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CanucksArmy Post-Game: Holiday Blues
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Photo credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Darryl Keeping
Dec 24, 2017, 03:13 EST
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Never good to have a question mark beside your name on the projected lineup card. That’s what you get when you dress seven defencemen, a puzzling move by Canucks head coach Travis Green.
It’s a strong message sent to Alexander Burmistrov and Reid Boucher who are stuck in the press box in favour an awkward lineup, to say the least. So how’d things go? Let’s take a look.
It was actually a strong start for the Canucks who carried much of the play during the opening 20 minutes. Unfortunately, Jacob Markstrom allowed a softie — a developing trademark for the Swedish netminder as he tries to establish himself as a starting goalie. It’s released off the backhand, sure, but it’s from far enough out he should be able to make the save. I’m sure Markstrom would like to have that one back.
Alex Biega had an atrocious sequence near the end of the first with two turnovers and an icing which ultimately ended with him taking a penalty — yikes! Not often you don’t get scored on after a shift like that, lucky Bulldog!
After 20, the five-on-five shot attempts were 22-11 in favour of Vancouver, 25-16 overall.
The Canucks killed off the Biega penalty which carried over into the second. This is noteworthy due to how bad the penalty kill has been lately.
Shortly after, Thomas Vanek orchestrated a beautiful goal by creating a turnover deep in the Blues zone. Vanek stripped Blues forward Paul Stastny and fed Sam Gagner at the left faceoff dot in one swipe; Gagner quickly returned the feed to Vanek who appeared to be in prime shoot position, but instead, he did what everyone should do, and fed Brock Boeser the biscuit. Boeser made no mistake from the left side and buried the puck in the yawning cage for his 20th of the season to tie at one.
The Blues responded with a pretty solid push back in the second after the Boeser goal and shot attempts were 21-14 in favour of St. Louis in the period. Markstrom was sharp, and then this happened, again!
Holy guacamole! A brutal angle and untouched by Ben Hutton — you just have to make that save in a tie game late in the second. Softie #2 on the night.
Going into the third down 2-1 versus a Blues team who have yet to lose game when leading after two, sure would have been nice not being shorthanded at the forward position at this point. I’m not suggesting the Canucks would have won the game with Burmistrov or Boucher dressed, but they would have been in a better position to get the equalizer.
Vancouver had a solid third with a slight edge in shot attempts at 21-17
Boeser and Virtanen had some good looks, but the Canucks couldn’t find the equalizer. The Blues added a late empty-netter to make it 3-1 to send the Canucks into the holiday break with a 1-7-1 record in their last 9, not pretty!

The Numbers

Quick Hits

  • The showcase – The longer this goes on, the more transparent it will become that merely playing Erik Gudbranson does not go hand in hand with increasing his value, an assumption I don’t understand. Again, the puck was an active grenade on his stick as he ended up exiting the zone at an alarmingly low rate, just under 58% of the time. Throw in five turnovers in the defensive zone alone, and you’ve got another sub 50% share of the shots while he’s on the ice.
  • Virtanen with back to back strong games. JV18 played a season-high 16:27 of playing time tonight and led the team in controlled zone entries(6), individual 5v5 shot attempts(8), and CF%(65.52%). Almost unfortunate there’s a break given the way he’s playing at the moment.
  • Edler had a solid game tonight, tied for the team lead in primary offensive contributions with 9 (7 Shots + 2 assists). Also led the team with 21:51 of playing time.
  • Ben Hutton was steady in his return to the lineup, the team finishing with a 58.62% share of shots while he was on the ice. He was assertive in all three zones, relying on his decision making and trusting his abilities. Hutton threw five shots at the net, was steady in the neutral zone and more aggressive in the defensive zone, notably on the PK on a few occasions. If he continues to play like this consistently, there’s no way he’s coming out of the lineup again!
  • That’s it for me until boxing day! If you follow me on twitter, you’re going to be seeing a lot of World Junior Championship content, and I’m beyond excited to bring it to you guys. It won’t just be coverage for Team Canada or Canucks prospects; it’s going to be everyone! As excited as I am to bring you the content, this break is much needed, can’t wait to activate holiday mode. Anyway, enjoy the Holidays folks!

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