Canucks Army Postgame #64: Solid Gold

STATS

HIGHLIGHTS

• It’s hard not to feel bad for Willie Desjardins on some level. It already seems like a foregone conclusion that he won’t be here next season, and it’s for that reason that I can’t really blame him for trying his damndest to win tonight. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t any less difficult to watch him continue to make lineup decisions in the way only Desjardins can. Nikolay Goldobin, who should be getting prime auditioning time given the Canucks’ current situation, played just 23 seconds in the final 27 minutes of the game. Reid Boucher, who had his best game as a Canucks just a few nights ago, couldn’t even make the lineup. There’s a special kind of emptiness to watching a doomed coach make decisions that might help the team win in the short term but serve absolutely no purpose overall. 
• Deconstructing tonight’s game makes for a difficult task, mainly because hockey games just generally don’t unfold in the manner they did tonight. The Canucks took a massive lead early on, scoring three goals on eight shots, and then white-knuckled their way through the back half of the game. Getting outshot by a margin of over 2 to 1 is usually an awful way to win a hockey game, but it’s also understandable given how quickly the Canucks jumped out to a big lead, and the way the roster is constructed. Score effects definitely played a role, but it’s also worth noting that the Canucks were still being outshot even before they took the lead, and were probably lucky to have scored as many goals as they did tonight. 
• It’s hard to praise the overall play of any of the Canucks’ skaters given how badly they were outshot tonight, (only Nikolay Goldobin was in the black by shot shares, and he played under six minutes,) but the Canucks’ best forwards tonight were Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi. Desjardins did a lot of line-juggling tonight, but I’d credit some of that to Loui Eriksson, with whom Sven and Bo played the bulk of the game. It’s a shame that it’s taken until now to see that line take regular shifts together, given that all three players would likely benefit from that arrangement. Baerstchi and Horvat have succeeded at generating high-quality chances at even-strength, but have struggled to keep their heads above water in terms of defense and puck possession. Eriksson, on the other hand, has been a steady two-way presence all year, but has struggled to generate quality chances at the rate he has in the past. Don’t be surprised if they have some more success playing together in the future. 
• Ryan Miller played like someone who either really wants to stay in Vancouver, or really wants one last hefty contract from another team in the summer. It’s safe to say that without Miller, the Canucks lose tonight’s game, and handily at that. Miller stopped 41 of the 44 shots he faced tonight, and given the way he’s played this season and the organization’s reluctance to lean on Jacob Markstrom, I’d be surprised if he isn’t extended before the season’s end. 
Let Who’s Your Daddy? be a lesson to those of you in the entertainment business, whether you’re a performer or booking agent: don’t get fancy with the anthem. We’ve heard it so many times at this point that it’s a bit like wallpaper: you only notice it when it’s bad.