Home > 2018 > 12/01 > Vancouver Canucks Vs. Dallas Stars Post Game Wrap: Bishop Takes Rook
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Photo Credit: Canucks.com

Vancouver Canucks Vs. Dallas Stars Post Game Wrap: Bishop Takes Rook

| Always90four

THE RUNDOWN

Hopefully, you caught the early start time and are reading this before all of your buddies have told you the score. The Canucks gave Jacob Markstrom a game off and Anders Nilsson occupied the net. He was brilliant. Not to be missed was Antoine Roussel getting into the lineup as well to face his former team… he wouldn’t disappoint.

Most of the game was end to end, not a lot of scoring chances and both teams were hesitant to put their team down a man. Also not lost in this game was the stellar play of one Bo Horvat. Is there anything this guy can’t do? He backchecked, he won faceoffs (obviously) and heck he scored a beauty of a goal. All in all, it wasn’t the most exciting game which was a shame and the Dallas Stars took away a victory after scoring two in the third to beat the Canucks 2-1.

BUT… let’s see how it happened.

1ST PERIOD

Early on Nikolay Goldobin feeds Elias Pettersson for a 2 on 1 chance but is denied. Dallas would take a delay of game penalty at the 18-minute mark and Vancouver hit the PP. Brock Boeser skyed a shot and at that point, there still were no shots on net for the Canucks. The Canucks would get another penalty but just like the first one, no one put the puck in the net.

Roussel put himself into the game and took a slashing penalty but Anders Nilsson and the Canucks PK stood strong and killed it off. Nilsson would then make what looked like a bomb of a save which led to this:

Great hands, great patience, and the Canucks take the lead 1-0.

Jason Spezza would put one post and out close to the end of the period but no dice. Nilsson again is bombarded with shots and holds down the fort. Nothing doing for Dallas and the period ends.

The period was looking like Mom and Dad promising us we were getting a new puppy but we were nowhere near a pet store but then we all forgot that SPCA shop that has the best puppies and Bo Horvat got us that fluffy dog.

Shots: VAN 6 – DAL 6

PP: VAN 0/2 – DAL 0/1

 

2ND PERIOD

Anders Nilsson would again start the period with a big stop. He’s been good to start giving up little to no rebounds. Elias Pettersson, as he does so often, springs Brock Boeser for this:

I’ve looked through every book and instruction manual and nowhere did I find a section that had Boeser being denied there. One thing that separates Nilsson from Markstrom: no ears, no fears.

Horvat had the puck and had to hustle back after losing and made a massive backcheck to regain possession. Michael Del Zotto reminded fans he was playing and took an unobstructed 50-footer which was stopped easily, tell us something we don’t know.

Canucks go back on the PP with an Alex Radulov trip. The Canucks PP looks like a Jackson Pollock knock-off painting; looks messy and isn’t worth much at all.

Adam Gaudette upended Gavin Beyreuther which led to a fight which ended up being broken up before anyone could call it a fight. Stars go on the PP to end the 2nd.

SHOTS: VAN 17 – DAL 17

PP: VAN 0/3 – DAL 0/2

 

3RD PERIOD

Nilsson again starts things early but denies all who enter. Horvat continues to have a dominant game with three shifts in the first three minutes of the 3rd. Jason Spezza puts the Stars down early with a tripping call and the Canucks go back on the PP.

They wouldn’t score.

With 9:41 to play the inevitable caught up with the Canucks:

THE VERDICT: good goal, meh.

Not much going on in the final frame but the anticipation of a Pettersson offering was building. Jake Virtanen had his fair share of chances today but he still couldn’t find the net.

Again, you know who was good? This guy:

As the game was coming to a close, the Canucks started in deep in their own zone and Jamie Benn decided to take the lead on this play:

JPat knows what we’re all thinking:

Canucks pulled the goalie shortly after with a few minutes left, Boeser would take a penalty on the empty net attempt by Dallas but it wouldn’t be enough. The Canucks lose to the Stars 2-1.

FINAL SHOTS: VAN 25 – DAL 27

FINAL PP: VAN 0/4 – DAL 0/3

 

BRINGING THE HEAT

Pretty easy to game plan for the Canucks with a shot selection like that.

CORSIFICATION

 

QUICK NOTES

  • Bo Horvat scored his 11th of the season and only his second goal on home ice this year.
  • Anders Nilsson was impressive for most of the game and he can’t be faulted too much for the two goals that got past him. Today’s game presented his 3rd-best SV% of the year out of eight games with a .926 outing. He deserved better, plain and simple.
  • Pettersson had the moves today but couldn’t find the score sheet. Both he and Brock Boeser had a few chances on the PP but it looks like a trainwreck right now and it doesn’t feel like it can be salvaged anytime soon.
  • Vancouver has 2 wins in 14 games. They took a few to OT but all in all, they’re losing. Even Dekey Pete can’t fix this team by himself. The boring Minnesota Wild will most likely be a challenge, as well.
  • Back to the PP discussion; it is so predictable and even with two elite shooters the distribution just isn’t on point. Travis Green has to find a way to make it relevant again because it’s falling fast.

WRAP UP

The Canucks played another Willie Desjardins inspired game and at the end, and it showed. They don’t have the big horses to force out opponents top players and once again, a pretty good goaltending effort was wasted. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a minor shakeup before the next game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

This team needs healthy bodies but they need players to step up and take charge. Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson can’t do it all. This one isn’t quite forgettable but it wasn’t one to remember.

68 Comments |

  • Think it’s time Newell Brown was canned. How can the 1st PP unit be this inept with all the firepower and talent on offer, it has to be Brown’s outdated coaching. Dallas are very average so a really bad result after leading for so long. SMH.

      • In Brown’s time in Vancouver they had among the best powerplays in the league, including 1st in the league in 2010-2011. He then went to Arizona and turned that fairly mediocre team into a top-5 powerplay team as well.

        If he can’t get it going by the end of the season maybe it’s time to look for someone else, but you certainly give a guy with that kind of resume a little more rope.

        • Some dolts just NEVER learn…

          “This is a situation where Pedan’s brawn could be applied as a bottom pairing enforcer/PP specialist under Newell Brown’s expertise.” – Goon

          “Great news – Brown’s a great PP coach” – Goon

          Bottom third in the league on the PP and PK… the game has passed Brown by. WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

          • As opposed to being an as$ hole that has been banned from posting here?
            PP injuries:
            Pettersson,Baertschi,Boeser,Edler
            PK injuries: Beagle,Sutter,Tanev

    • “How can the 1st PP unit be this inept with all the firepower and talent on offer”
      One word, Edler. I like Edler as a 2nd pairing, shutdown, PK type guy, but I don’t want him on the PP. Hutton should have that opportunity for now…he was doing good things with only Petey as his one timer option, would love to see him with both Petey and BB.

  • We have a few players with heart just not enough players with heart. The problem is not goal tending. It’s called “Win at All Costs”. Were just not there yet. They have been entertaining though.

  • I actually thought it was a pretty good game to watch. But what was MDZ doing on the winning goal? Looked like he had started to blow the zone, unfortunately Benn still had the puck. Also, that was goaltender interference, pretty obvious from the overhead cam. Nilsson earned the start on Tuesday against the Wild, at least in my books.

    • It was goaltender interference…one of those plays where the call on the ice would stand either way because I think they likely ruled that he would have scored regardless.

    • Two plays have stood out for MDZ the last two weeks: the stupid late hit penalty against Montreal and vacating the zone against Dallas. Both cost the Canucks points. I thought his play as been relatively solid overall (offensively good, physical, “mostly” closing gaps in the d-zone), however these are the plays that are remembered, and rightfully so.

      We need to shake up the LHD, and barring injury, that means waiving Pouliot and bringing up either McEnemy, Sautner or Briesbois. Watching Utica, McEnemy can run a PP. I also thin Sautner or Briesbois shoudl be given a shot.

      Another plug for MacEwen. 6-4 with smarts and hands. Imagine if a Canuck would screen the goalie (I mean the opposing goalie) with Brock or Elias or anyone else shooting. I would also, as stated before, put him as the worker dog on Pettersson’s left wing.

      • WTF… “that means waiving Pouliot” he squawks… but

        “I would suggest we are a lot further ahead than one year ago. Poulliot has been pleasantly surprising and can be considered free money. – DJ_44

        Now this armchair clown throws Derek under the bus and wants him waived!! Embarrassing.

        Back to your PVR’s of LAST season’s games saddo.

        • PQW is trying to step up? It is simple. Waive him and bring up a LHD is Utica. You can see why Pouliot was drafted top ten. I still do not have a problem with him. However I suspect MDZ may have value closer to the TDL.

          Simple concept, well above you head. It’s okay. …..if only he was playing against 16 yr olds like you boy.

  • I love EP too but I think you’re being way too kind on this game. I don’t know if he’s hitting the wall with the North American game but I thought outside of a couple of flashy moves and the great pass to Boeser, he was either invisible or visible for the wrong reasons, especially on the PP. The problems with the PP seem to be two-fold — gaining the zone is difficult outside of Horvat or Hutton rushing the puck in. As much as Pouliot deserves to be sitting at least he can get the PP set up. Once they are set up other teams rush either of the side shooters so Boeser and EP have no room to take a shot. And neither is particularly creative with the puck and not as a shooter on the side wall. EP in particular has been atrocious; he stickhandler into the corner and does nothing with it other than maybe throw it back to the point. The other two F do nothing other than sort of try to set up screens and the point men are just ok. The second unit can’t really be evaluated because the first spends most of the time not getting much done.

    The first goal shouldn’t have counted but we squandered many chances to put another goal or two on there. On that winning goal MDZ showed again why he is at best a 7th d and shouldn’t be on the ice. Where was he going? Why blow the zone when the puck is in skates? He clearly knew it. That’s at least two close games that he’s cost us. I never thought I’d miss Gudbranson so much. At least it’s over early enough to get a decent rest of the evening in.

  • For the way Nilsson played he did not deserve an “L” in this contest. Solid performance, Anders. It’s becoming beyond solipsistic watching the Canucks work so hard without gratifying results for themselves or fans game after game. Trying to be diplomatic here I have a very large concern when they get hemmed into their own zone for what seems several harrowing minutes at a time… and it usually costs. I still like this year’s Canucks but there just isn’t enough depth to win games like this.

  • A pretty pathetic effort. These guys need to understand they are forging their reputation with these games. If they have any respect for their parents they better put their big boy pants on and show a little more passion for the game they claim to love.

  • Seemed to me that the Canucks were directing the puck(especially in the first two periods) towards the net intending to get a tip or a rebound instead of picking a corner. Bishop played well but I thought the offence made it easy for him. Hopefully the Gagner revival experiment has come to the end

  • Bo can’t be the only center that Green can rely upon.
    We went through the same losing streak last year when Sutter and Bo were injured.
    The return of Beagle will help the team win these close games. Sutter and Beagle is a huge turning point.
    Petey and Gaudette will fare well in the future,Sutter and Beagle are the now.

    • Gaudette was playing 12-15 minutes a game and doing fine until recently. Last three games Green has played him 4 minutes, 8 minutes, and 6 minutes.

      That’s stupid, and suggests a lack of communication between coach and GM. The coach should be using all of his players, and not benching a few players and running others into the ground. If Green has decided Gaudette isn’t NHL ready and he’s refusing to play him, Benning should send him down and get him some games in the AHL, and find Green a centre who can share the load.

      • The coach is trying to win the game with what he’s got. Beagle and Sutter is wearing on the team. Gaudette has been decent but needs to play 20 minutes/night in Utica so that he’s on next years Canucks roster playing 12-15 minutes/night. Beagle’s return, and then Sutter’s will enable that. If the Canucks are out of it at the TFL and Sutter is moved, then sure, give Gaudette another crack, provided he’s completely ready to take it on.

  • Go back to PP from earlier in year, the one without gagner. He’s a boat anchor. And get Bo or Jake or someone screening the goalie. If attendance starts to drop Green and Benning are toast which would be a huge mistake. New management will blow it up and it’ll be a lost decade.

      • I suspect he means, new management will want to put their stamp on the team. Yes, the losing sucks, but they’re on the right track. Aquilini’s impatience is the biggest obstacle to becoming elite (ie, being in contention for the Cup for a number of years).

          • Dirk 22, nothing wrong with new management putting a stamp on a team. Often it requires bringing in “their guys”. You see franchises turning over new management teams looking for the right formula. I prefer the WInnipeg model – patience until you’ve got tonnes of prospects that you can build sustained success. Benning is on the right track (IMO).

  • So the team is playing pretty much as predicted at the beginning of the season. Those not wearing rose coloured glasses saw the roster and knew it was going to be another lost season.

    But the usuals are here complaining about the players and coaching? Debating the powerplay and critiquing the goaltending? Incredible.

    I guess they still believe that early, genoius team slogan “This is a team we can turn around in a hurry.”

    Each loss is in the real fans’ best interests. It ensures another high draft pick and hopefully moves Benning and Weisbrod one step closer to the unemployment line.

    • Right, because actual performance should not be critiqued, nor should the actual deployment of the PP.

      Most predicted that the team has some great young players but not enough depth nor talent in mid-career players to be much more than competitive and that’s exactly what’s happened, especially as injuries have taken their toll. The fact that Bo Horvat has taken 136 more faceoffs than the next closest in the league (Barkov) and nearly TWO HUNDRED more than most of the other top ten FO men in the league should give some sense of the impact of losing even middling vets like Sutter and Beagle. Markstrom was not helped by being ridden into the ground while Nilsson (who has looked much better this year) was lost for weeks. The younger players can only do so much without help or without a good coaching plan. Newell Brown’s PP schemes get predictable — they have here (including in the past) and they have in other places too. The idea that these should not be criticized is asinine.

      • Wow to that faceoff number. But that just illustrates TG’s limitations as a coach. Everyone knew that Beagle and Sutter would be out for a long while, so why not make it a priority to have others improve their performance in the dot or on what comes immediately afterwards? Worst case maybe put together a 3 man unit whose aim is just suffocate the play? There are lots of options that don’t even change the outcome by more than 10%, but TG has chosen the one that has Bo in the circle 450+ more times than any other Canuck… maybe TG doesn’t see it as a problem?

        • I don’t think it’s the coach. More, I think it’s a limitation on the number of proven centremen that can legitimately hold their own against the best in the world. Manny Malhotra is coaching the centremen and has been amazing for Bo and EP. Gaudette is trying, Granlund is serviceable. This is what happens with injuries. Get Sutter and Beagle back for awhile (hopefully), redistribute the time between those two and EP/Bo. Get Bo more back into an offensive role and lets see what the team looks like between now and the TDL.

          • Isn’t that what practice is for? And injuries as an opportunity to step up and learn new things. There is literally no downside to TG trying new blood in new roles, well, unless he’s been told to make the playoffs.

          • liquer, they had 3 practices in all of November (apparently). True, players learn new things through injuries to others, but ideally you want people put in positions to succeed, (not out of desperation).

          • Well hopefully they are not defining success by the standings… I’ll say it again, this season there is literally no downside to letting the younger players learn on the job. Of course you don’t just throw them out there, but it doesn’t take much effort to teach guys that are motivated to learn. Gaudette gets 6 minutes for instance, you don’t think he’d go through a wall if he knew he could get 15?

          • One could argue that he’s going through a wall right now just to stay on the team. The end game is what matters, 2019 and 2020, when the team is strong enough to push up the standings. Ideally they need him to be a 15-20 goal, 35 points guy who can shut down the opposition. He’s got a pretty mature game (IMO), just needs to bring that offensive confidence. He appears to have the ability, just needs time to grow it all together in a place where he can excel.

          • TG’s record developing players is spotty at best. He’s had Jake for a number of years and JV only seems to be figuring it now. Sure, you can blame the players, but this face off thing really makes it seem like TG and staff don’t have much interest in teaching the youngsters. It’s as if he thinks that winning draws has some big impact on the outcome of the game…

    • Bud, I understand and appreciate that you’re a fan of the team. I think it’s intellectually dishonest to define fans with alternate opinions as not being “real fans”. I think this type of argument has inflicted other parts of our society and I’m not sure what allows you or others to determine what a real fan is.

      • Maybe what Bud is saying is that it’s really easy to be critical of a team at this stage of development who’s had this extent of injuries and a tough schedule. Most see this and put that in context when evaluating the performance of the team. With the exception of a few outliers, most professional sports team success is cyclical. The Canucks recently hit the bottom and are building back. Of course success isn’t going to happen right away. Most fans see this.

          • You decide what kind of fan you are and how you mentally and emotionally equate winning and losing.
            I express my opinions and you can express yours.
            Even banned posters like PQW /Matty T can express hate and vitriol every day here.

        • Most who are critical of Benning are not critical of the teams performance in a vacuum. Yes they’re bad this year but that’s for the best anyways. Reason why they’re critical is the cost he’s paid to ‘build’ this team that’s performing this way. This isn’t a team cautiously and savvily built off cheap free agent signings and waiver wire claims. Go through the Benning acquisitions and add up the $’s and assets he’s paid to ‘build’ this group. Example: They haven’t had an extra frickin draft pick in 5 drafts (-1 in that regard)! That is why he and this team are criticized.

      • When will you clowns learn that this loser ‘bud’ is a proven multi id troll who has been spouting his two-faced, lying cr@p for two years here…

        “Don’t want to hear about “ifs” the team is what it is right now………..and it is deplorable… this parting with very good nhl and ahl prospects has me less and less interested in this team.” – Bud Poile

        some ‘real fan’ eh.

        Jackson, you asked him to leave politely and he has ignored you… ffs pull the plug on this idiot troll who ruins every thread, abuses anyone who doesn’t play his pathetic games and obsessively insults YOU on every thread…. hello?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

          • No idea wtf you are talking about nerd… but how about this…

            “I also shake my head regarding the lack of respect Loui (Eriksson) receives. If you watch the game, he is easily a top six on any team in league.” – DJ_44

            How is that workin out for ya nerd…. **tumbleweeds**

        • Do you ever have anything constructive to say or is your entire shtick just replaying quotes from other commenters? A well balanced human is capable of changing their opinion when new information come in. For example, someone may be optimistic about a certain player and have to change their opinion if that player doesn’t work out. It happens to everyone and if you didn’t constantly live in the past it would happen to you. It’s easy to be right when you only use hindsight. Try looking ahead and go out on a limb and make some predictions. Be creative. Anything but this same old insulting crap. It’s boring and juvenile

    • Horrific record notwithstanding, and considering the number of injuries and the fact we’re a rebuilding team, it wasn’t a bad November. Almost all the games we had a chance to win.

        • Really? You’re bragging? At least get some sustained success before you do. Didn’t they just fire their coach last week? Sorry, but outside of McDavid, you have waaaay too many underperforming high paid players (for a long time) to be considered a Stanley Cup contender. It’s unfortunate that you’re wasting the talents of likely the best player on the planet.

        • You should be very proud of your cup contending Oilers finally passing the rebuild Canucks in the standings. Start planning the parade? Truth is most Canuck fans are fine with a loss or a win…one gets us closer to a high draft pick and the other reassures us that the future is bright. Canucks fans or mostly content at the moment. Oilers fans on the other hand are in anguish…enjoy!

  • Pettersson looks bagged. Very few shots on net over the past several games.

    Hopefully Hughes will help the powerplay next year. A RHD with a big shot would help, too.

    • Yep, Pettersson has tailed off like a busted balloon and is an absolute joke in the circle as a 2nd line center which in turn is killing Bo. Play the kid as a winger ffs and stop trying to save face that you didn’t draft a legit 1C Benning.

      Sadly the Calder is now a two-horse race, Tkachuk and Rasmus Dahlin… Canuck blowhards jumping the gun again like they did with Bowser… Barzal romped it in the end, as i said he would.

  • This sky isn’t falling BS is ridiculous! We all knew the Canucks were closer to 1st overall draft pick than playoffs, but had a good start with a healthy lineup and very good goaltending. This team is like looking at the frame of a two story house and trying to imagine what the living room will look like when it’s done. They key foundations are there.
    Centers: Bo/EP/AGaudette. EP is going to be a #1 center in this league, he needs to work on faceoffs and get stronger, but he will. Bo is the quintessential leader/2 way player teams crave. In the Stevie Y mold, not SY but in the mold. AGaudette is a perfect fit as a 3rd line center that will chip in with offense. Basically I see EP#1 and Bo/AG as 2a/b
    2. World class sniper. Brock has missed a few since returning, but he is the Brett Hull type, again type, not Golden Brett.
    3. Versitile D: Hughes will be a dynamic playmaker that will win a Norris trophy at some point and Olli will be a steadying influence as a 2nd pairing Dman. Drafting Quinn was the best thing for Olli because he doesn’t have to be a super star drafted 5th overall. Just play a good all around game while playing PP and PK for 10+ years.

    Goalie: Thatcher Demko will become an all star goalie in the league. Look at Utica before Thatcher and after. DiPetro as a back up is wonderful because it allows both the flourish and gives team a bargaining chip to improve up front. Teams with great goalies Like Roy or Broderick.. not Pat or Marty, but like them, are always in the playoff/Cup hunt.

    Of JB can continue to find gems in the 3-5 rounds, it helps fill out the roster, while also allowing for trades. The Canucks have loads of Salary dropping off the next 3 years while being 8 mil under right now. If they get a top 5 pick and get another top center that is a cupboard that is more than full! Teams like the Oilers have been one dimensional in their drafting and whiffed big time on #1 pick Yakapov and #6 Gagne while drafting nothing in rounds 2 and below. No Dmen or goalies. Canucks have the framework, just time to fill in the rest.

  • It may be impossible to state what exactly “a real fan” truly is. Maybe in the half world between Optimist and Pessimist dwells the Realist which IMHO constitutes a so-called “real fan.” Who doesn’t want wins and make the play offs? I think though there a lot of comparatively younger fans who don’t remember much before the WCE played for us and the twins were still developing and therefore spoiled by a team who were actually quite competitive, even contending for a decade and a half. Now the best era of the VC is over and people must accept the present state of the local club. It ain’t pretty I’ll grant you that but believe me, I’ve seen far crappier Canuck teams than this one.

    • Being cognisant of Vancouver’s pro hockey history reminds fans of the fact there is an NHL club in the province to cheer for,at all.
      I grew up cheering for other NHL teams as there wasn’t NHL hockey in the province of British Columbia.

      • Yeah, keep cheering the British Columbia C’nucks through your a$$ troll…

        “Don’t want to hear about “ifs” the team is what it is right now………..and it is deplorable… this parting with very good nhl and ahl prospects has me less and less interested in this team.” – Bud Poile

        “Now that Petey has been unceremoniously dumped on his head and suffered a concussion his brain and processing is in jeopardy for the rest of his life.” Bud Poile

        The Canucks are over paying for the assets they are acquiring. The Sutter trade is a good example – Bud Poile

        “The Canucks won’t do anything until they get a QB on the PP” – Bud Poile

        Keep cheering, concussed, confused, tail between legs.

        • We’re not debating the ongoing state of plastics in the oceans or the death of Kashoggi.
          Entertainment suggests you should enjoy it.
          Being a douchebag and hindsight know-it-all suggests that is who you are,PQW.