Vancouver Canucks vs Anaheim Ducks Post Game Recap: Trouble On The Pond

5 years ago

The Rundown

The Vancouver Canucks packed their bags and flew down south to start their first California road trip of the season. Tonight, the Canucks would go against one of the few teams with more man games lost than them, the Anaheim Ducks. Vancouver saw Anders Nilsson return to the team off of IR, but it’d be Jakob Markstrom who’d get the start tonight for a team that looked to bust out of a 6 game losing streak.

1st Period

The Canucks knew they’d need a good start against a tough opponent, regardless of all the injuries, and they didn’t get the start they’d hoped for. Elias Pettersson would take the 3rd minor penalty of his young career after he tripped Pontus Aberg, and the Ducks would get their first power-play of the game 2 minutes into the first period.

A good job by the Canucks penalty killers saw Anaheim fall to 0 for 1, and the next 7 minutes would be a fairly straightforward, back and forth game.

Right past the halfway point of the 1st period, the Ducks would strike. Ryan Getzlaf, the longtime captain of the Ducks would pick up a loose puck, put it through his legs and scoop it over an outstretched Markstrom for a beautiful goal to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.

Canucks came back hard right after, with a strong shift from the Nikolay Goldobin, Loui Eriksson, and Pettersson line nearly rewarded with the equalizer, but Eriksson would shoot a puck off the crossbar.

After that shot, right back the other way was Jakob Silfverberg of the Ducks, but he rang a shot off the post.

As the period started to wind down, Markstrom would have to make a fantastic save on Nick Ritchie to keep the Canucks in it, and he would answer the bell and stone Ritchie who was basically alone in front.

The Canucks would see another one of their players hit the 2nd post in the period when Antoine Roussel came down the wing and put one off the bar and out with only a few minutes to play. Sam Gagner would get one last chance as the seconds whittled away, but the Canucks trailed the Ducks by 1 after 1 period of play.

2nd Period

Markstrom would be called upon early in the second period to help keep the Canucks in it, and he’d lunge across and make a big stop on Rickard Rakell to help the team settle in.

3 minutes into the period and Adam Gaudette would make a pretty nice play right at the top of the point, as he walked the line before he fired a shot towards goal, only to see it go over the net. Was nice to see Gaudette show some more offensive flair in his game. A minute after the Gaudette chance, Roussel would tip a puck on goal that Gibson would just get the pad on, and the Canucks would try to keep up the pressure. On the ensuing faceoff, Bo Horvat would win the draw to Gagner, who’d find Derrick Pouliot wide open, across the ice for the back door tap-in, which evened the score at 1.

The Canucks kept up the pressure, but around the 5:30-minute mark of the middle frame, Troy Stetcher got called for a pretty weak penalty for interference, and the Ducks would get their second power-play of the game. It’d take almost the full 2 minutes, but after multiple quality scoring chances were stopped by Markstrom, Ondrej Kase would fire a puck past the screened goaltender to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead.

As the game neared the halfway point, Stetcher would be on the receiving end of a hook by the stick of Getzlaf, and the Canucks would finally receive their first power-play of the game 9 minutes into the second. Good puck movement doesn’t lead to a scoring chance, and the power-play goes by the wayside.

Few moments after their power-play expired, Eriksson would take down an Anaheim forward to send the Ducks to their 3rd power-play of the game. While Anaheim had some quality scoring chances, none were better than Canucks forward Roussel’s short-handed breakaway, but Roussel couldn’t bury it past John Gibson.

Last scoring chance of the period came on a defensive lapse by the Canucks which saw Andrew Cogliano skate in alone on Markstrom. Cogliano isn’t just robbed once, but twice by the Swedish netminder to keep the game close. It’d be a 2-1 lead for the Ducks over Vancouver as the teams wrapped up the 2nd period.

3rd Period

The Canucks came out with a purpose, and great hustle to get some chances on Gibson to maybe get a lucky bounce or deflection. 2 minutes in, Michael Del Zotto would find that deflection, but it’d just trickle wide of the net. Great start by Vancouver gave them the hope they would need to claw their way back into this one.

5 minutes in, however, and the Canucks would send the Ducks to their 4th power-play of the game after Pouliot covered the puck with his glove in the Canucks crease. Vancouver would face their biggest test of the night. They were able to kill the penalty off… barely, but in the end, it’d be Adam Henrique who squeaked a shot short side on Markstrom to make it 3-1.

58 seconds later, the Canucks would respond with a goal of their own. Jake Virtanen would move up to the Pettersson line with Goldobin and it’d pay an immediate reward, with a shot by Virtanen going off Goldobin’s foot and in to make it 3-2. (Goal was initially given to Virtanen, but changed to Goldobin after the game)

9 minutes into the period and Markstrom found the form he had through most of the night, as he made another fantastic stop on an Anaheim shooter, but a few minutes later a brutal turnover by Pouliot led to a pretty passing play which Kalle Kassila finished off into an empty net to make it 4-2 Anaheim.

The Canucks would get their 2nd power-play of the game 14:30 minutes into the period after Ritchie got caught up in the play going after Roussel. Wouldn’t take too long before the Canucks would capitalize when Goldobin fed Horvat with a sweet dish in the middle, and all Horvat had to do was tip it home. That he did, and it was 4-3 with under 5 minutes to go.

There were so many chances for the Canucks late in this game, but they wouldn’t find a way to beat Gibson, and the Canucks would see themselves lose their 7th straight game to a final score of 4-3.

Advanced Stats

Both photos courtesy of naturalstattrick.com

Wrap Up

Another loss for Vancouver, and a loss that felt way too familiar with how the season has started to shape up. Some good, some bad, and some average down below.

The good in this game was Nikolay Goldobin. Goldobin has really started to come around, even during this losing streak. With 2 points tonight, Goldobin has gotten 11 points in his past 10 games, and even with some games where he didn’t look great has really found himself. While Pettersson, Horvat, and Virtanen have all had big years so far, it’s nice to see Goldobin start to establish himself as a legit scoring winger in the NHL. If he becomes a consistent threat, look out… The Canucks could have the makings of a legit top 6. (Woohoo, optimism)

The optimism shown above didn’t last long, because watching Derrick Pouliot play was an eyesore. Pouliot is the bad tonight, even after he scored a goal tonight. Pouliot’s confidence has gone down the drain, and it showed because he was an absolute wreck in his own end. His strengths should be his puck-moving prowess and offensive instincts, but his breakouts were non-existent, he couldn’t seem to make a strong first pass out of the zone, and while he scored tonight, he hasn’t been able to produce for a large part of the season.

It’s good for Pouliot I’m not in Canucks management, or he’d be on his way to the east coast to suit up for Utica pretty quick. (I don’t see him being claimed…)

Markstrom was well on his way to having one of his best games recently, and then he lets in yet another stinker at a crucial point in the hockey game. He made multiple great saves to keep the boys in it, only to see a softie get by him when the team trailed by 1.

I feel for him, but don’t think he’s going to fix what seems to be a mental hurdle. In other news, Demko started his first game in the AHL since suffering his concussion in September. Both Markstrom and Nilsson should take note of this.

Tough game for the boys, their next chance to break the losing streak will come in San Jose against the Sharks.

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