CANUCKS ARMY POST-GAME: POWER FAILURE
7 years ago
The Vancouver Canucks found themselves going up against a struggling Philadelphia Flyers defense. On the back end of a road trip, the Canucks played a strong game at even strength. However, their struggles on special teams likely cost them a win as they fell 5-4 to the Flyers in a shootout.
Game Recap
After the Flyers took back-to-back four minute high sticking penalties, the Canucks found themselves on a 50 second 5-on-3. The abysmal Canucks power play that is firing at just 13.7% on the year managed to take advantage after Daniel Sedin ripped a shot past a screened Steve Mason.
That would be the only goal the Canucks would score in just over 7 straight minutes of power play time.
After Nikita Tryamkin took a slashing penalty, the Flyers went to work on the power play. Dale Weise, a.k.a. Dutch Gretzky turned into Messi, kicking the puck up in the air before knocking it down to Travis Konecny who made no mistake to knot the game at 1-1, which is where it would stay heading into the second period.
The Canucks started the period on their sixth power play attempt after Michael Del Zotto earned his sixth penalty minute for high sticking Daniel Sedin. While the Canucks failed to convert during the power play, a Chris Tanev slap shot led to a rebound that Markus Granlund shovelled home the rebound to give the Canucks the lead.
From that point on, the offensive flood gates opened for both teams. Matt Read picked Chris Tanev’s pocket before sending a pass cross ice to Pierre-Edouard Bellemare fired a laser past Ryan Miller to tie it up at 2.
Eighteen seconds later, the Canucks struggled to clear the puck out of their end and the Flyers took advantage. Jakub Voracek feathered a beautiful pass back door to a wide open Sean Couturier to give them a 3-2 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Canucks answered back just 22 seconds later. Markus Granlund grabbed the puck off a scrambled draw and made a nifty move to slide the puck under Steve Mason before bowling over the netminder.
With just over seven minutes left in the second frame, Jason Megna drove wide into the zone before making a nifty pass to Sutter who scored his 12th of the year.
The game stayed 4-3 until the third period. Michal Neuvirth replaced Steve Mason to start the third which seemed to spark the Flyers. Just 57 seconds into the third period, Brayden Schenn took a feed from Claude Giroux on the power play and sniped it while falling down to tie the game 4-4.
After 60 minutes, the teams found themselves tied up at 4. Overtime solved nothing, so they headed to a shootout where Claude Giroux was the only shooter to beat a goaltender giving the Philadelphia Flyers a 5-4 victory.
The Statistics
The Canucks managed to control a 54.7% share of 5v5 shot attempts, out-attempting the Flyers 46-38 in regulation. Considering the Flyers rank 11th in Corsi For percentage and the Canucks coming off an overtime loss two nights prior, this is a fairly good result.
Sven Baertischi and Jayson Megna led the way for the Canucks in shot attempts. Most of the Canucks finished with a positive shot share at even strength.
Final Thoughts
Considering the Canucks had eight power play attempts, the loss tonight is disappointing. The Canucks power play has struggled immensely throughout this year and entered the game converting on only 13.7% of their power play opportunities. Tonight the Canucks converted on just 13% of their opportunities, going one for eight with the man advantage.
The Canucks need to desperately need to change and improve their power play. A team that is going to be fighting tooth and nail to make the playoffs simply cannot afford to go lose a game in which they had eight power play attempts.
Other notes:
- With the play of both Granlund and Baertschi, the Canucks have a tough decision on their hands heading towards the trade deadline and the expansion draft. The Canucks will have to expose one of Sutter, Granlund, Baertschi, Jannick Hansen, and Bo Horvat when Las Vegas drafts their team, and if they do not move anyone then they risk losing a key contributor to this year’s team for nothing.
- The Canucks’ current goal leaders are Horvat with 13, Sutter with 12, and Granlund with 11. While it is great to see scoring by committee, if your top goal scorers at the end of the year are Sutter and Granlund there are likely larger issues with the Canucks offensive talent that will be tough to address.
Overall, it was a solid performance on the back end of a road trip. Given all of their opportunities this is a game where the Canucks needed to and should have walked away with two points if they want to make the playoffs.
At least we have this awesome gif of Tryamkin bullying the Broad Street Bullies to watch.
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