Canucks Lose Game of Bounces in 2-1 Heartbreaker

If this season is going to carry a losing pattern, it’s going to include a lot of games like this. Despite holding their own and eventually outshooting the San Jose Sharks by a solid margin, the team suffered a couple of unlucky bounces and had next to no offensive luck, leading to a 2-1 loss.

The game started on the wrong foot, thanks to an unfortunate bounce in front of the net. A point shot by Paul Martin headed straight into traffic, and with Ryan Miller being quite screened by Alex Edler and Tommy Wingels, he reacted based on anticipation. Not the worst of ideas, but Wingels got just enough of the puck on his stick to slow it down and put it in an area that Miller hadn’t covered and gave the Sharks the lead.

The Canucks didn’t give up, though. Late in the period, Jake Virtanen hustled along the boards to force Matt Nieto into a tough position, leading to a turnover placed directly onto to Jared McCann’s stick, which following a twenty foot wrister, ended up in the back of the net. Tie game, things are solid.

Midway through the second period, some bad luck came in front of the net once again. Matt Bartkowski tried to break up an odd-man rush by blocking a pass by Brent Burns, and unfortunately, it ended up in going off his leg and through Miller to give the Sharks the lead. To make matters worse, despite the Canucks outshooting San Jose 21-9 (including 9-2 in the third!) in the back forty, that was the game’s last goal.

The focus is on the likes of Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann, but Ben Hutton is having a heck of a camp and doesn’t appear to want to leave this team without a proverbial fight. His patience with the puck and strong positioning were very evident tonight and lead to him having the second best possession numbers on the team despite playing nearly twenty minutes of hockey.

The only goal of the game gets the credit. Like I mentioned before, strong forecheck by Virtanen, who may be justified to argue for an assist as it looks like he tips Nieto’s giveaway. McCann is in the right place at the right time and takes the right shot. They’re both making it hard to argue against them, which Jim Benning alluded to during first intermission.

Matt Bartowski had some good moments in this game, but the winning goal was just a disaster. I feel bad for Ryan Miller, who had a damn good game but got dealt some really, really crappy cards.

The Canucks move on to the red-hot Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. Puck drop is at 6 PM pacific.