Friday March 14: Washington Capitals 4 - Vancouver Canucks 3
The Vancouver Canucks showed an unexpected dose of heart at the Verizon Center on Friday, but it wasn't enough to snag a win over the struggling Washington Capitals. Here are your highlights:
For the second time this week, the Canucks scored three goals but didn't walk away with a point.
Jordan Schroeder showed nice offensive instincts when he roofed a slick pass from Zack Kassian in the first period after Dan Hamhuis tangled up Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson along the boards. Later, with the Canucks down 3-1, Shawn Matthias scored his first goal as a Canuck, followed up three minutes later by Nick Jensen's first-ever NHL goal to tie the game.
The Caps quickly responded, with Mike Green potting the eventual game-winner from the right boards on Washington's first shot of the third period at 10:19.
Though the Canucks outshot Washington 17-3 in the third period and 41-21 overall, they were undone by timely, potent offense, sparked by Evgeny Kuznetsov. The 21-year-old phenom seemed to find his groove in his third NHL game, threading three beautiful passes which turned into goals.
If Kuznetsov can continue to play at the level we saw on Friday, he might just provide the spark that will help the Capitals finish as strongly as they did last year, when they blazed down the home stretch to squeak into the playoffs.
Alex Ovechkin also showed us something when he ripped his league-leading 45th goal of the season from his favourite spot on the power play, on the edge of the left face-off circle.
He's nine goals ahead of his closest rival, Corey Perry, and tied for fourth in points, but he remains a stunning defensive liability. He went minus-two on the night—and Alex Edler was minus-one, which ties the pair for second-worst at minus-29. The only good news here is that Nail Yakupov has lowered the bar even further—he's now minus-33.
Kuznetsov was drafted 26th overall in 2010, one spot after Vancouver's first-rounder that was traded to Florida in the Keith Ballard deal. He remains a high-risk player—he's listed at six feet but just 172 pounds and will wear that "enigmatic Russian" label until he proves himself. On Friday, it looked like we were seeing the breakout performance of a young player who has a chance to be very special in this league.
That being said, where would the Canucks be right now without Shawn Matthias and Nick Jensen? After playing 19:57 in Winnipeg, Jensen broke the 20 minute mark for the first time in Washington, logging 20:19 of ice time. He made it through the game without taking a penalty and was a plus-one on the night.
Meanwhile, Matthias basically matched his ice time from Winnipeg, playing 18:32. He finished even on the night, with five shots and three hits, but got killed in the face-off circle, going just 4-13.
Jensen's a better player than he was a year ago when he spent two games with the Canucks under Alain Vigneault, but he's also getting more of a chance to shine. I'll give John Tortorella some credit for that.
I also have to admit, the Canucks didn't look like a team that's playing out the string or has quit on the coach. They pressed hard in the third period and there were even bubbles of emotion against a team where there's no natural rivalry at all.
The loss drops the Canucks' odds of making the playoffs to a mere 1.8 percent, according to
SportsClubStats.com, while Washington now climbs to an enviable nine percent. Still, after the game Henrik Sedin talked about how the goal was to win three of four on this road trip. That's still possible.
I am grudgingly impressed by the fact that they're not giving up. But as I said yesterday, I fear they'll play just well enough to impede the big changes that many of us would like to see in the organization.
The Canucks' next game is an early one on Sunday, but shouldn't be missed. They take on Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers at noon. I'll get a game day preview up for you tomorrow before puck drop.
What's Up, Nazzy?
Markus Naslund got some decent support in my poll earlier in the week, musing on former Canucks who could inject a fan-friendly feel-good vibe into team management.
Just a few days later, Naslund has resigned from his role as General Manager of Modo of the Swedish League after his team was eliminated from the playoffs (from
The Canuck Way). Fortuitous timing?
As the article mentions, Mike Gillis addressed the idea of Naslund joining the Canucks in a managerial capacity on TEAM1040 yesterday, though he said the two sides had not yet spoken. Here's the link to that podcast if you'd care to listen for yourself:
The Canuck Way story reminds us that Naslund was always committed to the idea of raising his children back in Sweden. I wonder if the Modo resignation is an indication that he might have some flexibility on that front? Working in Europe where he's rarely seen by the fans won't provide the injection of warm nostalgia I think the team needs right now.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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