Vancouver Canucks vs Anaheim Ducks Post Game Recap:

5 years ago

The Rundown

After the Canucks suffered a beat-down versus the San Jose Sharks the other night, the boys got right back at it tonight against the worst team in the western conference. The Anaheim Ducks had won a paltry 2 of their past 21 games… Yikes. After the Ducks fired Randy Carlyle, it was Bob Murray behind the bench for Anaheim, and 26 year old Kevin Boyle got his first NHL start against the Canucks. A great chance for the Canucks to pot a few goals and get their offence going.

The Canucks received some good news earlier in the day, as they found out Jakob Markstrom was healthy enough to start in goal. Adam Gaudette was called up to replace Brandon Sutter due to Sutter’s lower body injury. Zack MacEwen got a point in his first ever NHL game against the Sharks, and he’d be on a line with Gaudette and Markus Granlund to begin the game while Nikolay Goldobin was healthy scratched. Final roster note, Michael DiPietro was sent back to the Ottawa 67’s as the Canucks used another emergency call up on newly acquired goaltender Marek Mazanec to back up Markstrom.

1st Period

The game got off to a relatively slow start, as both teams felt each other out through the first 5 minutes. The best chance came off an Erik Gudbranson wrist shot that somehow got past Kevin Boyle but rang it off the crossbar.

Anaheim answered with a nice chance of their own at the 5:30 minute mark, but Markstrom was there to stone Carter Rowney in tight to preserve the scoreless game.

6:30 minutes into the game, and the Ducks opened the scoring. The Canucks failed to clear their zone after Markstrom lost his stick, and it didn’t take long before the puck was worked to Jakob Silfverberg right in front, who beat a stick-less Markstrom after he out-muscled Gudbranson for the chance.

8 minutes in and the game saw some knuckles thrown, as Josh Leivo stepped up to Ryan Kesler after he took offence to some of Kesler’s antics on Elias Pettersson.

8:30 minutes in, and the Canucks utilized some pretty passing to set up a nice chance for Jake Virtanen, only for him to get stoned by Boyle. Immediately after, Virtanen struck Devin Shore up high with his stick, and the Ducks went to their first power-play of the game.

1:40 into the power-play, and there was some more rough stuff behind the Canucks goal. Shore got his leg in and took down Gudbranson, which caught Erik’s attention. Gudbranson went after Shore, and Silfverberg went to get in Gudbranson’s face. A scrum ensued, but all that came of it was 2 coincidental minors for roughing, and the extra penalty to Shore saw the teams play 4 on 4 for 22 seconds before they went to their first power-play of the game.

The Canucks power-play didn’t generate much, and fell to 0 for 1, and 3 for 41 in their past 14+ games… Been a rough stretch for the Canucks special teams.

13:30 minutes in, and the Canucks generated another good chance when Virtanen sprung Markus Granlund for a partial breakaway against Boyle, but Boyle robbed Granlund with the glove.

17:30 minutes in, and Getzlaf interfered with Virtanen well away from the puck. It could’ve been retaliation for the hit Virtanen threw on Corey Perry. Either way, Getzlaf received a 2 minute minor penalty, and the Canucks went to their 2nd power-play of the game.

A minute into the power-play, Troy Stecher fed Pettersson right in his favourite spot, but Pettersson’s shot slammed the underside of the crossbar and stayed out. The Canucks couldn’t generate a better chance then that and their power-play dropped to 0 for 2.

That was it for the first period. The Canucks dominated after their costly mistake cost them a goal, but couldn’t get one past Kevin Boyle through the opening 20 minutes. As long as Vancouver kept up their play, they looked to be in control of the hockey game.

2nd Period

Some more rough stuff kicked off the 2nd period, as only a 1:30 in and Gudbranson dropped the gloves against Getzlaf in retaliation for the hit Getzlaf threw on Virtanen. A massive win for Vancouver, not from a fight perspective but because Getzlaf was stuck in the box for 5 minutes.

Not too much happened after the fight until the 5 minute mark of the frame. Silfverberg blocked a Ben Hutton shot and came down the ice. Hutton made a play with his stick, and was called for a hook against Silfverberg so the Ducks went to their 2nd power-play of the game.

The Canucks penalty kill was fantastic, and made the Ducks power-play look like one that hasn’t scored 10 power-play goals on the season.

The Canucks kept up the pressure, but by the midway point of the hockey game they still weren’t able to find a way to beat the rookie goaltender between the pipes for Anaheim.

11:30 minutes into the frame, and the Canucks found themselves short handed again. After another failed attempt to clear their zone, Beagle immediately hooked Getzlaf and was called for a minor penalty.

The Canucks penalty kill stood tall again, and generated a scoring chance of their own. Tyler Motte and Loui Eriksson came in on a 2 on 1 chance, but Motte’s centering attempt was poor and the chance flew by the board. The Canucks were able to successfully kill off the penalty.

The Ducks got their best chance of the period 14:30 minutes in when a Getzlaf wrist shot beat Markstrom cleanly, but clanged off the post. A lucky break for the Canucks who had continued their strong play into the 2nd.

The Canucks ended the period with a flurry of great chances, and they started around the 18 minute mark when Pettersson intercepted the puck, made a great move and snapped a shot that looked to be going top corner. However, Boyle made a great stop with his glove. Few moments after, Brock Boeser was wide open in the slot and tried to pick the bottom right corner but was rejected by the pad of Boyle. A great way to end the period, but the Canucks still didn’t have a goal, and trailed by 1 as they got ready for the 3rd period.

3rd Period

A minute into the period, and Getzlaf laid a hit on Chris Tanev. Didn’t seem like a huge hit, but Tanev immediately went to the dressing room. It was later found out he wouldn’t return.

30 seconds after the Getzlaf hit, the Canucks received their 3rd power-play of the game after Nick Ritchie tripped up Gudbranson behind the Canucks net.

The Canucks generated another high quality scoring chance on their power-play, but Boyle robbed Leivo with his glove to preserve the Anaheim lead. The Canucks power-play fell to 0 for 3, and 0 for their last 20 overall…

5 minutes into the frame, and the Ducks took the game to the Canucks. The absence of Tanev was felt almost immediately once the power-play expired.

7 minutes in and the Canucks got another great chance, as they went to their 4th power-play of the night after Rickard Rakell slashed Horvat’s stick out of his hands.

However the 4th Canucks power-play was the worst of the night, and another chance went by the wayside.

The Canucks didn’t give up, and around the 10 minute mark Pettersson made a disgusting move to get around Cam Fowler and drive towards Boyle, but Boyle made another terrific stop.

13:30 minute in, and it was Gaudette’s turn to make a beautiful move, but again Boyle was there to shut the door.

The Canucks didn’t generate much for the next 4 minutes, and decided to pull Markstrom around the 18 minute mark of the final frame.

In the end, the night belonged to Ducks rookie Kevin Boyle, and the Canucks were shut out for a league leading 7th time this season. They fell to the Ducks 1-0.

Advanced Stats

Both photos courtesy of naturalstattrick.com

Wrap Up

The Canucks played well throughout a majority of this game, and took it to the Ducks early and often, but they couldn’t find a way to beat Kevin Boyle and lost another key piece to the puzzle due to injury…

Elias Pettersson tried to tie this game up himself throughout the game, with a number of high danger chances at all stages. He rang a power-play one timer off the post, got robbed by the glove of Boyle in the 2nd from the slot, and got denied in tight by Boyle after he undressed Fowler. There haven’t been too many games this year where Pettersson has looked this dangerous and not gotten on the score sheet. Sucks that tonight was one of those games.

The Canucks power-play continued on its dry spell which reached desert levels tonight. They’re 3 for their last 44 in a 4 game stretch, and on an 0 for 21 streak. They had their chances tonight, but during the most important power-play of the game, they looked dreadful.

The loss of Tanev was a huge blow this team couldn’t afford. After Tanev left the game, the Canucks struggled mightily to break the puck out of their own end with any regularity. It’s been bad enough with Edler out of the lineup, but with Tanev gone it truly looked like only Hutton and Stecher could break the puck out without having to ice it or hope for a stretch play. Gudbranson, Pouliot, and Biega all struggled throughout the game against the Ducks fore-check, and when all of them had to play increased minutes in the 3rd, the team’s performance sagged.

This game looks like one that’ll change the Canucks season. While the loss stings, being without Edler and Tanev for any length of time all but dooms this group to missing the playoffs.

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