Canucks Army Post-Game: Rock You Like a Hurricane
By J.D. Burke
7 years agoThe Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes are franchises charting vastly different courses for their respective organizations. And for all their philosophical differences, they intersect stalled at their oppositions net more often than most.
Such are the growing pains associated with ushering in a new wave. The Hurricanes are just months removed from parting with longtime face of the franchise Eric Staal, and while the Canucks aren’t quite ready to eschew the old guard in its entirety, the times they are a changin’.
With both clubs, as with any really, hope goes a long way towards buttressing any such organizational shift. Neither club has an Auston Matthews or a Connor McDavid to smash through the proverbial glass ceiling. Each has a bounty of young players with varying amounts of skill and potential and the hope against all hope that their output is greater than the sum of their parts.
Look at tonight’s goal scorers as testament to this shifting landscape. The Canes have goals from Teuvo Teravainen, Victor Rask and Justin Faulk; the Canucks from Ben Hutton, Brandon Sutter, Markus Granlund and Bo Horvat.
Striking a balance can be difficult, though. Coaches are often leery of the prospect of putting young players in high leverage situations, and it’s not difficult to see why. Everyone makes mistakes. Inexperienced mistakes often find themselves in the back of your net.
(Gathered from www.HockeyStats.ca)
The Canucks kept pace for much of the first. It was fast-paced, evenly played hockey. But when Horvat bit low on a loose puck to cover for Alexander Edler, his man, Rask, was left in prime scoring position in the slot and made the Canucks suffer for it. Compounding problems, Hutton and Erik Gudbranson crossed their signals at the blue line and let Faulk walk in uncontested, scoop up his rebound and triple the Hurricanes lead early in the second.
That wasn’t the only aimless excursion Gudbranson incurred in this, his second game as a Canuck.
Eventually, though, Vancouver settled things down and climbed within one of the visiting Canes. To the delight of Canucks fans everywhere, it was Horvat who broke ground. Just a day removed from centring a fourth line with Derek Dorsett and Alex Burrows on opposite flanks, Horvat was placed (rightly, I might add) back on a line with Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen. It took him 33-minutes with his old linemates to find the scoreboard.
From that point onward, Vancouver controlled play with a 25-12 advantage in shot attempts at even strength. And as they continued to build steam and add to their lofty advantage in territorial play, their efforts were eventually reflected on the scoreboard as well.
Granlund chipped in the second goal on a nifty passing play in tight, assisted by Jannik Hansen and Brandon Sutter. Not long after it was Hutton knotting things at three with a well-placed wrist shot past a barreled over Eddie Lack. Lack, the former sweetheart of Canucks fans, was none too happy with the play. While some raised the possibility the goal would be overturned due to goalie interference, no such challenge occurred.
The Canucks, at one point down three, were able to take this game to overtime with a lead in shot attempts, shots and a blank slate on the scoreboard.
And it didn’t take them long to put the icing on the cake. Though the Canes pressed early, a contested scoring chance in front of the Canucks’ net (and a contentious check on the play which set the puck loose) sent Brandon Sutter and Daniel Sedin opposed by just Jaccob Slavin. Channelling last night’s heroics, Sutter kept the puck all the way and sent it past Lack’s blocker.
The Canucks, now 2-0-0 on the heels of an overtime and shootout victory alike, take home the unlikely 4-3 win over the Hurricanes. Jacob Markstrom, playing his first meaningful hockey game since the World Cup of Hockey, had 19 saves on 22 shots. Lack stopped 27 of 31 Canucks shots. The Canucks host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Game Notes
- Talk about a zany night for Hutton. Frankly, I couldn’t tell which of Hutton or Gudbranson looked worse through the first two periods. They were just a collage of awful and everything was a blur. Then Hutton winds up scoring the game-tying goal. On the night, Hutton was a team-leading 71.5% Corsi For.
- More on that. I noticed last night when I was at the game that Desjardins was making a concerted effort to put the Sedins in offesnive situations. That meant putting them out after opposition icings and the occasional TV timeout, too. I noticed much of the same tonight. This is hugely encouraging. Hopefully he sticks to it.
- No clue what Jake Virtanen is doing on this play. It’s dangerous as hell whatever it is. I wonder if he’ll be receiving a call from the NHL.
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