Canucks Postgame: Out Sweded

I had a bad feeling about this game when Vancouver’s high-profile skilled Swedish captain lined up for the ceremonial faceoff, and was met by Ottawa’s high-profile skilled Swedish captain. Henrik Sedin didn’t even try to win the faceoff. He was intimidated by his own kind, presumably because Erik Karlsson’s hair controlled Hank’s mind.

Or, you know, the home team always wins the draw during ceremonial faceoffs. Even still, the automatic victory was a bad omen tonight, as the Canucks fell 3-2 to the Senators tonight. 

The Canucks opened the scoring early in the first period. Bo Horvat began a rush for his line with a smart breakout pass to Radim Vrbata, who tried to set up Sven Baertschi. It worked in ways that nobody quite expected, as the puck deflected off of Baertschi (maybe) and into the back of Ottawa’s net.

It was a great start for Vancouver, but the good vibes didn’t last. Bobby Ryan took advantage of a tripping penalty to Adam Cracknell and fired a knee-drop one-timer, fed to him by the previously mentioned Erik Karlsson. Almost twenty minutes later, after a large amount of the second period was spent with the Canucks firing on all cylinders at Andrew Hammond, Karlsson took things into his own hands and rushed the puck into the Vancouver zone. He didn’t pull off a full Bobby Orr, but before the Canucks could escape, he was set up by Kyle Turris for his second of the year.

Vancouver’s pressure weaned in the third period though they still did their best to make something happen. It was time for the other Swedish captain to respond, and unfortunately, Henrik Sedin did so by high sticking Mike Hoffman in the neck. This lead to an Ottawa powerplay, which Hoffman used to set up Chris Wideman for a point shot that Ryan Miller… didn’t not play very well. Henrik and Alex Edler made up for it to an extent by scoring a minute and a half later, but at that point, the damage was done.

Not a bad game for the Canucks, though they fell asleep at the wheel for a stretch in the middle of the first period. This obviously culminated in the Ryan goal, but from there, the balance of goaltending came into play. You could tell in Ryan Miller’s body language that he was disappointed in himself for goals 2 and 3, whereas Andrew Hammond himself in control throughout the night.

He didn’t do too many fancy things out there, but full credit to Bo Horvat tonight. His line, which included Radim Vrbata and Sven Baertschi, absolutely controlled play, especially in the second period. This, despite being put in unfavourable situations. His feed to Vrbata to start the play was incredibly smart, passing ahead and off the boards so it would come back around to his winger when he was ready for it, and it lead to beautiful things.

Supplementing the good things said about the line before, Baertschi’s deflection is kind of (totally) a fluke, but the rush by the trio to break into the zone afforded them the opportunity to turn this into a goal, which they did. Also, this was the only lead the Canucks had tonight.

A lazy, if not reckless play by Henrik, even if unintentional. Even from a hockey perspective, it put the Canucks on the penalty kill while down a goal late in the third period; that’s not something you want to happen.

The Canucks now head down the highway to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs, who properly represent a dreadful, smug city by being an absolutely godawful hockey team. Not even Mike Babcock’s systematic upgrades have helped them on their quest to depart the basement. The Canucks will look to make quick work of the team, especially with the possibility of a struggling Jonathan Bernier coming back from a very recent injury. Puck drop is at 4PM on Hockey Night in Canada.