the ice, he’s making it count. Finally able to get on the scoresheet with an assist on the Archibald goal, he looked strong and had some moments showcasing his offensive talents. With all the injuries, I’d hope Gaudette sees some more ice time but he has to earn it from Green. It’ll be a tough task, but with a strong night on the dot, winning 57% of his draws and cracking almost 11 minutes of ice time, he’ll find a way into Green’s good books soon enough.

 

Nikolay Goldobin: On the other end of the forward spectrum, Goldobin was looked upon to be a weapon for the Canucks coming into the year, and after a strong opening 2 games has gone pointless in his next 9. Tonight, he didn’t look as strong as games prior, and the team needed someone like him to step up and put some goals on the board. He had a couple chances, but Goldobin is someone who needs to produce offense to stay in the league, so the hope is that he will soon.

 

The Canucks couldn’t pull out a second win on the road trip. Too many injuries to overcome, and on the second night of a back – back in 2 different cities, the boys just ran out of gas.