Saturday March 18 - Edmonton Oilers 2 - Vancouver Canucks 0
It wasn't exactly a thriller, but the Vancouver Canucks made some on-ice adjustments and outshot their opponent for just the second time in the last 10 games. In the end, though, they were shut out 2-0 by the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Rogers Place.
Here are your highlights:
I'm now at the point where I'm amazed when Ryan Miller doesn't play, even in situations that make sense. Miller has played 25 of Vancouver's 33 games since January 1. He's 8-12-5 during that time, with a solid .920 save percentage. Jacob Markstrom is 2-3-1 in his six starts and though he took the loss on Saturday in Edmonton, Richard Bachman boasts a 1.52 goals-against average and .955 save percentage to go along with his 1-1-0 record.
Would it be worth playing Bachman more down the stretch, showcasing him as a possible expansion draft option for Las Vegas? He's almost certainly going to be exposed and he'd be an inexpensive option if the Golden Knights played him at the NHL level—he carries a cap hit of $575,000 for next season, with a salary of $650,000 in the NHL and $450,000 in the minors.
As well as giving Bachman a rare start, coach Willie Desjardins also shook up his lines for Saturday's contest.
#Canucks make serious adjustments to lines: DSedin HSedin Chaput Baertschi Horvat Granlund Cramarossa Sutter Boucher Labate Shore Megna
Markus Granlund seemed to thrive in his new home with Horvat and Baertschi. He finished the night with a whopping 10 shot attempts, seven of which got through to a sharp Cam Talbot. No other Canuck had more than three shots on goal.
Mike Chaput managed four shot attempts, two on goal, while riding shotgun with the Sedins.
Chris Tanev did return to the lineup, logging 19:18 and collecting a team-high three blocked shots. Nikolay Goldobin is expected to finally get back into the lineup on Tuesday against Chicago after his nasty bout with the flu.
The Canucks kept the game scoreless until the 16:42 mark of the second period, when Connor McDavid's league-leading 80th point of the year proved to be the game-winning goal.
Last Saturday, the Pittsburgh Penguins cruised out of Vancouver after shutting out the Canucks in both their meetings this year. This week, Cam Talbot picked up his second shutout in three games against Vancouver—he has given up just two goals to the Canucks in 185 minutes of action this season.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Detroit beat Colorado to move up to 25th place in the league standings with 67 points. The Canucks now sit in 27th, still with 65 points—one ahead of the New Jersey Devils, who are playing Columbus this morning, and still four up on Arizona after the Coyotes dropped a 3-0 decision to St. Louis on Saturday night.
At Target Center in Minneapolis on Saturday, Brock Boeser tallied a goal and an assist, but his North Dakota Fighting Hawks dropped a 4-3 decision to Minnesota Duluth on a flukey last-minute deflection.
Though North Dakota fell short in this weekend's NCHC tournament, Boeser's college season isn't over yet. His team is one of 16 to qualify for the national NCAA tournament.
North Dakota is seeded third in its bracket, and could end up seeing Minnesota Duluth again if the team is able to advance past Boston University in Friday's first-round game.
On the AHL side, Thatcher Demko's personal eight-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday as the Utica Comets dropped a 4-1 decision to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The loss dropped the Comets just outside the playoff picture for the moment, into fifth place in the AHL's North Division, but they're back in action again today, hitting in the ice in Providence to take on the Bruins at noon PT.
You thought Ryan Miller played a lot?
Demko is in Utica net today. Third game for him in three days
I'll leave you with this today—a little late for St. Patrick's Day, but still worth a look while the Canucks take a rest day before heading to Chicago for Game 2 of this five-game road stretch on Tuesday.
Blast from the past for @Canucks fans on this St. Patrick's Day 🍀 (L-R) Mike Murphy, Bob McCammon, Brian Burke, Pat Quinn & Jack McIlhargey. pic.twitter.com/N0cFSJUvhw
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