Canucks Postgame: Toff Loss

Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports

The Vancouver Canucks had an opportunity to finish 2015 with five consecutive games with a point, but instead, they ended up allowing five consecutive goals in what may have been one of the most disappointing losses of the season. Simply put, the Canucks were thoroughly and totally overwhelmed by the Los Angeles Kings tonight, and the end result wasn’t pretty.

Tonight’s game began on a sour note, as Los Angeles defenceman Brayden McNabb recklessly decided that the best resting place for his elbow was in Henrik Sedin’s face. Alex Biega quickly came to his captain’s defence, as did Brandon Prust a few minutes later. That was just the tip of the iceberg for a chippy first half of the first period, as Andrey Pedan also dropped the gloves for the first time in his NHL career, and Bo Horvat found himself on the verge of fisticuffs with Drew Doughty.

While some of the players focused on getting physical, the Kings seemed to have a few more guys who were focused on getting pucks to the net. Throughout the game, Los Angeles consistently outshot and out-chanced the Canucks, but it was most evident early in. At one point in the second period, the Canucks had attempted three shots to the Kings’ 19, so it was of little surprise that the first goal came from the bad guys. Tyler Toffoli was the finisher on a great cycle play by his line; Anze Kopitar dropped a pass into the corner before a hit could strip him, Milan Lucic battled with Yannick Weber to retain it, sent it over to Kopitar when he was free, and Kopitar tapped it over to Toffoli to finish off.

The Canucks shook the anger off in the dying moments of the second period and used a powerplay to regain their focus. But, while they weren’t outclassed in quite the same way as they were in the first, that wasn’t enough to stop the Kings. Trevor Lewis’ clearance from the corner landed right on Derek Forbert’s stick, and while Forbert wasn’t able to elude traffic with his point shot, he was able to bounce it off of Andrey Pedan and past Jacob Markstrom. Ten minutes later, the point was the scene of the crime once again; this time, McNabb decided to unleash his aggression in a cleaner away and blasted his second of the season.

By the third period, the game already appeared to be out of reach, but Tyler Toffoli removed all doubt. Six minutes in, he prevented a Canucks breakout and dumped the puck back in, and after Anze Kopitar tipped Alec Martinez’s pass off of Markstrom’s pads, it left Toffoli with a wide open net to work with. With seven minutes to go in the game, Toffoli completed his hat trick by becoming the shot tipper, deflecting Drew Doughty’s point pitch while Derek Dorsett sat in the box. A couple of penalties to the Kings gave the Canucks a bit of opportunity to at least get a goal, but with most of the shots coming from a distance, Jonathan Quick was able to escape with the shutout.

It would be easy to claim that the Canucks checked out mentally after the McNabb hit on Henrik, and that may or may not be true. One thing’s for sure, though; the end result of this game was the Kings controlling both nets. The shot count makes that pretty obvious; Los Angeles outshot Vancouver 38-27, but they also out-chanced them at a 2:1 ratio. The shot chart above says it all;  an extraordinary amount of Los Angeles’ shot attempts come from in and around the slot region, including all of Toffoli’s goals. His line absolutely dominated the Canucks tonight, attaining approximately 75% possession by smothering Vancouver’s along the boards and either dragging themselves in front of Markstrom or pulling the puck away from Quick.

Also, while faceoffs don’t mean as much in the long as many claim, going 33% at the dot on a night where you’re struggling to control your opponents is a surefire recipe for a loss.

Good on Brandon Prust for going after Brayden McNabb. Hits like the one he threw are unacceptable in this league, and while many claim otherwise, I feel like it makes more sense to go after the aggressor than reenacting the original bad act on one of their teammates. 

I’m happy that Higgins was okay after this shot to the chest. Sure, he hasn’t been much of a presence for the Canucks this year, but seeing any player go down like that is scary, and obviously, that had to be a hard shot for it to disrupt the man with the golden abs.

Though he wasn’t happy with how he tracked the puck tonight, and he did allow five goals, Jacob Markstrom was the least disappointing player on the ice tonight. All of Toffoli’s came from up close, including a rebound and a deflection, and the point shots were both greatly aided by screens. He still managed 33 saves on the night, despite all this.

That’s it for 2015! The Canucks play their next game on New Years Day, against the Anaheim Ducks. If nothing else, it provides fans with a Kesler and Bieksa sightings. Puck drop is at 7 PM.