Canucks Army Postgame: Detroit Red Wings? More Like, Detroit Road Wins

Few things are time honoured in Vancouver as snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. As such, it’s not overly surprising that the Canucks managed to squander a 2-0 lead in the third period without so much as a whimper.

Disappointing? Certainly. The Canucks were head and shoulders the better team for the entirety of tonight’s contest. They dominated the neutral zone through regulation and shot clock right to the bitter end. Do score effects in combination with bad luck have a sizeable share of the blame? Sure.

Not really sure it matters though. The Canucks are winless at home, four games into a five game home stand. The next month they’ll visit Rogers Arena a grand total of three times. Things get more difficult before they get easier and the Canucks aren’t doing themselves on their favour.

The Canucks pressed often and early, with all four lines getting in on the action. On the heels of an amazing Petr Mrazek performance, the Red Wins were able to withstand much of this early push. At the tail end of a Canucks power play, though, the dam burst (if temporarily) in the form of a Christopher Tanev goal from the point. 

In case you were wondering, his goal song is none other than Nelly’s “Hot in Herre”.

Vancouver wasn’t done on the power play, either. With a man advantage midway through the second, courtesy a Jonathan Ericsson tripping penalty. In continuing with the theme of unlikeliest of power play contributors, Brandon Sutter threw his name in the hat with a snipe from the slot past an outstretched Mrazek. 

Things became decidedly less fortunate for Vancouver from this point onward. They continued to dominate play, entering the third the handily better possession and neutral zone team, but with little in the way of a lead to show for it. As the chances mounted and the results floundered, the oncoming threat of a Red Wings comeback hung ominous over Vancouver. 

As luck would have it, the Wings capitalized on a quick break transition play from their own zone to send in Teemu Pulkinnen one-on-one with Ryan Miller. With Ben Hutton in hot pursuit, Pulkinnen sent the puck through Miller.

The comeback came full circle less than two minutes later, on a power play snipe by Tomas Tatar off the half wall. 

With neither side striking the deciding goal in regulation, the Canucks took this one to 3-on-3 overtime. As teams in 3-on-3 are wont to do, the two sides traded chances, before the Canucks got caught on a bad change in transition. The Wings netminder sent in a streaking Gustav Nyquist, who launched a perfectly placed shot right above the far side pad to beat Miller.