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What a difference a day makes.
Just 24 hours after a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks, the Vancouver Canucks put forth a sloppy, undisciplined effort against the Calgary Flames en route to an ugly 4-1 loss.
Here are some thoughts on the game:
- Despite what the score indicates, I thought the Canucks played pretty well; at least offensively. They were able to consistently generate chances all throughout the game but they ran into some very good goaltending. Joni Ortio was stellar for the Flames as he made big save after big save all night long. He was able to keep the Flames in the game until they got their feet under them and that was ultimately the difference.
- The Canucks need to be much more disciplined if they hope to accomplish anything in this tournament. The penalty kill played relatively well - they killed off four of six minor penalties - but you can't take seven penalties and expect to win a hockey game. That number needs to be cut in about half. Six penalties equates to 12 minutes short handed which is 20% of a hockey game. That means 20% of the game players like Hunter Shinkaruk, who for the most part don't kill penalties, are stuck on the bench. Shinkaruk saw a couple shifts short handed once the team was trailing, but that was likely just Travis Green trying to generate offense in hopes of getting back into the game.
- The Bo Horvat-Shinkaruk duo didn't seem to have as much flow tonight, but that's probably a result of having to spend so much time short handed. It seemed that every time they got going and started creating chances, the team took a penalty and they had to miss a shift or two. It's hard to pick up where you left off when the flow of the game keeps being interrupted. The two did show some nice flashes, though, and were able to create some quality chances.
- Once again you noticed Horvat almost every shift. He had three shots, setup a few chances and made some good plays in the defensive zone. Horvat also did a good job of screening Ortio all night and the work he did in front was a big factor in the one goal the Canucks were able to score.
- I thought Frankie Corrado played a pretty effective game. He made some solid plays in the defensive zone and did some nice things offensively as well. Corrado had five shots and was the lone goal scorer for the Canucks. For the most part he did a great job of keeping things simple and making smart decisions with the puck.
- For the second consecutive night I was impressed by Nicklas Jensen's body of work. He consistently generated scoring chances in the offensive zone and was one of the best players on the ice. He was tied with Corrado for the team-high in shots with five and was able to setup some nice chances for his linemates, too. Jensen will need to do a better job of capitalizing on his opportunities in the future, but if he continues to create quality chances, the points will come.
- Jordan Subban played relatively well, but he's certainly capable of more. I thought he did a good job running the power play and generating some scoring chances there. He also had a couple nice rushes and was skating very well.
On the other hand, I thought Subban was much more conservative tonight than I've seen him in the OHL with Belleville. I don't like that. Subban was drafted because of his ability to make things happen; particularly in the offensive zone. He held back on a couple of rushes and didn't do some of the things I'm accustomed to seeing from him that I know he's capable of. He looked like he was trying to avoid a mistake rather than trying to make a big play. The Canucks certainly could have used one tonight.
The Canucks are back in action Sunday as they take on the Edmonton Oilers at 5ET/2PT.
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