Monday January 11 - Vancouver Canucks 3 - Florida Panthers 2 (OT)
I think we witnessed an important chapter in the evolution of the new Vancouver Canucks on Monday night, when Game 1 of the post-Higgins era saw the Canucks come back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Florida Panthers—ending the Panthers' 12-game winning streak, winning just their second overtime game of the season, and standing up for themselves as a team in the face of more verbal abuse directed at the Sedin twins.
Here are your highlights:
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that Chris Higgins was an anchor that was dragging down the team. My point is that the team's decision to cut ties with him—especially mid-season—is the strongest indication yet that the organization is going full-speed ahead with its commitment to keep getting younger and change the culture.
Most exciting for us fans, it's looking more and more like "playing the kids" is leading to a more exciting—and successful—on-ice product.
On Monday night's broadcast, Trevor Linden announced that they hadn't found a trade partner for Higgins, so he was put on waivers this morning.
So—one final homage to Higgins' famous abs as he most likely makes his way to Utica tomorrow.
Andrey Pedan has also been re-assigned to the Comets, which leads me to believe that Luca Sbisa must be pretty close to being ready to return.
As the door closed for Higgins, it opened for new arrival Emerson Etem, who was noticeable in his first game as a Canuck.
Skating primarily on a line with Linden Vey and Jake Virtanen, Etem finished the night with a pretty solid stat line: 2 shots, one attempt, one missed shot, two giveaways, two takeaways and a blocked shot in 13:08 of ice time.
Etem's line also drew three of Florida's four penalties on the night, with Etem himself being credited for two—including the game-changing hooking call on Jaromir Jagr in overtime.
For me, the very best part of Etem's debut is the quote he gave
Ben Kuzma of
The Province after the game:
I thought I created a good give-and-go with Vey early and with more games I’ll be more patient and that’s all part of it. This system complements my speed game, but the biggest thing is Willie (Desjardins) pulled me aside before the game and said don’t be afraid to make mistakes out there. Just play hard and track back and be smart about things. And then you can make the high-risk plays. I’ve just got to keep building on this.
To me, this explains a lot about the difference in what we've seen from the kids over the last couple of weeks. Think of the confidence that Bo and Sven and Jared are displaying every time they drive to the net. I think they all have the green light now to try to use their skill rather than trying to always make the safe play.
It makes for entertaining hockey and I daresay it'll boost these kids' development.
With his sporadic usage and limited minutes in New York, I'm not sure that Etem's conditioning is at its best right now. But I liked his effort a lot when I saw him do a "giddy-up" to accelerate a back-checking effort during the third period. He was tired, but he didn't want to let the play go—and he made it back to help out.
Speaking of kids and confidence—and changes in Willie's coaching philosophies—how the heck was Jake Virtanen even on the ice with Horvat and Baertschi for an offensive-zone draw when he scored the tying goal with 2:38 left in the third??
What a magnificent moment of redemption for Virtanen after what he has gone through over the past couple of weeks. The emotion in the building was so strong in that moment, it literally made my heart swell.
One other note before I get to the postgame shenanigans—How close is Jacob Markstrom to taking over the No. 1 goaltending role?
Markstrom's save percentage for the year is now up to .920 and his goals-against is down to 2.44. He has played every minute since Ryan Miller was injured on December 20, going 5-2-1, and was outstanding in the third period last night, giving the Canucks the chance to mount their comeback.
Now—on to the postgame brouhaha. Normally, when a game ends, there's a mad rush by the reporters to get to the elevator and get downstairs. The doors to the dressing room open pretty quickly after the game's conclusion, so they need to get in there to get their postgame quotes from the players and coaches.
Last night, the tide turned and they all came running back to watch the pushing and shoving that ensued after Derek Dorsett and Panthers backup goalie Al Montoya exchanged barbs.
According to Dorsett (also from Kuzma):
“Something was said to Hank or Danny and I was watching the situation from the side of the pile-up after we scored the goal. I saw their back-up goalie (Al Montoya) and (Alex) Petrovic were having words with Danny and Petrovic started squirting water at him, so I skated over to intervene. And Montoya took a cut at me, so I took a cut at him.
“I haven’t heard what was said, but something obviously was and those guys (Sedins) are two classy guys who carry themselves professionally. They don’t get too mad too often and they were pretty mad.”
The Panthers were pretty wound up during their game in Edmonton on Sunday night due to the unpenalized Matt Hendricks hit on Aaron Ekblad—which did knock Ekblad out of last night's lineup and has earned Hendricks a three-game suspension. I suspect some of that emotion fuelled the postgame frustration—combined with the end of their franchise-best winning streak.
From the Vancouver point of view, though, Daniel Sedin continues to evolve into a man who has been tormented for all his life but now has no more sh**s to give.
He's also about to become the greatest goal-scorer in Vancouver Canucks history.
I don't expect there will be any significant supplemental discipline from last night's shenanigans. Maybe a few fines. And a renewed sense of honour among the Canucks that opponents should not take the Sedins' names in vain!
So—to review:
The Canucks wrapped up their seven-game homestand with a 4-2-1 record and are still resting comfortably in third place in the Pacific with 44 points—two up on San Jose, who did us a solid by beating Calgary in regulation on Monday night, and two behind Arizona.
The gap has also narrowed between the Pacific and Central Division teams, which means it's no longer a slam-dunk that the Central will earn both wild-card spots. Nashville and Colorado both have just one point more than Vancouver.
Today, it's back onto the plane for another two weeks.
I'd like to think the team will be feeling especially bonded after how last night's game ended. A road trip might be the perfect thing to strengthen those bonds even further.
It won't be easy, though. First stop is Washington, to face the league-leading Capitals on Thursday.
The good news? By the end of this road trip, Vancouver will be finished with the Eastern time zone for the season. Travel will get much easier for the last two and a half months of the season.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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