Canucks Army Post-Game: Down With the Sickness
By J.D. Burke
7 years ago
Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin – USA TODAY Sports
Tonight wasn’t looking good for the Vancouver Canucks from the start. They’d lost a half of their team to the mumps over the bye week, faced a Western Conference powerhouse in the San Jose Sharks and, well, they were coming off the bye week. That’s a new kind of scheduled loss.
And I don’t think anyone — perhaps even the Canucks — saw this game going any differently. Given the effort they showcased tonight, that’s okay though. Expectations were at an all-time low. All the Canucks had to do was put up something of a fight, and one could count tonight among the multitude moral victories Vancouver’s hung their hat on in these last two seasons.
The 4-1 score in San Jose’s favour might not tell the story of a handful of plucky underdogs banding together, but for most of the night, it was a relatively close game. Hell, the Canucks outshot the Sharks handily, and whether one can attribute most of that score effects or otherwise, it’s worth noting all the same.
With three call-ups in their lineup and one defenceman playing in his first NHL hockey game in Evan McEneny, the Canucks fared admirably, I thought.
Daniel Sedin scored the Canucks’ lone goal and Ryan Miller stopped 22 of 26 shots. Martin Jones stopped 35 of the Canucks 36 shots and Mikkel Boedker led the way offensively for the Sharks with one goal and five shots.
Stats
Quick Hits
- Was speaking with a scout tonight about the sparse attendance, and he raised a point about this city and the mixed messages they sometimes send management. This city says they want a rebuild. Well, tonight they had McEneny playing in his first game, along with youngsters Joseph LaBate and Alex Grenier. Of course, they all rank on the lower end of the prospect scale, and that was my retort, but maybe there’s something to what he’s saying. Then again, it’s not just that these are low-end prospects. I don’t know what my ultimate point here is, but it’s certainly food for thought.
- Speaking of the youngsters, I thought they mostly acquitted themselves well enough; I liked Grenier and LaBate’s game. They kept it simple and flashed what could be two-thirds of a modernized fourth line, should the Canucks ever have to go that route. LaBate is going to get the majority of the credit tonight, and rightfully so. He delivered a devastating hit to San Jose’s Melker Karlsson and answered the bell when Brenden Dillon came to his teammate’s defence later in the game. And what a show they put on. It was the Canucks first fight in 31 games, and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t a good one — if you’re into that kind of thing, which I’m admittedly not.
- I’m having a hard time counting McEneny’s game among the better ones from the Canucks’ youngsters tonight. And I say that knowing full-well that this is a situation that McEneny shouldn’t be tasked with playing in. He just seemed nervous. Which is more than fair enough for a guy playing in his first NHL game a year after taking most of his shifts in the ECHL. It’s a big jump.
- I thought Philip Larsen acquitted himself well in his return to the Canucks lineup. Larsen was sound in transition without giving up too much defensively. That’s about all you can ask for, really. He also led the Canucks blue line with a +14 in Corsi For playing in close to 20 minutes. That’s what I’d call an adequate night.
- Luca Sbisa left tonight’s game with the flu. Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins was adamant after the game that it wasn’t mumps related, but one could hardly blame Canucks fans for jumping to that conclusion. Sbisa didn’t look great when he was in the lineup, so maybe that goes a little way towards explaining that. Maybe?
- Desjardins said after the game that Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher have left quarantine and should be ready for the Canucks going forward. I would expect that means they’ll be joining the Canucks in time for tomorrow’s game. That’s a boon for a right side that’s looking awfully short on talent in their absence.
- Brandon Sutter takes a lot of heat in this space, but for a guy playing on a bum wrist, he seemed surprisingly effective on the power play tonight. Had a few really deft tips in the slot that were just inches off from being goals. Credit where due.
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