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Vancouver Canucks show good structure but can't score vs. red-hot Devils |
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Wednesday November 1 - New Jersey Devils 2 - Vancouver Canucks 0
I expected that Cory Schneider's reunion with Rollie Melanson as his goalie coach this season would yield a bounce-back season for the former Vancouver Canuck.
Schneider demonstrated that the pairing is indeed yielding strong results when he stopped all 37 shots he faced as the Canucks were shut out 2-0 by the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday at Rogers Arena.
Here are the highlights:
The big news of the day was Brian Boyle's first regular-season game in a Devils uniform. He signed with the team as a UFA on July 1 but was sidelined at the end of training camp after a diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia. His treatment with medication has been working successfully, so he got back on the ice about a week ago and looked just fine on Wednesday as he won six of nine faceoffs, blocked two shots and attempted four shots of his own in a solid 15:19 of ice time, playing primarily with Blake Coleman and Miles Wood. He would have had an empty-net goal, too, if his shot hadn't been blocked by a sharp Brock Boeser.
Boeser was back in the lineup, as expected, after missing Monday's game with a foot issue. He directed six shots toward the net but was not able to get a puck past Schneider.
The Canucks outshot the Devils 37-26 in the game and generated 15 more scoring chances than the 65 pucks they directed toward the net against Dallas on Monday—but came up empty.
The difference in the game came midway through the second period, when Jimmy Hayes converted a huge rebound off a strong shot from Taylor Hall.
As you can see, Jacob Markstrom was none too pleased with himself for not getting set to stop Hayes' shot.
This year's Canucks team is more fun to watch and their early results have caught the attention of NHL writers around the league—they even cracked the NHL's Super 16 this week!
Can it last? I'm probably at the more cautious end of the spectrum right now, influenced by what I've seen in person. I have been at all but two home games so far this season—I missed the 3-2 win over Edmonton and the 6-2 win over Washington. In the five games that I have seen, the Canucks have gone 0-3-2. They've scored a total of seven goals, and lost both games that went beyond 60 minutes—in the shootout to Ottawa, and in OT to Winnipeg.
Quality of competition has been part of the challenge, for sure. Four of those five losses came against teams that are also in the current Super 16—and Jersey's ranked highest of all, at No. 5. Now 9-2-0, the Devils are currently sitting fourth in the league, perfect on the road at 5-0-0 and off to their best start in franchise history.
Jesper Bratt, for starters, seems blissfully unaware of the fact that he's 19 and was chosen 162nd in last year's draft. He was all over the ice last night, leading the Devils with six shot attempts and playing on both special teams in 17:05 of ice time despite the fact that his linemate Marcus Johansson was injured on their first shift of the game after he crashed awkwardly into the boards.
Defenseman Will Butcher was quieter—he played 12:27 and his only entry on the stat sheet was a penalty for shooting the puck over the glass. But first-overall pick Nico Hischier also looked good, skating well and showing a nose for the net with three shots on goal, though he was also limited to 12:40 of ice time.
With Travis Zajac injured and Ben Lovejoy scratched, the Devils' roster included just four players in their 30s last night—captain Andy Greene is 35, Drew Stafford and Brian Boyle are 32 and Schneider's now 31. All of a sudden, they have an exciting young team that could be good for awhile!
As for the Canucks, they can only hope that they face the Porous Penguins on Saturday night. Pittsburgh's finishing off an Alberta back-to-back in Calgary tonight after beating Edmonton 3-2 on Wednesday. After the Antti Niemi experiment failed miserably, Matt Murray's expected to play both halves of the back-to-back, which could certainly help the Canucks' chances of picking up some goals if they face him on Saturday night.
The Canucks are off today, ahead of tonight's Sports Celebrities Festival in support of Special Olympics and the Canucks for Kids Fund.
Not surprisingly now that Brock Boeser's back in the lineup, Anton Rodin has been re-assigned to Utica today.
On Wednesday, the Comets played their first of five straight home games at their newly renovated home arena, but dropped a 4-3 shootout loss to Rochester. The Comets outshot the Americans 47-32 but Rochester went 2-for-6 on the power play, while Utica was 1-for-6.
The Comets' regulation goals were scored by Michael Chaput, Darren Archibald and Alexis D'Aoust. Archibald also added two assists and was named the game's first star. The shootout went eight rounds, with Thatcher Demko giving up two goals while Reid Boucher was the only scorer for Utica.
This weekend, the Comets will host Binghamton on Friday before a return date with the Americans on Saturday night.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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