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Canucks Army Postgame: Another Game Closer…
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J.D. Burke
Mar 8, 2016, 01:45 ESTUpdated:
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The Canucks came into tonight down their first line centre, entire set of first pair defenders and plain old down on their luck. That’s a daunting set of circumstances on the road against any team, let alone the Los Angeles Kings.
If you want to play up the narrative of the spurned player, Linden Vey returning to the place where he first cut his teeth in this league would be pretty enticing. Until you remember he is doing so as the Canucks first line centre. That’s no bueno. 
The results bear out what one might reasonably expect from so battered a lineup. Vancouver built an early lead in the second but failed to hold it into the third. They would surrender back-to-back markers to the Kings in the second and another three in the third, dropping the contest 5-1 to the Kings.

Stats

Quick Hits

  • Don’t let the score fool you. This is exactly the type of game you want from a team in transition. The Canucks played hard, sent everything but the kitchen sink at the Kings net and eventually caved to their superior talent in the third. That’s what you want to see from a rebuilding team.
  • Don’t know who got it wrong: me or the stats sheet. According to www.hockeystats.ca, Ben Hutton had the second worst Corsi on the team, at the 33% mark. Far as I’m concerned, he put in some damn fine work, on the whole, this game. Then again, in small samples +/- sometimes means something. And by that metric, Hutton’s -2 isn’t any great shakes either.
  • Dan Hamhuis goal streak? Dan Hamhuis goal streak. That’s two markers, in back-to-back games. In fact, technically speaking, they’re back-to-back goals for Vancouver. Hamhuis potted their last on Saturday and the first against the Kings. Wonder if Hamhuis isn’t gripping his stick so tight in the post-deadline NHL? Hamhuis also led all Canucks defencemen with a 56% Corsi For.
  • Feels like Jared McCann took a tonne of abuse tonight. The NHL scorekeepers seem to disagree. Apparently McCann only took the one hit. 
  • Linden Vey is turning into an actual NHL player. No, seriously. I’m not saying this is a player the Canucks can rely on long-term in Henrik Sedin’s spot, but perhaps for the foreseeable future on their third line. That said, there was some next-level Sedinery on that Hamhuis goal. What a dish. Vey remains a solid option down the middle and is improving as a possession player.

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