Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
This game started off with a bang, as Tyler Myers made a bad pinch that left Nico Hischier alone with a 2-on-1, and Arturs Silovs was beaten on the very first shot he faced. 1-0 Devils.
Jesper Bratt got his stick up on Quinn Hughes and took a double minor for high sticking, giving the Canucks’ power play a chance to get right early after getting called out following Monday night’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Canucks did not score, and the power play continues to be a problem.
Danton Heinen took the Canucks’ first penalty of the game, giving the penalty kill their first chance ot the night just past the halfway point of the first.
The Devils did not score, and the Canucks’ penalty kill continues to be sharp.
The opening frame was high-paced and continuous, and for the Canucks, that was largely thanks to Kiefer Sherwood, who was throwing his weight around and dragging his teammates into the fight.
Conor Garland drew another penalty in the dying moments of the first period, and Elias Pettersson got a good shot off on Jacob Markstrom before the buzzer sounded.
The Canucks started the second period with a good amount of power play time leftover, but instead of scoring, they got scored on. JT Miller and Quinn Hughes had a miscommunication at the New Jersey blue line that resulted in another two on one. Silovs makes the first save, but the rebound is there for Dawson Mercer to bury. 2-0 Devils.
As if they were in a competition with themselves to see just how many grade-A chances they could allow off the rush, the Canucks defence kept backing up on the very next play, allowing Timo Meier to snipe one past Silovs to make it 3-0.
That newfound life was taken right back out of the building just as quickly when the Devils scored another goal off the rush, making it four goals on 13 shots. That’s not good enough. 4-0 Devils.
The Canucks got another power play opportunity in the final minutes of the second, and this time, they actually changed up their personnel, with Daniel Sprong and Jake DeBrusk coming onto PP1 from PP2. The highlight/silver lining? The power play actually managed to enter the zone a couple of times!
0/4 on the night to this point.
The Canucks were down 4-0 at the end of 40, with the shots even at 14.
Jack Hughes added a power play goal five hole on Silovs in the third to make it 5-0.
Arturs Silovs wasn’t good enough tonight, but you also can’t win if you don’t score. And, of course, at least two of the Devils’ four goals in the opening 40 minutes were ones Silovs basically had no chance on. That being said, you’re allowed to mix in a high-danger save here and there… we’ve certainly seen Kevin Lankinen do it.
This game was a stinker in every sense of the word. The star players once again looked average at best, the defence aside from Hughes-Hronek looks dreadful, and yet, this was just the Canucks’ second regulation loss of the season. They’ve now got a good chance to pick up some points with road games against the lowly San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks.
Oh, and Silovs got a Bronx cheer from the Rogers Arena crowd in the final moments of this one, in case you didn’t catch it at home:
Arturs Silovs gets a Bronx cheer from the Canucks crowd.
And, of course, the team got booed off the ice as well.
Some takeaways from tonight:
-Arguably the Soucy-Myers pairing’s worst game of the season, and that’s saying something. Myers was a
-Would be nice for the star players (aside from Quinn Hughes, of course) to get their acts together. It’s not just Elias Pettersson, but he’s obviously a key player who just does not look like himself this season.
-Quinn Hughes was great again tonight. He was getting shots on goal, and is holding up his end of the bargain and then some.
What’s your instant reaction tonight? Let us know in the comments section below!
Tune into Rink Wide Vancouver just moments after the game and interact with hosts Jeff Paterson and Irfaan Gaffar in the YouTube live chat!
