Canucks Army Postgame: Oil Spill

With the red-hot Edmonton Oilers in town, it was not going to be an easy game. Connor McDavid is the leading scorer in the NHL, and the team’s record speaks for itself. The Canucks looked to bounce back after their loss to Ottawa on Tuesday, and they were also hoping for some breakthroughs by struggling players. It was a solid game overall, but unfortunately the Oilers capitalized on their opportunities while the Canucks failed to score a goal.

For the second game in a row, the Canucks were shutout tonight by a score of 2-0.

Shots: VAN 26 – EDM 27

Face-offs: VAN 58% – EDM 42%

Hits: EDM 26 – VAN 21

Defense TOI leader: Alex Edler (23:55)

Forward TOI leader: Henrik Sedin (20:11)

It appears to be that the Oilers’ bottom-feeder days are over – their record speaks for itself. For the first time in a while, they have a competitive roster that will probably finish not in the bottom 5. 

The first period was action-packed and high-tempo with both teams getting into it early. There were chances at both ends of the ice, numerous hits, and some player named Connor McDavid was denied by hometown-boy Troy Stecher multiple times. It was a scoreless first, but we learned that Erik Gudbranson is gud (see what I did there?) as fighting. He dropped the gloves with former Canuck Zack Kassian, and then dropped him to the ice. Shots were 9-6 in favour of the Canucks at the end of the period.

The pace carried on to the second period but it was heavily in favour of Edmonton. The Oilers striked first – you can probably guess who it was. Not surprisingly, McDavid exploited his wheels and then there was a parting of the seas. Shots were 18-17 at the end of the second.

The Canucks looked to pull off another come-from-behind victory going into the third, but they failed to execute. One highlight was Ryan Miller’s save on you know who. Overall, the Canucks did not necessarily play bad tonight. They did give up chances, but they also received their share of opportunities. Milan Lucic finished the game with an empty-netter, putting Edmonton up 2-0.

– Both Brendan Gaunce and Jayson Megna left the game due to injury. Willie Desjardins said Megna has a shoulder problem and “will be a little while.”

– Troy Stecher was very good for the second game in a row. He had 19:49 of ice time and two shots on goal tonight. He’s undersized but makes up for it with poise and mobility. In a game with several defensive misplays, Stecher was easily the best defenseman on the ice.  It’s pretty evident as to why he was the most highly-coveted NCAA free agent last year.

– To his wish, Jake Virtanen played a majority of the game with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi tonight. He has 12:22 TOI, 1 shot, and 2 hits. He does not seem to be playing as physically as he usually does, which is prompting numerous questions about his health. It is known that he has had shoulder issues, but neither him nor Willie Desjardins confirm that it has been a set-back. Maybe he’s too afraid to be making mistakes? Only he knows…

– The snake-bitten Sven Baertschi was infected once again tonight. Just like the past few games, he’s had a fair share of chances. He has been driving to the net and involved in the game, but can’t catch a break. Known to be a streaky goal-scorer, hopefully his time will come sooner rather than later. In the summer, Jim Benning hoped and expected him to exceed his 15 goals from last year, but Baertschi has just 1 assist in 8 games.

– Loui Eriksson, as well, did not have a stellar game. He did not make mistakes, but he didn’t create many chances either. Given his aforementioned chemistry with the Sedins, one would have thought that he would’ve scored a goal by now, but it’s been a struggle. The first-line trio overall did not have a very noticeable game, despite the fact that they had a total of 7 shots on goal.

Ryan Miller made 24/25 saves, good for a 0.962 SV% in the game. He made good saves and kept the team close. Unfortunately for him, he was left hanging as the team failed to score a goal. After four games, he is 1-3-0 but with an excellent 0.945 SV%. The Canucks are going to be hard-pressed to score goals, there’s no doubt about that. Luckily the team has solid goaltending to back them up, but they won’t be able to win if they do not put the puck in the back of the net.

After winning their first four games of the regular season, the Canucks are now a 4-3-1 and 3rd in the Pacific Division.