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Brock Boeser pots 2 as Canucks bump their slump, ready for Wild on Sunday |
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Saturday January 11 - Vancouver Canucks 6 - Buffalo Sabres 3
Brock Boeser scored two goals and Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves as the Vancouver Canucks snapped their two-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over their expansion cousins from Buffalo in a Saturday matinee.
Here are your highlights:
In many ways, the game resembled the Canucks' 6-5 overtime win over the Sabres last month in Vancouver, minus some Jack Eichel heroics. In both games, the teams traded goals up till a score of 3-3, then the Canucks scored twice to go ahead by the midpoint of the third. Last month, the Sabres fought back to tie and force overtime. This time around, Vancouver was able to lock things down, keeping Buffalo primarily to the outside and adding an empty-net goal to seal the victory.
Final shots were 35-28 for Vancouver — just the third time they've outshot an opponent since that winning streak began against Vegas back on December 19.
Boeser was firing from everywhere, and getting the puck on the net. Of his team-high 10 shot attempts, eight of them were on goal, with one shot blocked and one miss.
Interestingly, the stats team gave Boeser a shot on the play that was reviewed and eventually deemed no goal, because the puck was high. Not sure those two things can both be true?
These are the best videos of the incident that I've found. Still very hard to tell exactly what occurred.
Thankfully, we have two real goals to look at. The first was a nice tip — like last game, from close to the net-front — to open the scoring.
The game winner also came from the slot, off a terrific feed from a down-low Chris Tanev.
We've talked so much about the emotional challenges that Jacob Markstrom has faced with the death of his father this fall. Brock Boeser has dealt with some family issues too, as his father Duke recovered from a near-fatal heart failure incident during the summer.
Though his prognosis was originally quite dire, Duke was able to recover and was released from hospital in October. A month later, he had an incident that require the removal of his gallbladder but returned home before long and from all indications, has continued to do well. Word is that he will be able to attend the Canucks/Wild game on Sunday.
When we think of Boeser in Minnesota, of course we think of the game-winning goal that he scored in his pro debut back in March of 2017. That's actually the only time he's scored against the Wild in what is now five career games; he also has two assists. But he missed out on Vancouver's only visit to his home state last year while he was dealing with his groin injury.
With his shooting heating up over the last couple of games, it'll be interesting to see if he can create another special moment in front of his dad on Sunday.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. A couple of other notes, first...
After suiting up for the Utica Comets on Friday night for his first game action in awhile, Zack MacEwen was recalled by the Canucks on Saturday, and went back to his regular role as the team's extra skater.
MacEwen had three shots on goal and took two penalties in the Comets' spirited 5-2 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday night.
I watched most of the game thanks to the AHL's "freeview" on Friday, and it was a fun contest — with Jim Benning and other Canucks brass in attendance.
The Comets chased Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon just 3:05 into the game thanks to two early goals from Justin Bailey, then added scoring from Reid Boucher and Jonah Gadjovich before Bailey finished off his hat trick. The Comets wrapped up their night with a 5-2 win that moved them back into first place in the AHL's North Division.
Bailey's goals came on a new-look line that features converted winger Kole Lind in the middle and Nikolay Goldobin on the left side. Seems to be working!
One down note — Sven Baertschi didn't finish the game. No update yet on what was troubling him or whether he'll be good to go on Saturday as the Comets' homestand continues against Belleville.
Finally — as far as Canucks/Sabres — one area of concern that seems to have popped up often recently is the Vancouver defense getting hemmed in its own zone for extended periods of time. It's exhausting to have to defend like that for long periods of time, which can affect a player's energy levels later in games. At worst, they also end up getting scored on, like they did in the first period.
It doesn't help when your best penalty-killer is in the box, either. When Jay Beagle took the first of two minors in the first period when he was caught holding Rasmus Dahlin, Travis Green sent out J.T. Miller and Tim Schaller, with Edler and Tanev on the back end. Every member of the group blocked a shot but Buffalo was able to apply steady pressure, and not even let the killers try to get a line change. Those four stayed out for the full two minutes, and even when Beagle joined them after his penalty was done, the Sabres kept the puck on a string and eventually opened the scoring off the stick of Brandon Montour.
Total shift lengths from that sequence:
• Tanev - 2:39
• Edler - 3:19
• Schaller - 3:12
• Miller - 2:39
• Beagle - :39
Schaller and Edler were on the ice when Beagle's penalty was called, then played another 2:39, including the full penalty kill, following a TV timeout. What could go wrong?
Sunday January 12 - Vancouver Canucks at Minnesota Wild - 1 p.m. PT - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Standings as of Saturday afternoon:
Vancouver Canucks: 45 GP, 25-17-4, 52 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Minnesota Wild: 44 GP, 20-18-6, 46 pts, sixth in Central Division
The Canucks' win over Buffalo bounced them back into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference before Saturday night's slate of games.
Their 52 points have them tied with Winnipeg, currently in ninth. The Jets will host Nashville on Sunday morning. Their next opponent will be the Canucks on Tuesday, as Vancouver finishes off its road trip in what will be an important game for both sides.
For the moment, the Canucks and Jets have a bit of a cushion above the 10th and 11th place teams — Nashville (47 pts) and Minnesota (46 pts). And Vancouver is now just two points out of first/second in the Pacific — currently Vegas/Arizona, with the Golden Knights hosting Columbus on Saturday night and the Coyotes hosting Pittsburgh on Sunday. Edmonton and Calgary head into a Saturday night Battle of Alberta tied with 53 points, in third/fourth. Pray for a regulation-time outcome!
As for the Wild, they've put that awful 1-6-0 start behind them and climbed back above .500 thanks to a 10-1-4 record in a month-long stretch that started on November 14. But since mid-December, they've been much more inconsistent at 4-6-1. They're coming off a home-and-home with Calgary that saw them drop a 5-4 shootout decision at home last Sunday, then lose 2-1 in Calgary on Thursday.
This'll be Vancouver's first look at the Wild this season. Offensively, they're in the middle of the pack, led once again by ageless Eric Staal, who has 33 points in 44 games. Defensively, they've struggled, ranked 24th with 3.24 goals against per game.
Oddly, Wild starter Devan Dubnyk was out of action for most of that Minnesota winning streak — supporting his family while his wife deals with a serious medical issue of undisclosed nature. He also missed Thursday's game against the Flames for personal reasons, but rejoined the team for practice on Saturday.
Here's how the lines rolled:
No word yet on whether Bruce Boudreau will start Dubnyk or go with Alex Stalock on Sunday.
Looking at the skaters, Jason Zucker took turns on the top line after having suffered a fractured fibula in mid-December. Bruce Boudreau is calling him a game-time decision for Sunday. Defenseman Greg Pateryn has missed the entire season to date as he has recovered from core muscle surgery. He's available, but it's not yet known whether he'll draw into the lineup. Ice-time leader Ryan Suter has apparently been playing through an injury for the past few games, but it doesn't sound like it's serious enough for him to come out of the lineup.
With no practice time before the Buffalo game, Travis Green stuck with his usual forward deployment and re-inserted Oscar Fantenberg on the blue line, in place of Jordie Benn. Now on a back-to-back, I think the only real intrigue on Sunday will surround his goalie decision. After Jacob Markstrom had a relatively light day's work against the Sabres, will he get the nod again, or will Demko make his third appearance on this road trip?
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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