CANUCKS ARMY POST-GAME: Streak Snapped
7 years ago
It was a tale of two offenses that were the exact opposite for each of their first 13 games. The New York Rangers came into tonight’s game leading the league in goals for while the struggling Canucks offense was tied with the Colorado Avalanche for least goals for.
That all changed in a New York minute.
Game Recap
It was the Rangers who struck first on a goal by Pavel Buchnevich midway through the second but the Canucks came back late in the period. The Sedins continued to do what they do best, cycling the puck before finding a wide open Loui Eriksson in front of the net who made a nice move before putting the puck in the back of the net. It was Eriksson’s first goal as a Canuck, bringing his season goal total to zero.
The score remained tied 1-1 heading into the third period, where the Canucks ran into some penalty trouble. After killing off a Henrik Sedin high sticking penalty, Erik Gudbranson fed Henrik Sedin for a partial breakaway. In true Henrik fashion, Sedin ripped a slapshot past Antti Raanta putting the Canucks up 2-1.
Shortly after, Markus Granlund ran into Raanta earning himself a two minute minor for goaltender interference, and on their fifth powerplay attempt Rick Nash scored his 400th career goal to tie the game up at 2. Raanta was later pulled from the game by a concussion spotter, and Henrik Lundqvist had to come in to try to shut down the Canucks.
When there is a streak that needs to be snapped, Alex Burrows typically rises to the occasion. In a night of firsts, Burrows potted his first of the season off a mad scramble in front of Lundqvist giving the Canucks a 3-2 lead.
Continuing the theme of firsts, Sven Baertschi got his first of the year five minutes later with Jack Skille and Michael Chaput picking up the helpers and their first points as members of the Canucks. The Rangers, seeking their sixth straight victory, pulled the goalie with just under four minutes left. Alex Burrows, however, took advantage of the empty net and gave the Canucks a 5-2 lead.
The Rangers would get a goal with a minute left in the final frame, but fell short and the Canucks snapped their nine game losing streak with a 5-3 win.
The Statistics
The Canucks were out-attempted through the first halve of the game at even strength. However, they turned it around after Buchnevich’s goal and ended up finishing the night with 32 shot attempts at 5v5 compared to the Rangers’ 38.
Overall, the Canucks did a good job at containing the red hot Rangers offense and ended up having more shots on goal than the Rangers did at the end of the night.
Alexander Edler was a key cog to the Canucks’ success, and ended up having one of the best shot attempt nights out of any skater. On the other end of the spectrum, the Luca Sbisa-Nikita Tryamkin pairing struggled heavily, and had the worse Corsi For% on the night.
Moving forward, that is likely a pairing the Canucks want to avoid icing together as in their 9:33 together, Sbisa and Tryamkin allowed 13 shot attempts against while only generating three for.
Final Thoughts
- Overall, it was a solid outing for the Canucks. They managed to contain the best offense in the league this year and overcome their own goal scoring issues. Burrows, Baertschi, and Eriksson all notching their first goals of the season will provide a confidence boost for the club heading into the final game of the road trip.
- With Jake Virtanen out of the lineup for the second straight night and the Canucks managing to win tonight, one has to wonder when his next chance with the Canucks will be or if he will be seated in the press box for a lot longer.
- Jacob Markstrom had another solid start for the Canucks and made some impressive stops throughout the course of the game, especially in the second period.
- Troy Stecher is fully deserving a spot on the Canucks’ blue line. The rookie has been very impressive, and continued to show he can hold his own at the NHL level again tonight. Let’s hope that scratch last night was just a maintenance day.
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