CanucksArmy Post-Game: Matinee Loss in the Big Apple
By J.D. Burke
6 years agoI hope you lot didn’t enjoy yourselves just a little too much on your Saturday night. It would be a cryin’ shame if you slept in, a little under the weather, and missed a surprisingly entertaining hockey game.
The results might have left something to be desired if you’re a Canucks fan; the on-ice product was more than worth the price of admission.
Apparently when you mix the Canucks pace-oriented, attack offence with the Rangers counter-attack system in a Sunday matinee, you get one of the most entertaining hockey games of the season.
Loui Eriksson started the party, beating Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist cleanly from the slot. Henrik Sedin created the goal by forcing the Rangers turnover at the blue line and finding Eriksson in stride, who made no mistake, continuing on his hot scoring pace since returning from a knee sprain earlier this month. Eriksson has goals in three of his last four games and points in five of eight games since returning to the Canucks lineup.
On another Rangers turnover, this time much deeper in the blue shirts zone, Jake Virtanen collected the puck and roofed the puck past Lundqvist to double the Canucks lead and put them in firm control of the hockey game with little over half of it left to play.
The Rangers didn’t have their legs for most of the hockey game, and to the Canucks credit, they pounced and made them pay for their mistakes at every turn. It was looking pretty damn good for the road team.
With just over two minutes left in the opening frame, though, Rangers winger Jesper Fast injected some life into his teammates with a deflection goal at the top of the Canucks crease.
And just 19 seconds into the third frame, Markstrom gave them another little push, letting a Michael Grabner shot get through him for the Rangers tying goal. It’s the type of goal that Markstrom can’t let through him but consistently does on an almost game-to-game basis. And Markstrom’s reaction immediately after the goal suggests he wasn’t thrilled with giving that goal up either.
Far from deflated from the soft goal, the Canucks responded exceedingly well. Less than a minute later, Sam Gagner potted a goal from the slot that was setup by a Thomas Vanek feed. In the celebration, Gagner tripped, which is to say that he was all too happy to find the back of the net.
The Rangers turned the pressure dial up another notch, though, and with the Canucks sloppy in back-tracking through the neutral zone completed a crafty passing play that led to a Jimmy Vesey goal in the slot. That knotted the game at three and secured three-on-three overtime.
It was an exciting overtime, as they often are. The Canucks controlled the run of play, as the Sedins especially took minute-plus forays into the Rangers zone. But they couldn’t convert on any of their opportunities, which meant the game would be settled in a shootout.
In the seventh round, Vesey beat Markstrom, and that was enough to secure the Rangers victory. Suiting, since it was a Vesey goal that sent the game into overtime.
Markstrom stopped 17 of 20 Rangers shots. Lundqvist stopped 29 of 32 Canucks tries.
The Numbers
Quick Hits
- The Canucks should have won this hockey game. Canucks head coach Travis Green said afterward that he wasn’t disappointed by today’s effort, and he shouldn’t be. The Canucks dominated the flow of play at even strength whether you’re looking at shot attempts, expected goals or the good old-fashioned eye test. This was their game to lose. Unfortunately, with his patented soft-goal a game, Markstrom helped them to do just that — lose. Otherwise, Markstrom was fine. But in a game like today’s, where the margin between a win and a shootout loss is that wafer-thin, that’s what cost the Canucks a point.
- There’s a world of difference between Markstrom cost the Canucks a point, and Markstrom is bad. I had Nick Mercadante from Blue Shirt Banter and Hockey-Graphs on the Nation Network Radio show on TSN 1040 yesterday to discuss, among other things, the Canucks goaltenders. If you’re picking which of the Canucks goaltenders has been better, it’s Anders Nilsson, but just barely. They’re both in the top 15 by a lot of the goaltender metrics he tracks to analyze the position. It’s fair to give Markstrom a tough time for today’s game, and most rightfully are doing just that, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that he’s been mostly good. It’s just the constant stream of soft-goals that make his performances so frustrating, fair or otherwise.
- I’m not sure it’s just a coincidence that the Canucks played one of their best games of the season (results notwithstanding) without Brandon Sutter and Erik Gudbranson out of the lineup. The Canucks dominated today. And the Rangers top line never really found their legs, too. Just a thought, but the optimal Canucks lineup when both of them are healthy might not include either of them.
- The Sedin line with Loui Eriksson was the Canucks best line today. Eriksson had the opening goal, and in overtime, it was the Sedins who had full control of the puck for minutes at a time. Eriksson is a great match for the Sedins. He sees the ice well and can really hound the opposition for the puck when his feet are going. The Canucks controlled over 53% of the shot attempts last season together, so I’ve always felt comfortable in assuming that their lack of offence was always more a luck thing than a poor fit. That they’ve maintained a dominant shot share together and scored as often as they have proves that was more likely than not the case. Tonight, the trio had a +13 five-on-five shot attempt differential. Not bad.
- Jake Virtanen played one of his better games of the season alongside Markus Granlund and Brendan Gaunce — sidenote: that trio has the makings of a great shutdown line. Virtanen led the Canucks with five shots and both teams with nine shot attempts. And one of those attempts found their way to the back of the net, too. All the same, Virtanen played the fewest minutes of any Canuck at even strength. I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything he can do to prove his mettle to this coaching staff. To date, I’m skeptical.
- Today makes 83 straight games without a goal for Brendan Gaunce. That’s… not ideal. Gaunce had a chance in the slot to score and give the Canucks a 4-3 lead with just a handful of minutes left in the game, but was stoned by Lundqvist. The chances are coming. Gaunce’s individual expected goal and shot rates are all on the rise from last season. To the eye, he looks better offensively too. He’s engaged in the play and he’s even winning the odd puck battle with, gasp, speed. I have to think the goals are going to come. Eventually.
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