CanucksArmy Post-Game: Canucks Gagner in Overtime Over the Sharks
By J.D. Burke
6 years agoYou just had to know the Canucks were going to come into tonight’s game like a bat out of hell. I mean, how else would you expect them to respond to a 7-1 drubbing in front of the home crowd?
What I didn’t expect was the Canucks out-shooting the visiting San Jose Sharks 22-13 in the first frame. I sure as hell didn’t expect Markus Granlund to lead the charge either. Snakebitten for much of the season, Granlund opened the scoring 44 seconds into the game on the power play and scored another as a separate man advantage expired, all before the first horn.
Sure, the Sharks got a goal of their own. Brent Burns found the back of the net to break up the Markus Granlund experience.
At no point though did it feel like the Canucks weren’t in full control.
When Brock Boeser potted the second Canucks power play goal halfway through the second, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that they had this one in the books.
As many were wise to point out going into tonight’s game, though, the Sharks have long had the Canucks number. Last season the Canucks lost each of their five games against the Sharks in regulation, and none of them were especially close games.
Sharks forward Marcus Sorensen cut the Canucks lead in half by the end of the second, and doubt started to creep in. As the Sharks upped their attack in the third, culminating in the tying goal off of Burns’ stick (again) it started to feel like last year all over again.
The Canucks had lost their lead in shots, shot attempts and now goals. Quite the feat, given the cushion they’d built themselves in the early goings.
Without their shutdown defenceman, match-up centre, first line pivot and his partner on the left flank, the Canucks looked poised to put the cherry on top of another disappointing loss at home with an overtime setback.
The Canucks didn’t falter, though; they didn’t set back and defend the tie to little effect. They attacked, and kept attacking, right until Sam Gagner scored the game-winning goal with less than 30 seconds left to play in overtime.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 34 of the Sharks 37 shots. Opposite Markstrom, North Vancouver’s Martin Jones was excellent tonight, stopping 36 of 40 Canucks shots.
The Numbers
Quick Hits
- How’s that for a Markus Granlund coming out party? Not bad, eh? Honestly, I’ve been waiting for a night like tonight for a couple weeks now. Hell, maybe a couple of nights like tonight. All signs pointed to Granlund taking positive steps forward since leaving the “shutdown” line, and now the results are starting to follow — isn’t that always how it goes? Two goals might’ve been a bit excessive, but anytime someone gets 0.62 expected goals in a game, they’re doing something well. Whatever Canucks head coach Travis Green said to Granlund this morning, it worked.
- As far as entertainment goes, I’m not sure I’ve seen many Canucks games better than this one. In total, the two teams combined for 77 shots and almost nine expected goals. A lot of coaches talk the talk when it comes to playing an up-tempo game and preaching pace. There are few I’ve seen that live up to their word quite like Green does. And missing his most relied upon centres, too. If the Canucks are going to go down, it won’t be by sitting back on a lead or working for a tie. It’s a nice change of pace.
- Sam Gagner has been an interesting player to follow this season. All the underlying data suggests that at some point he should start producing, though nowhere near the levels he produced at last season. Going into tonight’s game, Gagner was sixth on the Canucks in expected goals output. It’s not great, but it’s better than the 10th place he’s in on the team in actual goals. Who knows, maybe tonight is the start of a hot streak for Gagner?
- In my piece for The Athletic Vancouver on which Canucks defenceman should sit assuming they have a healthy blue line, I suggested that Michael Del Zotto made the most sense. So, of course, he has one of his best games of the season tonight. In over 20 minutes, Del Zotto was buzzing all over the ice for the Canucks. He was creating chances in the offensive zone and doing a solid job defensively when called upon. Del Zotto had a positive shot attempt differential and produced several scoring chances in the first period. It was one of his best games of the season.
- Your leader in shots on goal tonight? Why none other than Alex Biega! The added offence is a nice wrinkle, but the Bulldog was solid at all ends of the ice. He threw a thunderous hit on Melker Karlsson in the second period and was just generally solid in the defensive zone. It’s a solid luxury the Canucks have in keeping Biega as their seventh defenceman. It’s a difficult spot, sitting for a month, then coming in and playing as well as he does. Certainly, some credit is due.
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