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Jacob Markstrom stars, Vancouver Canucks beat Flames to start 4-game trip |
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Tuesday November 7 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Calgary Flames 3
It turns out Travis Green made a very good call when he asked Jacob Markstrom to start back-to-back games while Anders Nilsson is with his family for the birth of his new baby.
Markstrom was a beast in the second period and gave the Vancouver Canucks a chance to fight back and earn a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday at the Saddledome.
Here are your highlights:
The Flames outshot the Canucks 32-21 in the game, including 16-7 in that middle frame. Johnny Gaudreau was buzzing—and did pick up his fourth of the year on the power play—but Markstrom foiled him on several other point-blank opportunities.
Beyond their top two lines, the Flames have struggled to get goals—and that was the difference for the Canucks on Tuesday night. Five different forwards scored and the goals came in all situations—two at even strength, two on the power play and a crucial shorthanded tally by Derek Dorsett that tied the game at three with 1:40 remaining in that second period where the Canucks had been significantly outplayed.
Sam Gagner was the standout forward in the first period, and was rewarded with his second as a Canuck while Michael Frolik was in the penalty box for tripping Daniel Sedin. Thomas Vanek picked up his fifth goal and ninth point with a wicked slapper after a Matthew Tkachuk giveaway. Even Henrik Sedin got his first goal of the year, on an old-school Sedinery-style play.
For all the squawking about a lack of offense, the Canucks have now scored four goals or more in five of their 15 games—after doing it just 15 times all last season. Not surprisingly, all five of those games have been wins.
The Canucks are now tied with Dallas and Anaheim for 19th place offensively with an average of 2.80 goals per game. Progress!
And for all the concern about whether or not Erik Gudbranson is worthy of a long-term contract extension, it's worth noting that even after giving up three goals in consecutive games, the Canucks are still in the top five in the league defensively this season, currently tied with Chicago for fourth place at 2.40 goals against per game. That's not all about great goaltending—the team is also tied with Ken Hitchcock's Dallas Stars with the fourth-best average shots against per game, at 29.7.
Those defensive numbers have stayed strong even without Alex Edler and Troy Stecher in the lineup. Derrick Pouliot's now up to 12 games played and has been quietly solid—he has three assists and is a plus-four. Ben Hutton got rewarded with two assists last night as he cracked the 25-minute mark for the fourth time this season. And Michael Del Zotto is leading the Canucks—and 21st overall in the entire NHL—with an average of 24:17 of ice time per game this season. Travis Green has also given him the "A" in a couple of games already—not something you see very often with a brand new player who isn't a superstar.
Last week, Del Zotto and I talked about his extra responsibilities without Edler and adjusting to life in a new city and on a new team, for my Westender column:
We didn't get to see Thatcher Demko in game action on Tuesday, but we did get a good look at Brendan Gaunce, in his first NHL game since shutting down for shoulder surgery last March.
Subbing straight into Markus Granlund's spot on the—energy line, shall we call it?—Gaunce played a solid 16:54 and finished the night with two shot attempts, two blocks, two hits and one giveaway. He also ended up as the Canucks' only minus player on the night—on the ice for Micheal Ferland's unassisted second-period goal.
Granlund played 16:16 on Monday against Detroit and played right through the late stages of the third period—his group was on the ice for Tomas Tatar's game-winning goal with 1:14 left on the clock. Since there didn't seem to be an obvious moment when he was injured, it makes me wonder if maybe he has been dealing with something that has been lingering, but hadn't been serious enough to bump him out of the lineup?
Granlund didn't travel to Calgary with the team but is expected to join them at some point during these next three games in California.
Finally—now with a 5-1 record away from Rogers Arena, the Canucks are the proud owners of the second-best road record in the NHL. At 3-0-1, the Ottawa Senators are the only team that is currently unbeaten in regulation on the road.
This is a huge turnaround from last season. Through six road games in 2016-17, the Canucks were 0-5-1, on their way to a 12-26-3 road record for the year. Exactly one year ago, on November 8, 2016, the Canucks earned their first road win of the season when they snapped that early nine-game losing streak with a 5-3 win at Madison Square Garden over the New York Rangers.
After last night's win, the Canucks are on a four-game road winning streak. Last season, the best they ever managed were two straight wins on the road and that only happened once—in March, against L.A. and Anaheim.
Two other notes to finish up today:
First, if you missed it, here's the rundown of owner Francesco Aquilini's Tuesday sit-down with Sportsnet 650:
And finally, while Canucks fans got to drool over Kole Lind's three-point night against the Russians in the WHL game of this week's Super Series, we won't get to see Jonah Gadjovich in Thursday's OHL/Russia game.
Gadjovich had nine points in eight games with the Owen Sound Attack before being knocked out of action.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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