CanucksArmy Post-Game: They Blue It
By J.D. Burke
6 years agoCanucks Blow a 3-1 Lead, Lose 4-3 to Blues in Overtime
In most cases, I think the Canucks fans wouldn’t be that upset with an overtime loss to the Western Conference-leading St. Louis Blues — all the more so when the two teams combine for seven goals!
Tonight’s game wasn’t your typical overtime loss, though. It had it all! The return of Jake Virtanen brought intrigue to the Canucks lineup and was every bit the storyline we’d expected, even if it was for all the wrong reasons. There was a contentious disallowed Canucks goal that shook even the mild-mannered Thomas Vanek to the core. Anders Nilsson looked human! And through it all, the Canucks blew a two-goal lead and then the game in overtime.
Sometimes, teams find a way to win hockey games they probably shouldn’t. This one feels a lot more like a game the Canucks found a way to lose — sound familiar?
The Canucks opened the scoring little over halfway through the opening frame, as Brock Boeser carried the puck into the zone, created a shot that went wide, stayed active on the play and buried his second opportunity.
In the final two minutes of a frame that the Canucks were otherwise firmly in control of, the St. Louis Blues forced them to chase play in the offensive zone. Eventually, Blues defenceman Colton Parayko found space, the puck found him, and he found a way to put it in the back of the net with his cannon of a shot.
In the second period, Canucks winger Loui Eriksson brought his fastball. On a penalty kill early in the middle frame, Eriksson forced a turnover and led a three-on-one into the Blues zone. Eriksson put the puck on Markus Granlund’s stick, and he made no mistake, scoring a goalscorer’s goal in tight. About five minutes later, Eriksson sent a puck on net that Blues goaltender Jake Allen failed to corral, and Sven Baertschi sent it home for the power play marker.
Baertschi’s power play goal was the last time the Canucks lit the lamp tonight. Blues forward Vladimir Sobotka scored on a blown coverage by Henrik Sedin just over two minutes later. Then, early in the third period, with the Canucks shutdown line on the ice, Joel Edmundson, left wholly uncovered by Sam Gagner, got the puck at the point, walked into the zone and snapped a shot past Canucks netminder Anders Nilsson. And just like that, we had overtime.
Little over halfway into overtime, Brayden Schenn walked into the Canucks zone, crossed into the slot with Derrick Pouliot giving him the space, and snapped a wrister past Nilsson to secure the Blues comeback victory 4-3.
Nilsson stopped 27 of 31 Blues’ shots. Allen stopped 20 of 23 Canucks tries.
The Numbers
Quick Hits
- There was a disallowed goal near the end of the second period that would’ve secured another two-goal lead for the Canucks going into the third period. Here’s my breakdown of the play: the Canucks had the puck in the offensive zone, drew a penalty, and as they were moving the puck around the offensive zone a Blues forward grabbed it mid-air, though, the Canucks recovered the puck and moved it to Thomas Vanek who was stopped on his first attempt on the play, but buried the rebound. The referee explained his reasoning for disallowing the goal, citing a Canucks hand pass. The Canucks never touched the puck with their glove, but the Blues did on a delayed penalty. The referees’ explanation was off, but the goal shouldn’t have counted. They got the call right.
- I have a lot of questions about the Canucks’ deployment tonight. Where to start? Jake Virtanen’s usage is going to get a lot of attention, or the lack thereof I should say. Virtanen was physical and created a couple scoring chances in the first period; he was also on the ice for a goal in the second. By the third period, Virtanen was effectively phased out of the game plan. Green said he liked Virtanen’s game today. You’d never guess it based on his usage. Then there’s the question of Sam Gagner. Why was he on the “shutdown” line? There couldn’t be a worse fit for Gagner in the Canucks lineup. The Canucks paid for that decision on the Edmundson goal in the third that tied the game. Then there was the Canucks sets in overtime. They left a lot to be desired.
- Only Alexander Edler and Ben Hutton played more shifts than Brandon Sutter’s 27 tonight. Some of that is Canucks head coach Travis Green sending Sutter out for defensive zone draws occasionally. Regardless, it’s way, way too much to ask of Sutter, who is at his best a third line centre. The most egregious example came late in the third. The Bo Horvat line pinned the Blues in their zone and forced them to ice the puck. In response, Green sent Derek Dorsett, Brandon Sutter and Sam Gagner out for the offensive zone draw. I just don’t get it.
- The Alexander Edler-Derrick Pouliot pairing has been on the ice for four goals against in the last two games. Pouliot’s been on the ice for five goals against. Tonight, they were -11 in five-on-five shot attempt differential. They looked so good for their first handful of games together; they haven’t in the last two.
- You know which goal shouldn’t have counted? The Blues first one. They had way too many men on the ice.
- Loui Eriksson had another good game tonight for the Canucks. Eriksson assisted on Granlund’s shorthanded goal and Baertschi’s power play marker, which highlights how effective he was on special teams. At even strength he was a -3 in five-on-five shot attempt differential, but I didn’t notice any glaring errors. In fact, mostly he seemed to play a good game at even strength.
- Many were rightly pointing to Virtanen’s ice-time throughout the night and crying foul. Lost in the mix was the fact that the Sedins didn’t play a whole lot more than Virtanen. I don’t think Green was singling Virtanen out when he opted to sit that line for long stretches of the game. Henrik and Daniel Sedin were on the ice for two even strength goals against; Henrik, especially, looked terrible in the defensive zone on both. The Sedins defensive play in the last two games has been pretty brutal.
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