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Vancouver Canucks meet a hot Jets goalie while Tyler Madden makes Team USA |
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Saturday December 22 - Winnipeg Jets 1 - Vancouver Canucks 0
The Vancouver Canucks played the top team in the Western Conference even for 58 minutes but were undone by a lightning-hot goaltender and a single breakdown. They head into the Christmas break on a losing note after a shutout defeat at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.
Here are your highlights:
The biggest story in the game turned out to be Jets backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit, who stopped 40 shots for his first career shutout. It's rare to see players from opposing teams acknowledge the crowd when they're named one of the game's three stars, but the 25-year-old Port Alberni native was so pumped to have been named the game's first star that he came out to take a twirl even though he was a little late, after his name was announced.
Now with 38 games of NHL experience under his belt, Saturday's start was the first of Brossoit's career at Rogers Arena. After spending the last few seasons bouncing back and forth between the Edmonton Oilers and their AHL affiliate, Brossoit is proving to be one of the best values in the NHL after signing a one-year deal for the league minimum $650,000 with the Jets during the offseason. After Saturday's win, his record is now up to 8-1-1 this season, with a .939 save percentage and 2.11 goals-against average.
Sure, he's playing behind a better defense this year in Winnipeg. But his numbers compare extremely favourably to his partner. After finishing the 2017-18 season as the runner up for the Vezina Trophy, this season Connor Hellebuyck is 16-9-1, hanging right around the league average with a .909 save percentage and a 2.90 goals-against average.
Despite the lack of scoring, Saturday's game was tense and pretty exciting. Jets captain Blake Wheeler missed about seven minutes in the first period when he was forced to crawl to the bench after taking a friendly-fire shot from his teammate Dustin Byfuglien to his midsection while he was set up in front of the Canucks net during his first shift of the game. I've seen games in the past where Byfuglien looked disinterested, but he was at his beastly best on Saturday. He blocked shots, bounced Canucks players off his body, got into a skirmish at the end of the second period with a brave Antoine Roussel — and ultimately picked up the primary assist on Winnipeg's only goal by Mark Scheifele.
Though the Jets looked like they wanted to settle the result early with their intimidating physical game, the Canucks hung tough. Vancouver outshot Winnipeg in every period for a final total of 40-24, including 17-7 in the middle frame. Bo Horvat and Josh Leivo led the way with six shots each, and Loui Eriksson was the only Canucks skater not to record a shot on goal. For the ninth straight game, Vancouver's penalty kill was perfect, going 2-for-2 with calm efficiency and allowing just two shots against the NHL's best power play. Jay Beagle is definitely growing on me!
Though Jacob Markstrom's personal six-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday, he was good again—named third star for his 23-save performance. His personal numbers took a beating when he was forced to hold the fort during that month while Anders Nilsson was injured but since Nilsson returned to action on November 23, Markstrom has gone 7-2-1 in his 10 starts while his save percentage for the year has improved from .897 to .908 and his goals-against has dropped from 3.42 to 2.87. Markstrom has given the Canucks a chance to win nearly every night since Nilsson returned. He has given up more than three goals just twice in the last 10 games—four in the loss to Vegas on November 29 and three in the home win over Nashville on December 6, with two of those goals coming late, when the Canucks had already built a big lead.
Though there's one more day of action around the NHL on Sunday, the Canucks have already headed out for a slightly extended four-day Christmas break. They return to action in Edmonton on December 27 to kick off a six-game road trip for the two-week stretch where their home rink is taken over by the 2019 World Junior Championship.
The transformation begins on Sunday, when Team Canada plays its final pre-tournament game against Finland at Rogers Arena. There's no shortage of Canucks content in that game, either. Michael DiPietro will get the start but is expected to split duties in Canada's net with Ian Scott, looking for a steadier performance than he delivered against Switzerland earlier this week in Victoria. And while the Finns didn't end up getting some big names like Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Kristian Vesalainen for their roster in this tournament, they do have gamebreaker Eeli Tolvanen up front and a strong defense group that includes Canucks prospect Toni Utunen, rookie workhorse Henri Jokiharju of the Chicago Blackhawks and Urho Vaakanainen of the Boston Bruins, who has just been activated after having suffered a concussion in his second career NHL game back in October.
Canada/Finland will be on TSN2 on Sunday night at 7 p.m. PT.
Meanwhile, out in Langley on Saturday night, Quinn Hughes drew plenty of plaudits with a two-assist performance in Team USA's 6-2 win over the Czech Republic, which also saw him earn 14 minutes in penalties for this scrap in the third period.
Despite his size, Hughes definitely has a fiery side to his game and doesn't back down. I also saw him get into it physically during the Summer Showcase in Kamloops.
The U.S. team released its final roster on Sunday morning—and Canucks' third-round draft pick Tyler Madden made the cut as well as Hughes!
This list is alphabetical:
I am credentialed for the tournament and will be doing my best to keep an eye on both brackets—while also providing your usual Canucks updates. At this point, my plan is to get over to Victoria for a couple of days during the preliminary round to get a first-hand look at Madden and Quinn...and his brother Jack, of course.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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