|
Vancouver Canucks Game Review: No Comparison to Duck, Dream Almost Dead |
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday March 29: Anaheim Ducks 5 - Vancouver Canucks 1
First off, thanks to Anavar for pointing out my overexuberant proclamation of a four-game unbeaten streak for the Canucks on yesterday's blog. Should've been "four-game point streak" after the OT loss to Colorado on Thursday. I think I was so surprised that they squeaked out a point that night, the result inflated a bit in my memory.
No mistaking the stinkfest from Saturday, though. It remains dead clear that the Canucks are in a very diffrent weight-class from the Anaheim Ducks.
Here are your highlights:
Brad Richardson had a really good game. He scored Vancouver's only goal and had another close chance early on that could have tipped the game scales in the Canucks' favour. He and Zack Kassian were Vancouver's only plus players on the night, each plus-one.
Torts was clearly unwilling to say anything negative about anybody in the postgame press conference, so he latched onto a question about Richardson like a dog with a chew-toy, waxing rhapsodic about how "Gully calls him a whiskey guy," (but being careful to indicate that this doesn't mean he's a big drinker), and applauding management for signing him.
Definitely the words of someone who knows he's on thin ice and is doing everything he can to ingratiate himself with the powers that be. Today's Torts bears little resemblance to the explosive personality that was hired just nine months ago.
For all his effort, Richardson alone couldn't get it done against a Ducks team that demonstrated how to successfully lean on role-players, then let your big guns step in and do the dirty work.
Anaheim picked up goals from Luca Sbisa—his first of the season—and Matt Beleskey to take a 2-0 lead before the first period was half over. Neither goal was especially pretty, just opportunistic.
After Richardson narrowed the score to 2-1 by the end of the period, the Canucks actually started the second with good intensity. With Zack Kassian and Patrick Maroon in the box after a strange scuffle near the end of the first period, Ben Lovejoy took an early holding penalty to give Vancouver a 4-on-3 power play just 40 seconds into the period. They set up nicely, with Yannick Weber alone at the top of the umbrella looking for a shot, but Kesler and Daniel—once well-known scorers in their own right—played hot potato with the puck until an errant pass down to Alex Burrows behind the goal line sucked the wind out of any momentum the team might have had.
Weber as power-play specialist, I can live with. But should the guys on the ice with him be three players who are all clearly still dealing with injury issues?
When Burrows bobbled the puck on that play, it was obvious that his stick-handling is being affected by his hand injury—and it wasn't the only time it happened. Much like when he was dealing with the face-shield while recovering from his jaw injury, he just *can't* do it right now.
Meanwhile, Daniel's hamstring's messed up and so is Kesler's knee. Would it have been such a bad idea to put out one healthy forward to try to capitalize on that moment? It was 40 seconds into the period—Kassian was in the penalty box but other than that, everybody was fresh and available...
Torts pointed to that moment as a wasted opportunity. It may turn out to be the final turning point that kills the season.
Saku Koivu gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead midway through the second after Daniel Sedin was unable to clear the puck out of the defensive zone, then Corey Perry and his crew applied some muscle to deflate their opposition by the end of the second and cruise easily through the third.
By the time Perry and Ryan Getzlaf finally made a mark on the scoresheet in the final frame, the game was all but over. The rink was two-thirds empty for a long time, and the final seconds ticked down in near-silence. No boos, no chants, no reaction at all from the crowd—only a sense of resignation.
While the Canucks did nothing to help their own playoff chances, the out-of-town scoreboard made the situation even worse. Dallas beat St. Louis on the road, winning two games in two nights, while Minnesota came from behind to beat Phoenix.
So, eighth place is still five points away, but the likelihood of leapfrogging two teams to get there just took a big hit.
Vancouver's playoff odds have now dropped to 0.5 percent, according to SportsClubStats.com. That's a one-in-200 chance of getting in. In other words, no.
The Canucks have six games left—four of them at home. Playoffs might be out of the question, but there are plenty of storylines in play over these past two weeks, which should make for some interesting viewing.
Though the Canucks were thoroughly outclassed on Saturday, the overall crowd vibe at Rogers Arena was once again pretty darn fun. They got a heckuva wave going through the early part of the third period, which even got up on the Jumbotron during gameplay: more interesting than what was happening on the ice.
I suspect the reason for this energy is that the downturn in the Canucks' "cool" factor means the crowd is being made up of more people who don't normally get to come to games—who are either buying cheap re-sale seats or getting tickets handed off to them by businesses or friends. I think people who come for one game a year are a lot more determined to have a good time, no matter what, than the regulars who have watched their team disintegrate before their eyes over the past three seasons.
It'll be interesting to see how much of that jovial atmosphere endures as this homestand ticks along.
Today is a day off for the team, then they'll practise on Monday ahead of Tuesday's visit from Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers. That'll give us plenty more to discuss over the next few days.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»