STATS

HIGHLIGHTS

GAME NOTES

• Given Benning’s remarks about “playing the kids” in advance of tonight’s game, the ice time allotted to the team’s youngest players was understandably under heavy scrutiny. The results were mixed. Reid Boucher saw more minutes than he ever has in a Canucks uniform, but other than that not much changed. To be fair, that’s in part because the Canucks simply haven’t many kids to play at this point. Players like Stecher, Horvat, Granlund, and Baerstchi have been logging heavy minutes for most of the year, and a significant chunk of their other young players are either out or in Utica.
• In all honesty, I think Desjardins struck a fine balance tonight. I wouldn’t have minded to see a bit more of Tryamkin and LaBate and a little less of Luca Sbisa and Brandon Sutter tonight, but the truth is that it remains in Desjardins’ best interest to win as many of the remaining games as he can. He obviously has to keep his superiors happy, but the truth is, he’s auditioning for his next gig at this point. Given that context, it was nice to see some small adjustments like Boucher playing almost 17 minutes and handing over the bulk of the team’s PP time to the younger players.
• Boucher’s spike in ice-time also had the benefit of pushing Jayson Megna down to the fourth line, where he absolutely crushed it alongside Mike Chaput and Joe LaBate. The line had a couple of notable shifts where they sustained pressure in the offensive zone and even generated some chances. They were also the Canucks’ best line by even-strength corsi. It really goes to show that Jayson Megna isn’t a bad player nearly so much as he’s been poorly utilized.
• Troy Stecher had a brutal turnover in front of the Canucks’ net late in the game that led to the Stars’ fourth goal. Stecher’s night was fine otherwise, but that’s the type of mistake that has the tendency to stick in people’s mind. For a rookie that plays the type of high-event game that Stecher does, it’s actually surprising that type of thing hasn’t happened more often.
• Ben Hutton had a rough game at even-strength, but he scored the team’s lone PP goal and was tied for team-high in shots. He’s had an up-and-down season, but I’d expect a strong outing from him in 2017-18, especially if he gets more looks on the man advantage. He looked great there tonight, and from a qualitative standpoint he should be the type of player that can excel in that role.
• It was great night for Team Tank. Not only did the Canucks lose to the Stars, who were one point below them in the standings heading into tonight’s game, Detroit also leapfrogged the Canucks in the standings as well. If that wasn’t enough, that game went to overtime, giving Arizona the loser point, and the New Jersey Devils won their game too. As a result, the Canucks now sit only 4 points back of 29th. The dream of a top-4 pick lives on.