Tonight’s game was a big one in tank nation as it had massive implications on the draft lottery. Before the game, the Vancouver Canucks were up by six points on the Arizona Coyotes.
Without further delay, let’s dive into this cellar dweller Sunday night special in Arizona!
At the 10:23 mark of the first period, there was a total of six shots on goal between the teams and the Canucks were held to only three controlled entries. On the other side of the pond, teams this bad are threatened with relegation; in the NHL, the league rewards you with a shot at generational talent. With Brock Boeser out, the Canucks are in prime position to take advantage of the system and stock up on those lottery tickets!
After 20 minutes, Arizona more than doubled up Vancouver in shot attempts with 25 to the Canucks 12. Perhaps the nine turnovers by Canucks blueliners in the defensive zone had something to do with that? Alexander Edler was the only defender to escape the first-period mistake free on his 11 touches.
Below is the Zone Exit Chart from the complete game. As you can see, lots of red. 19 fails by defenders in the defensive zone tonight — way too many.
On the positive side, Canucks head coach Travis Green has been trying to clog up the neutral zone all season to create lower event hockey; it’s safe to say, mission accomplished in the first period tonight.
Second Period
Coyotes capitalize on the power-play following Derrick Pouliot’s second penalty of the period. Oliver Ekman Larsson walks into one and blasts the games lone goal past Jacob Markstrom.
After 40 minutes, Bo Horvat was putting together quite a game. He was leading the team in controlled entries with five, shots with seven, primary shot contributions with nine.
There were signs of life in the Canucks as they were only slightly out-shot at 5-on-5, 16-14 at even strength. However, at all strengths, Arizona managed to direct 25 pucks at Jacob Markstrom compared to Vancouver throwing a total of 14 at Darcy Kuemper. After two, all-strength shot attempts were 51-28 for the bad guys.
Third Period
The opening 11 minutes of the third period looked much like the first period. Two counter punchers refusing to attack, looking to capitalize on mistakes. It was boring; it was ugly; it was exactly what we thought it would be. But then, things started happening!
Erik Gudbranson made back to back stops on odd-man rushes against which led to a counterattack of odd-man rushes for the Canucks.
Love that fire from Markstrom, who’s clearly still dialled in and remains as competitive as he’d be if this team were contending for a playoff spot.
The game opened up in the final eight minutes of the third period with the Canucks pushing the pace of play. The Canucks cranked it up a notch and generated 31 total shot attempts compared to Arizona’s nine in an admirable effort to tie the game at one. Despite a handful of late scoring chances, Darcy Kuemper had the answer to anything the Canucks threw at him, and the Canucks late push would come up short. Kuemper would finish the game with 26 saves, including a last-second doorstep royal road pass from Leipsic to Daniel Sedin one time attempt for the shutout. Kuemper was the difference maker tonight and the games first star.
So a Canucks-Coyotes game not including Boeser wasn’t entertaining, aw shucks! The game wasn’t high in entertainment value, but there are still a few positives to hang the bucket on. Let’s take a look in the quick hit observations.
More lottery tickets? Yes please! at least for most people.

Quick Hits

  • Bo Horvat had a strong game leading the team in controlled zone entries, and 5-on-5 shot attempts with 7 of each while totalling nine primary shot contributions. We saw Boeser maintain his pace when Horvat was out due to injury and now we’re seeing Horvat do the same without Boeser. Not that there was much doubt, but it’s certainly a good sign that both players are individually capable of generating offensive opportunities.
  • Brandon Leipsic continues to create offence, making the most of his opportunity on the top line and second power-play unit. Leipsic played 20:31 tonight and tallied another five primary shot contributions at 5v5 and added another five on the man advantage for a total of ten. No points today, but he continues to create shots and earn Travis Green’s trust.
  • Alex Edler and Erik Gudbranson finished with a positive share of shots and were both well above their personal average controlled zone exit rates. There have been signs of Gudbranson’s game improving lately, let’s hope this trend continues.
  • Ben Hutton struggled tonight, he had a team low 23.53% controlled zone exit rate and only contributed one shot attempt in his 15:13 of playing time tonight. He managed to break-up a handful of plays in the neutral zone which kept his shot share of 45.45% respectable, but to stay in the lineup; he’s going to have to be much better with the puck.