Vancouver Canucks at Los Angeles Kings Post-Game Recap: Stopping The Skid In Style

The 2018/19 season wasn’t supposed to be about wins and losses, but as the Vancouver Canucks entered Saturday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Kings—the last stop on their customary California road trip—it was difficult to focus on anything other than the team’s record. The Canucks arrived in Hollywood with an ugly eight-game losing streak hanging over their heads, but even that lengthy skid hadn’t managed to drop them to last place in the Pacific Division.

Who occupied that position in the standings? The Los Angeles Kings, led by Canuck-coach-in-exile Willie Desjardins.

The Canucks couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to snap the streak before it hit nine games, but that hardly guaranteed anything.

Alexander Edler made his long-awaited and desperately-needed return to the lineup, and Reid Boucher made his season debut with the big team. In a surprise move, Troy Stecher was scratched in favour of Alex Biega. Derrick Pouliot and Tim Schaller also came out of the lineup. Jeff Paterson provided the details, and a bit of an explanation for Travis Green’s decision:

 

Jacob Markstrom versus Cal Peterson was the goaltending matchup to start the game.

After a touching tribute to Willie O’Ree—who looks terrific at the age of 83—the stage was set for the Battle of the Pacific Basement.

The teams traded a couple of mediocre chances in the first three-and-a-half minutes of continuous play, and both squads looked tentative as the game’s opening minutes wore on without any events of significance.

The first real scoring chance for either team came just past the six-minute mark as Anze Kopitar drove the puck toward the net before dishing it to Alec Martinez—who missed the net from ten feet away. Jacob Markstrom—sporting the fanbase-dividing ears on his mask once again—didn’t even have to make a save.

 

Two more chances for the Kings ensued on the following shift, and the Canucks began to look like a team under siege. Bo Horvat’s line, with Antoine Roussel and Sam Gagner on the wings, took to the ice looking to change that. After Roussel tried and failed to set up Gagner with an Elias Pettersson-style off-the-endboards pass, the pseudo-top line got a few pucks on net, but were unable to score.

Jake Virtanen was on the receiving end of a big hit for once as Dion Phaneuf caught him with his head on a skyward puck as he crossed the blueline into the Kings’ zone. Shotgun Jake got right back on his feet, and presumably took a number for future reference.

The Canucks’ next bit of sustained pressure came the next time Horvat’s line had a shift, and the moment they left the ice the Kings turned it around and almost scored—but Markstrom was there to deny several chances in close.

That led to a few more minutes of tentative play in which the most exciting thing to occur was the appearance of Hockey Night in Canada’s old school graphics. Most of the shots came from the outside, and neither goalie faced anything particularly challenging until the period’s end.

 

Some nice passing by Virtanen resulted in the puck back on his stick as he burst toward Cal Peterson, but the puck skipped on him. Seconds later, Virtanen and Phaneuf collided once again at center ice, but this time it was Phaneuf who ended up on his butt despite initiating the hit. As the play continued, the Canucks were caught with too many players on the ice, and the Kings finished the period on an abbreviated powerplay that generated an open shot for Tyler Toffoli—but Markstrom once again stood tall in net to deny the scoring chance.

 

The shots were 9-8 in favour of Vancouver as the first intermission commenced.

How could it be anything other than those baby blue HNIC blazers? They somehow made even Nick Kypreos look mildly classy, and that’s saying a lot.

 

Los Angeles began the second period with just under a minute left on their powerplay, but the Canucks were able to kill off the remaining time. Dustin Brown had an opportunity in close shortly after it expired, but Jacob Markstrom stymied him on the tight angle shot.

Having had enough of Jake Virtanen, Dion Phaneuf took a big run at Alex Biega right in front of the benches, but Biega was able to avoid the worst of it with a quick manoeuvre.

Biega made another nifty move in his own zone to set up a breakout, and the resultant offensive zone time saw Virtanen forecheck hard to force a turnover before faking a slapshot and sliding a beautiful pass across to a streaking Adam Gaudette—who finally buried his first NHL goal to put Vancouver ahead 1-0 at the 5:12 mark of the second period. Nikolay Goldobin picked up his team-leading twelfth assist of the season on the play.

 

Sam Gagner put the Kings back on the powerplay with a tripping penalty just over a minute-and-a-half later. It took the top unit a grand total of 16 seconds to tie the game, with Anze Kopitar making a nice behind-the-back pass to Drew Doughty at the point and Doughty wiring it home. The downward spiral of the Canucks’ penalty kill continued.

 

With nine minutes remaining in the period, Virtanen forced another turnover—this time, courtesy of his old friend Phaneuf—and Markus Granlund set up Loui Eriksson in front, only to have Eriksson ring it off the post. The next shift saw Alex Biega jumping into the play to receive a Reid Boucher pass, and he drew a hooking penalty on Kyle Clifford in the process to give the Canucks their first powerplay of the game.

Elias Pettersson uncharacteristically stumbled along the halfwall to start the powerplay, but when he got the puck again he initiated a tic-tac-toe sequence that went from Bo Horvat below the goal line to Sam Gagner in front of the net—and Gagner made no mistake in beating Cal Peterson to put the Canucks ahead once again.

 

For Gagner, who has spent the majority of the season with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, it had to be a cathartic moment.

 

Heading into the last TV timeout of the period, Antoine Roussel just about jammed in another goal after an offensive chance that was once again sparked by Biega jumping into the play—earning coach Travis Green back a little credit with fans after his controversial choice to scratch Troy Stecher.

The Canucks wouldn’t make it out of the period with a lead, however, as rookie Matt Luff sprang away on a breakaway and deked Markstrom out his jockstrap to pot the third goal of his career—and Luff’s third goal in three games.

The score remained knotted at 2-2 as the period concluded, with the shots at 23-14 in favour of the Canucks.

This meme:

Four minutes passed before the third period saw its first official shot on net, with both teams in desperate not to lose and playing it careful. The Canucks received the first real opportunity to move ahead as the pressure of Elias Pettersson forced Jake Muzzin to clear the puck over the glass, and the Canucks went on the powerplay with just over 14 minutes remaining in the period.

The top unit didn’t even get a chance to set up before the Kings broke away on a shorthanded rush that resulted in an Alex Edler interference penalty and some extended four-on-four play. Neither team was able to capitalize on the extra ice, nor were the Kings able to score on the brief powerplay that followed—though they came close in its final seconds as Jeff Carter just missed.

Just past the halfway mark, Pettersson showcased his hockey sense in forecasting a Dion Phaneuf turnover and deftly slipping into a seam between the Los Angeles forward to intercept the puck, granting him a clean angle at the net. Pettersson rifled an absolutely lethal wrister over the left-handed blocker of Cal Peterson, and the Canucks were ahead 3-2 on the unassisted marker. Unassisted, that is, unless you count Dion Phaneuf.

 

The Canucks tightened up the defense thereafter and did their best to limit Los Angeles’ shot attempts. Markus Granlund nearly widened the lead after another brutal turnover—a gift from Tyler Toffoli, this time—and the wind really seemed to be taken out of the Kings’ sails.

Travis Green and his squad smartly adopted a 1-4 forecheck for the remainder of the game, until Edler knocked the puck over the glass with his glove and the Kings went to the powerplay with 2:51 remaining in the third. Los Angeles predictably pulled the goalie to give themselves a 6-on-4 advantage, but that just allowed Tyler Motte to zip one into the empty net from his own end to seal the victory.

The Kings kept Peterson on the bench, and Adrian Kempe did receive a nice chance on net that Markstrom kicked out with his pad. The Canucks took a couple more shots at the empty cage, but the score remained 4-2 as the final buzzer sounded.

Mission accomplished.

The Canucks snapped their losing streak at eight, and that’s really all that matters. This wasn’t the most exciting game the team has played by any stretch of the imagination, but by tomorrow all people are going to really remember is Elias Pettersson’s Alex Burrows-like slump-buster—and the fact that it came courtesy of a Dion Phaneuf turnover is just the icing on the cake.

The Vancouver faithful can finally breathe a sigh of relief, and the Canucks don’t have to return from a road trip on the verge of a double-digit losing streak. The first goals of the season for Adam Gaudette and Sam Gagner provide even more reason to celebrate.

Gameflow from Canucks at Los Angeles November 24, 2018 (Courtesy of naturalstattrick.com)

Heatmap from Canucks at Los Angeles November 24, 2018 (Courtesy of naturalstattrick.com)

 

Pettersson busted the slump with a near-prescient display of hockey sense, and he added an assist to nudge his totals above point-per-game status once again. Combined with his usual array of impressive defensive plays, another multipoint effort made Pettersson the difference-maker the Canucks needed to end their losing streak, and he’s already proving himself to be a clutch performer. 

Shotgun Jake set the physical pace for the Canucks through his frequent clashes with Dion Phaneuf, and it’s fair to say that his constant pressure on the Kings defender had something to do with Phaneuf’s eventual game-losing turnover. Virtanen didn’t add to his goal total, but instead showed off his playmaking abilities with a few quality set ups, including the primary assist on Adam Gaudette’s first NHL goal.

Travis Green inserted Biega into the lineup to bring energy, and that’s exactly what he did. Biega’s hustle and willingness to jump into the play were infectious, and they resulted in a number of chances on goal. He played a major role in Gaudette’s goal despite not earning an assist, and certainly got the most out of his 15 minutes of icetime.

The Canucks complete the second half of a home-and-home against the Kings as they host Los Angeles at Rogers Arena on Tuesday, November 27—with a start-time of 7:00PM PST.