CanucksArmy Game Day: Eastern promises, dialled in Demko, numbers don’t lie

Photo credit:© Marc DesRosiers

3 years ago

Every Win Matters… For Both Sides

The Canucks need every single win no matter the opponent. Thanks, Capt. Obvious! The Senators need those wins as well. The better the Sens play, the better their “sell” will be as the deadline looms. For Vancouver, they need the wins to appease ownership, management, and a handful of people that believe this team is good enough to make a run.

The next two points are the most important two points for the Canucks right now and the opponent does not matter. Ottawa has played spoiler to a handful of teams already but the Canucks need to buck that trend and not just win, but win in regulation. This seems to be a tough task but it’s Ottawa. You can’t just wait around, they’ll still beat you.

There could be a handful of roster updates by puck drop so stay tuned to your trusted outlets.

It’s game day!

Let’s Do This!™

Feels like Spring, But It Looks Like Motte Girl Summer

Tyler Motte is on the road trip and took third-line rushes yesterday, according to Farhan Lalji:

Motte would be a huge addition to this current setup and then allows a potential combo of Adam Gaudette/Motte on that third line. It may require some juggling around but it would be great to see this team get healthy in that spot.

Aquilini Tweets, Demko Unforgiving, and Just How Bad Are the Canucks?

Let’s start with the bad stuff: On GF/GA averages alone, the Canucks should lose every single game. Their GF/GP is at 2.72 and the GA/GP is a prickly 3.19. Those stats paint a pretty crisp picture of what should happen on a night-to-night basis but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Goaltending has kept this team afloat, and somehow they’re only three points back of the playoffs currently.
The run of games will come to a halt after next weekend when the Canucks go on the league issued bye week and that is when the rubber really hits the road. The Flames and the Jets play each other three times during that span and could buckle the Canucks to the outside. Montreal has a handful of games as well which include Ottawa twice and the Oilers. If the Canucks make it, this is the week to decide it.
It won’t be just scoreboard watching for the Canucks but they still need to earn wins right up to the break. They aren’t putting up boatloads of goals so it has to come down to goaltending and Thatcher Demko has been right on cue when things started to slide. Watching guys like Carter Hart or the beginning of Mackenzie Blackwood — or hey, Elvis — get hot to begin their careers created jealousy in Canucks nation (well for me anyway), and we had to watch Demko figure out his professional setup. Now, he’s putting the league on notice and so help me, if the Canucks make the playoffs, Thatcher Demko deserves every ounce of praise.
Demko, according to Moneypuck.com, has 7.3 goals saved above expected. That’s third in the NHL! On the flip side, Matt Murray has been supremely unlucky and has allowed 20.9 more goals than he should have. Tough.

These aren’t really “Eastern Promises” but whoever is actually in charge of this account is pretty tone-deaf. He really is surprised why things weren’t off to a great start this season? Money has a lot to do with it, for starters. Second, he’s handcuffed himself to a general manager that has more misses than hits. These tweets continue to enrage the fan base but honestly, why should we expect anything different?

PowerGlove™ Player of the Game

Tyler Myers is irking? eeking? sliding his way into my heart as a difference-maker. His dangles are exaggerated and he’s finally unleashing the clapper. Tyler Myers isn’t going anywhere so we might as well embrace him. He’s tall so he’ll probably embrace us first.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

Indoor Waterslides
Brock Boeser goalz
Matrix 4 (I’m cool with that one whenever it happens)
Other People’s Cameos

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