CanucksArmy Post Game: A desert dog in the phonebooth
6 years ago
Puck Drop
I don’t know if flow would be the word to describe tonight’s game, but it was certainly played with some pace. At least this was the case when it came to the clock, with nearly seven full minutes of uninterrupted play to start the game.
With the Canucks already shorthanded, Oliver Ekman-Larsson drew a second penalty in thirty-seconds sending Darren Archibald to the box for tripping.
It was Ekman-Larsson at the center of things again as Alex Edler blocked his point shot. Edler then batted the puck out of mid-air, and out to the neutral zone, where Brandon Sutter pulled away on a breakaway. Putting the Canucks up 1-0.
Or so we thought. The referee signaled a goal; the red light went off, and everyone was celebrating. That was, until the goal was reviewed. The replay clearly shows the puck never went in the net, but instead fluttering along the crossbar.
To add salt to the wound, while still with the extra man, the Coyotes flipped the script and lit the lamp themselves. Jacob Markstrom made a spectacular save off a rebound, but was unable to do much to stop the game of pinball going on in the Canucks crease.
The disappointment was shortlived. With just 15.1 seconds left in the first frame, Jussi Jokinen got on the board for the first time as a Canuck. Doubling his season goal total taking a nice touch pass from Brendan Leipsic in front of the net and roofing it 1-1.
2nd Period
The second period started with a bang as Erik Gudbranson lowered the boom on Christian Fischer.
After a sloppy change, the Canucks found themselves chasing a three-on-one, which saw former Canuck Brad Richardson ring it off the post.
Tho the game was close on the scoreboard; the Canucks were being outshot 20-9 at the halfway point. Despite Arizona being on pace for a 40 shot performance, there wasn’t much going on concerning entertainment value tonight.
With three minutes left to go in the second, the Canucks received the Bronx cheer from the fans, putting just their third shot of the period on net.
Nick Cousins, and Henrik Sedin both took minor penalties late in the second which carried over to the third.
3rd Period
After starting the period four-on-four, the teams were back to even strength when Tyler Motte nearly gave Vancouver the lead. Parked almost on top of Darcy Keumper, Motte sailed the puck well high of a wide open net just missing his first goal as a Canuck.
Sam Gagner deftly redirected Ben Hutton’s point shot on goal with his back to the net, before Ekman-Larsson dragged the puck around Jokinen in the high slot. With a pile of traffic in front of him, Markstrom did well to make the save and hang onto the puck.
The majority of the latter half of the third was played predominantly in the Vancouver end of the rink, but Arizona wasn’t able to produce much in the way of high danger scoring chances.
With the game appearing to be headed for overtime, Derrick Stepan seemingly out of nowhere put the Coyotes up with 57.9 seconds left.
The Arizona point shot hit Michael Del Zotto in the slot and fell right in the lap of Stepan, who set up on his forehand was able to beat Jacob Markstrom for the game’s winning goal.
The Numbers
Gudbranson had a banner night exiting his own zone according to the D-Keeper.
- The Canucks had 49.64% of the expected goals at 5v5
- Arizona controlled over 60% of 5v5 shot attempts
- There were just four high danger shots on the night, only one being by the Canucks
Quick Hits
- Jacob Markstrom continued his strong play against the Coyotes, coming into the night he was four and one, with 1.78 goals against and a .946 save percentage.
- Jake Virtanen’s good play of late continued tonight, he’s been consistently physical and more engaged which has resulted in more opportunity for the former sixth-overall pick. He had a game-high six hits and has 11 in his last two games. Hits aren’t exactly an important stat, but for a player like Virtanen, they carry some weight as he tends to be playing “his game” when he’s physical. He was a -3 on-ice shot attempts at 5-on-5, but was third in total on-ice shot attempts for.
- Despite being one of only four Canucks with an even or better shot attempt differential, Nikolay Goldobin was parked by Travis Green in the third period. He played just 7:49 on the night, with all the current, injures and the Canucks having just one call up left for the year, it will be interesting to watch how Green handles the young winger. He will require waivers next season, and the Canucks need to know what they have in Goldobin.
