Highlights

Quick Hits

• One doesn’t need to gander at the shift charts available on War-on-Ice.com to have noticed that Willie Desjardins was matching the Luca Sbisa and Kevin Bieksa pairing against the Anze Kopitar line. I’m not entirely sure how, but they left tonight’s contest in the black from a possession standpoint and in goal differential. Bieksa also played a pivotal role on the equalizer in the third, screening Jonathan Quick for Daniel Sedin. Looked at in a vacuum, I can’t argue with the results. By that same token, I’m concerned by the thought process that leads a coaching staff to deem this a favourable match-up. Too often in hockey coaches will associate constant defensive play with sound defensive play – a player who spends much of his time in his own zone being looked at as defensively apt is still all too common. I’m beginning to think that this old school thought is what lends Sbisa a roster spot on a nightly basis and leads Coach Real Good to continually ice him with Bieksa. When paired together, they prove an incredibly permissive pairing by every objective measure available. A solid defensive pairing they are not. The hard match became increasingly more tame as the game wore on, with the Christopher Tanev and Alex Edler duo seeing shifts against the towering Slovenian’s line in the second and third. I guess there’s that…
• Is giving up the first goal becoming an issue? Well, the Canucks have done it in each of their last eight games, so it’s definitely a thing. They’ve also won four of those games. While it’s a little disconcerting to say the least and perhaps somewhat indicative of a club that struggles to hit the ground running, I’m not losing sleep over this. I mean, trailing in a hockey game is never a good thing, but I have to imagine that to some extent luck is playing a key role here – much of it, bad. 
• Do the Kings bully the Canucks? Well, earlier in the season that was certainly the case. Those games were over before they started. In the last two contests, though, the Canucks have out-shot the Kings by a grand total of 80-63, out-scored them 5-2 and have barely been out-hit. To the eye, they’ve stood up physically to the rigors of playing the oft referred to as “heavy” Kings. I’m still not convinced the Canucks can beat the Kings in a seven-game series. For that matter, I’m not sure any team in the West can. I’m slightly more optimistic about their chances though, should this be the first round match-up.
• The Minnesota Wild didn’t pull off the regulation win against the Winnipeg Jets, so no, the Canucks haven’t mathematically secured a playoff spot. For all intents and purposes though, they’re as good as in. What’s more important though, is that they put a dent, however small, in the Kings playoff chances. Should the Kings make it, they are the Canucks likely opponent in the first round. That made getting the victory tonight of the utmost importance, shootout or otherwise. 
• Lets show a little love for the Sedin twins. Hell, Henrik Sedin in particular. With his assist on brother Daniel’s goal tonight, Hank hit the 700 mark. It’s just one of many milestones I’ve been lucky to see Henrik hit in my time as a Canucks fan. Those two were dynamite tonight, driving play at an unreal 60-plus% clip, all the while stuck with Sbieksa as their defensive “backing” for much of the game. Shades of 2010, I tells yeah.

Conclusion