Sunday January 17 - Vancouver Canucks 2 - New York Islanders 1 (S/O)
Despite losing captain Henrik Sedin to injury in the first period, the Vancouver Canucks rode a heroic goaltending performance by Ryan Miller to a shootout victory in their first-ever visit to Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sunday.
Here are your highlights:
Luca Sbisa and Jannik Hansen were back in the lineup, but after the Canucks gave up 40 shots in each of the first two games of their current road trip, that number ballooned to 48 against the New York Islanders, led by six shots apiece by Kyle Okposo, Anders Lee and Brock Nelson and five from captain John Tavares.
In his second game back after missing three weeks with a groin issue, Ryan Miller was spectacular. He let in his trademark last-minute goal to give the Islanders a point but didn't buckle under the pressure of the heavy workload, making it through 65 minutes of game action before delivering a perfect performance in the shootout to give Vancouver the win.
As he was coming back from his injury, Miller told
Ben Kuzma of
The Province that the cramping that leveled him in Florida had been caused by dehydration due to a heavy workload, warm weather and lots of travel.
"I pride myself on being prepared and not having to face a lot of these things over my career because I feel I can get ahead of it.
?But it was a unique situation. I got cramped up and it wasn’t as preventable. It was Florida, it was warm and it’s more that I didn’t feel good in Detroit (Dec. 18) and got dehydrated and that was a shootout game. It (injury) was also at the end of a road trip and we had been travelling a lot and it kind of builds up.
"I’ll know next time to be extra cautious about the hydration. It’s how you feel, and I didn’t feel it in my calves and that’s usually the first telltale sign that you’re getting that sensation in your body."
It wasn't especially surprising to me that Miller broke down in Florida after that frantic overtime period when he made eight saves in five minutes. Sunday's game—especially the 22 shots against (!!) in the third period—would have tested Miller's rehab and his preparation, but he came out the other side very nicely.
That's good news. If the Canucks' possession game remains as rag-tag as it has looked so far on this road trip, it makes perfect sense to keep alternating Miller and Jacob Markstrom, making sure that both players get as much rest as possible in between starts.
The other big news of the game—rookie Ben Hutton scored the Canucks' only goal midway through the second period. It was the first NHL goal of his career and came in his 39th career game.
I like the way Hutton described the moment to
Kuzma after the game:
“McCann made a great play to get the puck to the net and Danny was probably going to me with his vision in the slot.
“My eyes lit up for a split second and I was thinking: ‘Here it is, here it is’. And I pulled the trigger. That was cool. I want to get more aggressive in the offensive zone.”
Hutton was reunited with Luca Sbisa for most of the game. The returning Swiss defender was on the ice for both goals in the game but also led the Canucks with five hits in a a fiery game and added two blocked shots, two giveaways and one shot on goal.
I think we're starting to learn that Sbisa's sometimes erratic play actually originates from his enthusiasm for the game. It's hardly a trademark of the typically stoic Swiss—maybe it comes from his passionate Italian bloodlines?
"That was definitely a battle," Sbisa told Kuzma after the game. "But it’s good to have one like this the first game back and have everything you could ask for. The shots were lopsided (48-26) but we battled and I felt better as the game wore on. The first two (periods), I was gassed. A lot of it had to do with a little anxiety in the first game back. You waste a lot of energy because you’re so excited."
Now—Henrik. He was down on the ice for as long as I think I've ever seen after he was hit awkwardly from behind by Mikhail Grabovski late in the first period.
Because there's no direct access to the dressing room from the benches at Barclays Center, the TV cameras had plenty of opportunity to zoom in on Henrik favouring his right shoulder and chest area as he sat on the bench waiting for the period to end. He'd been feeling good before he got pasted—winning four of the five draws he'd taken.
Though Grabovski was assessed a boarding major and game misconduct, that'll be the extent of his punishment.
The injury looked serious, but ever the team player, Henrik stuck around to greet his teammates after the game.
He's not using his right arm at all here, but I can't tell if his hand is in his pocket or if the right sleeve is hanging loose and maybe he's wearing a sling underneath?
Henrik also spoke to the media. In typical Henrik fashion, he thinks he shouldn't be sidelined very long.
"We've done X-rays so everything is under control," Sedin told
Dave Satriano of NHL.com. "We know a time line. We are going to check it again [Monday] and see how long but like I said, I couldn't come back to play [Sunday] and it's a new injury but we are not talking weeks I am hoping.
"It's one of those things where it doesn't feel too bad when you are on the ice but when you come in here and you wait a little bit, it gets a little stiff and tough to move around so I don't think I could have continued playing."
I love this part: when asked if he might play against the New York Rangers on Tuesday, Henrik said "We'll see tomorrow. It's going to be borderline."
Today, Jim Benning offers a slightly more sobering diagnosis:
It's already after 1 p.m. in Manhattan. I haven't seen or heard any news bits yet, but the Canucks are scheduled to practice today ahead of Tuesday's date with Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers—where Emerson Etem will have an early opportunity to show his former team why they shouldn't have given up on him.
I'll close today by giving the Canucks props for playing a physical game against one of the NHL's hardest-hitting teams, with particular notice to Matt Bartkowski, Alex Biega, Derek Dorsett and Jared McCann. McCann, in particular, showed that he can handle himself when the going gets rough. He also did a commendable job of picking up slack after Henrik went down, even playing some first-line shifts with Daniel and Jannik Hansen on his way to 16:57 of ice time. McCann couldn't bury the chances he generated in the third period, but he finished the game with four shots on goal and was a pretty decent 7-for-16 in the faceoff circle.
Sunday's win gives the Canucks 48 points in 46 games. Vancouver's still officially on the outside of the playoff bubble—they're tied with San Jose, in third place in the Pacific and also with Nashville, in the second wild-card spot, but have played more games than either of those teams. They're also one point behind Arizona and one ahead of Colorado.
Three relevant games for the scoreboard watchers tonight: the Avalanche visit Winnipeg, Arizona hosts Buffalo and the Sharks put their five-game winning streak on the line as Ottawa comes to the Shark Tank.
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