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Undermanned Vancouver Canucks drop 4-1 decision in the desert to Coyotes |
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Thursday October 25 - Arizona Coyotes 4 - Vancouver Canucks 1
In a couple of different ways, it was deja vu all over again on Thursday. Just like in preseason in Kelowna, the Arizona Coyotes dished out another 4-1 defeat to the Vancouver Canucks. And just like one week earlier in Winnipeg, the Canucks hung with their hosts for 40 minutes before running out of gas. That game also ended up 4-1 for the other guys.
Such as they are, here are your highlights from Thursday night's loss in Glendale:
Vancouver's roster was about as bare-bones as it could have been after the injury ravages of Wednesday's game in Vegas. Alex Edler and Sven Baertschi are now both on injured reserve, and Chris Tanev didn't dress. Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson also both missed another game.
Darren Archibald and Alex Biega both drew in for their first games of the season, and Archibald picked up the team's only goal when he tipped a shot from Troy Stecher at 2:23 of the second period, tying the game 1-1.
Adam Gaudette was awarded the second assist after winning the draw to start the play, earning his first NHL point. Travis Green continues to limit his minutes but has started giving him some power-play time, which is nice to see. Gaudette has been talked about mostly as a depth player in Vancouver, but he was a force with the man advantage last season during his Hobey Baker-winning run with Northeastern.
With four-fifths of the team's first power-play unit on the sidelines, it's no surprise that offense was hard to come by. The power play went 0-for-3 and ended up minus-one for the night after Brad Richardson turned the play the other way to put his team up 3-1 with his shorthanded goal with 7:44 left to play in the third period.
The absence of so many top players leaves room for others to try to step up. For the second straight game, Ben Hutton delivered a solid performance as he led the team in ice time, though his 24:33 was nearly five minutes below what he logged on Wednesday in Vegas.
Up front, new addition Antoine Roussel has been making himself noticed more and more every game. He spent Thusday night mixing it up with hulking youngster Lawson Crouse, picking up 14 penalty minutes along the way, and gave Clayton Keller a bit of a rough ride.
I am finding it oddly heartwarming to see a Canucks player pushing the limits of acceptable play after all this time. Roussel's style is bringing back memories of peak Alex Burrows for me.
After taking the loss, the players took their lumps from the media.
On Friday, everyone seems to have gone underground. There's no word of a possible practice at Rogers Arena or any injury updates. I can't even find any new Dads' Trip videos!
We did hear on Thursday that Alex Edler is scheduled for an MRI on his knee on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been on a roll since they took the overtime loss against the Canucks back on October 16. They'll be looking to sweep their four-game Canadian road trip in their rematch against the Canucks on Saturday in Vancouver. After the Penguins shut out the Maple Leafs 3-0 in Toronto last Saturday, Sidney Crosby took charge with that unbelievable overtime goal to give his team the 6-5 win over Edmonton on Tuesday, then all but three of the team's 18 skaters got on the scoresheet as the Penguins trounced Calgary by a score of 9-1 on Thursday. Yikes.
The Utica Comets are in action tonight: on the road at Rochester. Between the Canucks' call-ups and their own injuries, the issue of all the extra bodies the team was carrying seems like it has pretty much sorted itself out. Defenseman Jagger Dirk was recalled from the ECHL Kalamazoo Wings on Thursday to help fill out the lineup.
I'll close today with a blast from the past. Jannik Hansen still has his trademark speed!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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