The Rundown
After losing 3 of their last 4 games (granted 2 of them in overtime), the Canucks came into Brooklyn on the second game of a back to back with a goal to right the ship. The New York Islanders would be a tough task; with Barry Trotz at the helm of this Islanders team, they would surely be a tough test for a Vancouver team that may be on their last legs. Elias Pettersson looked to break out of his mini slump, as he only had 2 points in his previous 4 games coming in, and some Canucks would need to find ways to help him out and contribute on offense.
1st Period
The Canucks came out swinging tonight, and a few minutes into the game a great cycle from the Bo Horvat line would lead to an early lead. Horvat would find Brendan Leipsic across the ice, and Leipsic would make no mistake to give the Canucks the 1-0 lead.
Leipsic opened the scoring before three straight goals against put the #Canucks in a hole. It's 3-1 NYI after 20. pic.twitter.com/GY27waKmr4
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 14, 2018
A few minutes after though, one of the worst goals allowed by Markstrom would even the score. Tom Kuhnhackl would sweep the puck towards the Canucks goal while on his back, and it’d find a hole short side to tie the game up at 1.
Gotta see this one to believe it.
Atta boy, @Tkuhn14! #Isles pic.twitter.com/VqbcIUgF5M
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 14, 2018
46 seconds after the Islanders tied the game, they’d find a way to take the lead. Mathew Barzal would find Josh Bailey, and Bailey would fire a pass off of Chris Tanev’s skate and in to help the Islanders take the lead. Tanev was interfered with by Anders Lee earlier in the play, and gave the referee a pretty stern look after.
The game would slow down a little bit when Ben Hutton would take a minor penalty for slashing. The Islanders power-play would get a couple of strong one-time looks, but Jakob Markstrom was there to shut the door and the Canucks would kill off the penalty. Right after, Elias Pettersson would steal the puck and get a quick shot off that would be handled fairly easily by Thomas Greiss.
13 minutes into the period, Canucks fans watching at home would see Coquitlam boy Barzal bomb down the ice with a great burst of speed, and then watch him pull off a slick spin move on Troy Stecher to open up a lane to feed Nelson, but Nelson fires the puck way wide.
🎮
*speed burst*
*speed burst*
*speed burst*
*spin move*@Barzal_97 can fly. #Isles pic.twitter.com/ZXNyQ3Ziwb— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 14, 2018
A few minutes after Barzal’s dazzling display, the Islanders would take a 3-1 lead. Brock Nelson would beat Michael Del Zotto to a puck in the corner, and Stecher and Nikolay Goldobin lose Jordan Eberle in the slot, and Eberle would be left alone with the puck and make the Canucks pay in one foul motion.
That's point number 2⃣0⃣0⃣ for @Bnelson! @jeberle_7 puts the #Isles up 3-1! pic.twitter.com/qE3UuhCtSL
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 14, 2018
The Canucks would get a chance late in the 1st, when Erik Gudbranson was tripped up by Andrew Ladd. The Canucks first power-play of the game would see some decent chances, but no goal would come of it and the period would come to a close with the score 3-1 for the home team.
2nd Period
The beginning of the second period started out promising, and Vancouver would get another power-play chance when the Islanders were caught with too many men on the ice. On their 2nd power-play, it’d be Jake Virtanen potting a goal over the goaltender Greiss to make it 3-2 3 minutes into the period. After seeing the goal Markstrom gave up earlier, this was sorely needed. #ShotgunJake
8️⃣th goal of the year for @Jake_Virtanen, a PPG. Eriksson & Leipsic with the helpers. #Canucks are within a goal, down 3-2, early 2nd. pic.twitter.com/3eLmEIFDYS
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 14, 2018
The road team would use the Virtanen goal as a spring board of sorts, and looked a lot more confident throughout the period. The Canucks would then be awarded their 3rd power-play of the game when Nelson caught Gudbranson with a high stick 9 minutes into the frame Good chance for the Canucks to tie the game up.
The power-play reverts to the form that had plagued the team throughout the road trip, and don’t see much offensive creativity. Mere moments after the penalty expired, Derrick Pouliot would head to the box for a high stick infraction of his own, and the Islanders would get their 2nd power-play of the night.
The Canucks penalty kill doesn’t break, and the Islanders don’t see any quality scoring chances come of their man advantage.
15 minutes into the period, and it’d be the Canucks who get their 4th power-play of the night when Leo Komarov triped Pettersson. The Canucks came a few inches from tying the game, as Virtanen nearly potted home his second goal but rang his shot off the post. The power-play would go by the wayside with the Canucks still trailing by one. Ultimately, that is how the second period would finish. Play opened up a bit, but the Canucks couldn’t find a way to tie it despite the fact they out-shot the Islanders 11-5 in the period.
3rd Period
Another goal would be scored before the 4 minute mark of a period, but it’d be the Islanders who extend their lead instead of the Canucks tying it up. Kuhnhackl would get his 2nd of the game with a controversial kicking motion. After review, the goal would stand and put the Canucks further behind the 8 ball.
That's number 2⃣ for @Tkuhn14 tonight! #Isles lead 4-2! pic.twitter.com/G7t2UbrwkC
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 14, 2018
The goal scored by the Islanders really took the wind out of the Canucks sails, and they didn’t muster any quality chances for most of the 3rd period. The second game in 2 nights looked like it was too much to overcome, especially after the Islanders opened up the game.
The Canucks would see themselves short handed halfway through the 3rd when Chris Tanev was forced to hook Ryan Pulock on a partial breakaway. Could’ve been called a penalty shot, but it wasn’t and the Canucks had to try and kill off the penalty. They do just that, and keep themselves within striking distance with half a period to play.
15:30 minutes in Virtanen would be called for a double minor for a high stick to the face of Thomas Hickey. On the Islanders 4th power-play opportunity of the game they’d strike. Cal Clutterbuck of all players snapped home a wrister in the slot to make it 5-2 and put the game out of reach.
Clutterbuck lights the lamp on the power play! #Isles lead 5-2! pic.twitter.com/B65efcHZLD
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 14, 2018
The Canucks would kill off the second of the double minors, but they don’t find any more goals and fall to the Islanders 5-2.
Advanced Stats
Wrap Up
Rough 2 games in New York for the Canucks, and they didn’t have a strong 3rd period tonight. Couple of quick notes from tonight’s game.
Jakob Markstrom allowed the worst goal of the season so far for a Canuck goaltender on Kuhnhackl’s first of the game. After he saw his team give him an early lead, to give one up like that was painful to watch. Other than the gaffe he didn’t have a bad game, but this one will be remembered for that first goal against.
Goldobin’s ice time was drastically cut midway through the game, and when the team was trailing as they were I don’t see how this was a positive move by Travis Green. I understand he tried to light a spark under a player, but with so many offensive weapons out of the lineup, tonight was the wrong time to try and sit someone like Goldobin down while the team was fighting from behind. Goldobin does have to keep his consistency up, but he’s also one of the most creative. Wrong player to bench tonight.
Jake Virtanen… what a start to the season for the Abbotsford born beauty. 8 goals already and we’re not even halfway through November. He’s getting goals in all sorts of ways, and being rewarded with time in the top 6. Another player who was shown a lot of tough love from Travis Green, and with the way Virtanen played tonight, and has played throughout the road trip, it gives me hope that Goldobin will figure it out too.
One more game on this road trip for the Canucks, hopefully they finish the trip 2-2-2 in Minneapolis on Thursday.
#shutgunJake
What a stud! Maybe he actually is figuring it out… wouldnt that be nice if he some how morphed into that top 6 power forward that sometimes comes in the form of a late bloomer…. wouldnt that be something!
Even without the win and EP not scoring and alllll the injuries… nice to have something still to talk about.
Hopefully the can finish strong with a Dub next game
Jake hit a post in the third on the PP from beside the net. Nice to see him getting chances and scoring from in front of the net. Tough road trip that was the 5th game in 8 days and they looked very tired in the game.
Markstrom played above avg in this game: giving up in my opinion two soft goals. Frustrating and nerve racking especially in a close game that it is just PROBABLY a matter of time before a softy goes in to tie or lose the game; it must affect the way the team plays in close games.
Markstrom’s a bum and should have been pulled after the 3rd goal!
Green has overplayed Markstrom. He shouldn’t have been playing period. He looks tired and could use some time working with the goalie coach.
El Cid is actually LAKID. Did he get banned, or is he too going with multiple user names?
no, i think it’s pqw
It is PQW ,the banned troll.
The editing contribution level rivals that of Burke.
agreed…that sort of injury was a product of fatigue.
Khunhackl sneaks in a flukey one falling down and kicks in another. Another goal hits Tanev and goes in. Jake’s 4 min minor was accidental and not intentional. And ANOTHER post. When it was 3-2 for so long the Canucks did not and could not buy a bounce. This is one of those rough patches Vancouver was going to face at some point. After Minnie up next 12 of 21 games over all will have been made up of 2 six game eastern road trips and very early in the season. Ain’t mad at all at the VC but how about a couple of breaks, oh hockey gods, for all the hard work?
Exhausted team at the end of a long road trip and the injuries are catching up. Pettersson is not particularly effective with teams keying on him and taking away space; he just doesn’t have the wingers to keep up with him and he’s not getting as sheltered a matchup as before. Horvat is having to carry too much of the team, as is Markstrom. The fact that we’re still where we are despite the injuries is pretty remarkable.
I have to disagree about Goldobin. He has had flashes of creativity but mixed in with moments of absolute incompetence. He is awful on the power play (as is Pouliot). Eriksson and Hutton should be on the first unit, Stetcher and Pouliot maybe on the second. I’d sit Goldobin at this point.
Boeser, Baertschi, Beagle, Sutter, Edler and Nilsson. How long can you go without nearly half of the team — and the better half in many cases — in the lineup?
2/3 of your top line, your best defensemen, your 2 shut down centres/penalty killers, and your 1A goalie. Its actually amazing that they have been so competitive virtually every game. And fun to watch, which the Canucks have not been since 2012. Really wonder why Green took Virtanen off the Pettersson line last night though. I thought they looked great against the Rangers the night before.
Not sure I fully agree with the ‘fun to watch’ part about 2012. Although dominant, remember that 2011-12 season and how spoiled we were. Presidents trophy and everyone was complaining about how boring the Canucks were playing. Has to have been the most understated Presidents trophy ever.
TheRealPB – agree with your comments about Goldobin. He is starting to slip back into some of his “bad” habits of last season. Has some offensive skills for sure but is often missing on his defensive responsibilities. As I have said elsewhere on CA I would like to see Dahlen come up and see what he can do playing with Pettersson.
It may be time for Goldobin to sit out a game he has been involved in too many defensive blunders. He has been doing well but has also been slipping. Good to see Jake scoring some good goals and firing the team up. The team just has to work through this tough stretch of games without much or any rest in between. They have been getting some bad puck luck and calls against them lately and will just have to play through it all as it will only make them stronger as a team. Young players are getting some good experience in all sorts of situations from good to bad. It may be time to trade some of the players in the lineup for a couple Utica players just to add some energy.
I hope that when the walking wounded return it means split starts for Nilsson and a return to the AHL for Gaudette (for a more offensive role), Archibald, Gaunce and Biega. Leipsic and Motte can be in the press box along with Del Zotto; that way Goldobin and Pouliot can be sat when needed. Perhaps without playing higher up the lineup they will do better but neither has seized this prime opportunity presented to them.
Goldobin is great at no look passes to the oppsition.
same story every year, start well, pick up a ton of injuries, not enough talent/depth to step in and the wheels fall off before New Year. When will this cycle change? fed up.
Relax. They’ve played 12 of 20 on the road, and they are still 2 games over 500. Also, send down Leipsic and keep Gaunce. He played very well for 2 games, and got benched. So much for Greens meritocracy.
Petterssen a minus three, zero points in the last three and he is clearly getting found out just a dozen games in… you clowns might want to pump the brakes on all this ‘Gretzky 2.0’ chatter, it’s embarrassing. #firebenning #deludedfans
#banPQW #onemoretime
And until last night McDavid also had a 3 game goal drought going with one assist and minus 4. Gretzky himself just commented on how parts of EP’s game remind him of himself.
Spot on Matty T.
You are dead wrong about Goldobin.
This is the frustrating thing about some CA positions, they are seemingly not based upon any actual real life hockey experience or understanding. It is called PROFESSIONAL hockey. You cant play a guy that is in la-la land. What happened resonated with all the players – as it should.
Canucks continue to work hard, but cracks are showing.
Markstrom plays his best hockey when he gets brakes in between games. Bachman should have played last night.
Only caught the 3rd period, and the whole team looked completely gassed by that point. Horvat has been a titan but he’s clearly becoming overworked, and Pettersson is at that point where teams are over-correcting in their response to him, but they don’t quite have the supporting cast to capitalize consistently enough on the pressure vacuum they creates for the rest of the team. Hutton and Guddy looked really tired and frustrated too, despite playing better than I could have ever hoped they would in this role. It definitely seemed like the lack of puck-luck and favourable calls just crushed them after the kicked-in goal in the 3rd. They tried to push back but clearly didn’t have the energy, and got visibly frustrated in the final minutes.
This is exactly the type of sequence of games this team needs to learn from – dropping points in close games to eastern-conference nobodies. Hope Green gives the team a rest day today and works on re-focusing everyone. They play MIN, MTL, and WPG before closing the month with 5 straight divisional matchups – Ducks, Sharks, Kings x2, and Knights.
And now that the team’s injury issues appear to be taking a noticeable toll, when do we start wondering if Sam Gagner could be a helpful recall? What the heck is going on with that situation? I know Gags took it personal and the Canucks did him a courtesy by sending him to TO, but is this relationship already too far gone? Where does this fall – is coaching/management just done with him, or did he make it clear somehow that he’s done with the Canucks? The whole thing leaves a bad taste that’s just getting worse as this drags out.
Gagner took it personally? Suck it up buttercup, either take your craft seriously and get better defensively or report to play where you are told. $3 million reasons per year to be happy… if not stay at home and lose the pay cheque.
Hey I totally agree, to me this stinks of Gagner having entitlement/attitude issues, and sending him to the Marlies was to keep his cancerous presence out of the (crowded) locker room in Utica. But obviously that’s all just speculation based on the reports around his initial assignment.
And I’m not even advocating a call-up, but now this team looks really tired to me, which brings back up the question why we’re paying a guy with 770 NHL games experience $3.4m this year AND NEXT to play for the Loafs farm team… is there any chance of a path back to the Canucks for him? Is there a path back to the NHL at all after this debacle? It really looks like an ugly situation but I don’t know details, and can’t think of any comparables in recent years… but it sure would be nice if the organization could get some marginal value out of this guy, because right now he’s as dead-weight as a player can be.
Answer to my question re: Gagner = 2 more losses, 4 days.
The Sharks have just taken over first place in the Pac Div from the Canucks. With those horses in their line up they should be miles ahead of everyone including Vancouver but are not. This looks good on a VC team innudated with key injuries to PP and PK guys. Need Nilsson back to give Marky a well earned rest. Take heart, Canucks fans. In a year or two ANA, MINN and VEG will be old and LAK already are. Logic should dictate that very young teams rise to the top of the standings and Vancouver will look even better next year. Stay patient everyone.