It what may be one of the most physical games I’ve seen, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Nashville Predators 3-1. The real story of the game was the headshots that Vancouver hit the Preds with. The Predators were not very pleased at all after the game and are hoping the NHL will look into the actions of tonight’s game.
Felder’s FRUSTRATED Five:
1. Even Strength Offense - Not much to speak of for the Preds tonight. They registered 0 even strength shots on goal in the 1st period, 2 in the 2nd period (although they were on the PK most of that period), and then 9 in the 3rd to make things look respectable. This team can not rely on special teams to win them games and I was disappointed they did not have a better effort to start the game.
2. Officiating - Well as you will see in the QUOTES section of this column, the Preds were none too pleased with the Canucks. The main issue in their mind was headshots, and they felt the Canucks had three headshots against the Preds. I would argue that had the officials called the early penalty against Rob Davison when he hit Scott Nichol that this game would have been more controlled and not boiled over.
3. 5 on 4 Man Advantage - Plenty of trouble with the man advantage tonight. Yes, they scored a 5 on 3, but there were ample opportunities to break the tie late in the game had the unit connected. What I don’t understand is if the coaching staff knows it struggles, why do they keep the same design? I have no answers for that one.
4. Backdoor Breakdowns - Dan Ellis was victimized tonight as the Preds defense let in two back door plays. In each case you can find a small, but eventually glaring, defensive breakdown that allowed the Canucks to take advantage.
5. Someone Drop the Gloves - It is still wild to me that Wade Belak or Darcy Hordichuk never dropped the gloves with anyone in this contest. This time of physical game with players taking liberties is suited for them to come in and clean it up. Just very odd to me that we didn’t see those guys get into any fights.
Other Notes:
• Tonight’s scratches were Jordin Tootoo and Ville Koistinen. Tootoo was scratched due to a lower body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
• 1ST PERIOD
• 15:22 left. Pretty gritty game from Vancouver so far. The Preds are on the man advantage at the moment, but have yet to register a shot on goal this period. Vancouver has controlled the play thus far. Also, the physical play by the Canucks has been surprising and I think it has kept the Preds on their heels a bit. For future reference know that the Preds registered 1 shot on goal during that Vancouver penalty, their first of the game.
• GOAL for VANCOUVER – 11:25 to go. Canucks take advantage of a weak icing call. A back door pass through the top of the crease finds Pavol Demitra. Demitra buries the chance top shelf with ease. Ellis had no chance on this one. Kevin Klein was caught a bit out of position and allowed Kyle Wellwood to pass in behind him. Give credit to Wellwood though because he faked a shot to force Klein to a knee in an attempted blocked shot. Demitra from Wellwood. Vancouver leads 1-0.
• 9:39 to go and thanks to a too many men on the ice penalty the Preds have 47 seconds of 5 on 3. We’ll see if they can tie things up.
• 5 on 3 GOAL for NASHVILLE – 8:57 to go. Some crisp passing from Erat to Bonk. Bonk was on the crease to Sanford’s left and quickly beat him low glove side. Nice little tally along the ice for Bonk’s 2nd goal of the season. That effort looked crisp so that’s pretty nice to see. Bonk from Erat and Dumont. Game is tied at 1.
• 4:54 to go and Scott Nichol gets destroyed along the Vancouver bench. Rob Davison glides along the blueline, leaves his feet and explodes into Scooter. For any of you who will say he did not leave his feet, well you are blind. He went into his own bench from all the air he got. A huge scrum ensues as Wade Belak rushes in to aid Nichol. Also, somehow at the end of this Rich Peverley and Jason Jaffray get into a fight. Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen Rich get in a fight, but he definitely held his own in this one. At first he was timid, but then he started connecting some shots. In the end I think the bout was a draw, but huge props to Peverley for giving it a go and sticking up for his teammate. You can be sure more physical play will be around the corner in this contest. Scott Nichol missed the rest of the game with a lower body injury after this hit.
• END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – VAN: 0 NSH: 0. Positives – The Preds did convert on a 5 on 3. Negatives – 0 shots on goal while at even strength. The Canucks controlled most of the period. The physical play of the Canucks is hampering the Preds who have appeared to be on their heels at most points in the game.
• 2ND PERIOD
• 15:14 to go and just before a Vancouver PP expires Dan Ellis makes a fantastic glove save on Steve Bernier. You have to find the clip of this one to truly appreciate it. Needless to say Bernier was robbed.
• 14:41 to go and after J.P. Dumont gets hit by Alex Burrows (who left his feet), Jason Arnott goes after Burrows and essentially gang tackles, and throws punch after punch with Burrows in a ball. Arnott was given an instigator, which was justified. This is the 2nd time in this game I’ve seen a Canuck leave his feet. Things are getting quite dirty. I’ve never seen the Canucks play this way in my experiences watching them. The replays tonight will clearly show guys leaving their feet, especially Burrows. The final results of this penalty wise give the Canucks a 7 minute powerplay.
• 7:40 to go and the Predators killed off the entire penalties. That was the most amazing things I’ve seen in this building in quite some time. The fans pushed the killers on and this crowd erupted with joy after the very extended Vancouver PP was finished. From now on, I shall call that moment, “The CANUCK KILL”. What a special moment that surely took the momentum from Vancouver. Just an amazing effort.
• 2:36 to go. Ryan Kesler hits Shea Weber on a clear boarding call. Shea Web immediately goes after Kesler. Rob Davison rushes in and attacks Weber, effectively the 3rd man in. All hell breaks along the boards and Kevin Klein goes after Davison. The physical night continues. Results of the play give Kesler a 5 minute major for fighting and Weber a 4 minute double minor for roughing.
• END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – VAN: 1 NSH: 1. Positives – The penalty killers were amazing. Negatives – Vancouver is playing dirty hockey by leaving their feet to hit. The Preds were shorthanded most of the period..
• 3RD PERIOD
• 4 on 3 POWERPLAY GOAL for VANCOUVER – 19:36 to go in the period. Alexander Edler beats Ellis backdoor. The real key to this goal was the beautiful pass made by Daniel Sedin. He was falling to the ice to Dan’s right and somehow laet off a no look pass back to the opposite side. Just a beautiful assist. Edler from Daniel Sedin and Kevin Bieksa. Canucks lead 2-1.
• 2:25 remaining and the Canucks elect to use their timeout.
• 1:30 to go and the Preds use their timeout this time. Also the Preds have pulled Dan Ellis in favor of the extra attacker since the faceoff is in Vancouver’s end.
• EMPTY NET GOAL for VANCOUVER – Alex Burrows buries an empty netter after a turnover in their own end by the Preds. Burrows from Kesler. Canucks lead 3-1.
• FINAL SCORE – VAN - 3 NSH - 1
My Three Stars:
1. Alexander Edler – Game winning goal, +1 rating, 4 shots on goal, and 2 blocked shots.
2. Dan Ellis – 25 saves on 27 shots against. Kept the Preds in this one
3. Pavol Demitra – 1 goal, a +1 rating, and 4 shots on goal.
Goalie Grade:A- – The starting goaltender tonight was Dan Ellis. Both goals against Dan were back door plays that he had very little to no chance on. I though Dan played very solid tonight and did not look very rusty to me. A nice effort from Dan.
Ref Review:F – The crew tonight was Mike Leggo, Brad Watson, Steve Barton, and Tony Sericolo. This crew let things get out of hand. To not call penalties on players leaving their feet to make hits is pretty unforgivable. Also, they missed a tripping call on Zanon, blew an icing call against Nashville, and the Erat hooking call was weak. No way I can justify giving them anything but an F tonight since they let both teams get entirely out of hand.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - “Did you guys feel like on a couple of those hits the Canucks left their feet?”
Rich Peverley - “It’s hard to say if they were dirty hits. I know the one on Nichol, Davison came from the far side of the ice so I thought it might be a charge or something because he’s the left defenseman and came from the other side of the ice. I thought that was a little dirty.”
*
Felder - “How amazing was that 7 minutes kill?”
Dan Ellis - “Oh it was outstanding. You know I think the fans actually gave us that extra energy. When they cheer and scream and yell like they did there it reminds us of the playoffs. That gave us extra energy. Our killers were outstanding on that. They blocked so many shots, blocked lanes, guys were going down sacrificing their body, and even Wardo didn’t have a stick for about a minute and a half of the one kill. They did an outstanding job tonight and I think we just put a little bit too much pressure on them to get the job done and it bit us in the butt.”
*
This question came from David Boclair of the City Paper - “Sometimes there are penalties that have to be taken I guess?”
Jason Arnott - “For one I thought this league was supposed to cut down on that s***. Guy leaves his feet, another guy runs our guy from behind, and we end up on the short handed side of it. It’s unbelievable. All we keep hearing about is, “Watch the headshots, watch the headshots.” Well there was three of them out there tonight, and no calls. NOTHING. I mean we got to stick up for our teammates but it is unbelievable when you have to fight uphill like that every game. It’s frustrating, it’s very frustrating.”
*
Felder - “What were your thoughts on Arnott’s reaction to the Dumont hit?”
Head Coach Barry Trotz - “He thought on of his teammates was hit in a dirty fashion and we’re going to stick up for each other. I don’t mind guys sticking together. I thought it was a good response by Arnott. I couldn’t believe we ended up with a seven-minute penalty, but I don’t have any issues with Arnott sticking up for Dumont at all.”
Felder - “What were your thoughts on the even strength play of your offense?”
Trotz - “*chuckles* When we were even strength? I thought we did some good things. We didn’t get enough traffic on Sanford, but we did some things. It’s pretty taxing when we killed as many penalties as we did and it’s hard to keep the energy high. I thought our guys had a lot of battle and I thought they stayed with it right up until the end. There was a lot of positives in that little bit of a frustrating game.”
Final Thoughts:
Before the game started I knew the Preds would have trouble. The Canucks play a very solid defensive game that I knew would give the Preds canned offense all sorts of fits. Despite the dirty plays, the Canucks proved that at this point they are the better team. The Preds don’t have the offensive weapons to match Vancouver right now.
The Predators next game will be this Thursday night in Columbus. I’m sure the team would love nothing more than to take out some frustration on their little brother. Game time is at 6 pm CST and this game will be shown on FS TN.
Till the next time, thanks for reading, and take care.
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