The Vancouver Canucks have developed quite a name for themselves. Fans of rival teams are very likely circling games against the Canucks in their calendars, and tickets are undoubtedly hard to come by. Of course, that’s not a result of the gravitic personality of the superstar Sedin twins, nor is it even the raw magnetism of Loui Eriksson’s increasingly robust lip toupee. Fans swarm to Canucks games like hypochondriacs to a hand sanitizer station because the Canucks have gained a reliable reputation for making the other team look really good.
The New York Islanders have had a miserable season so far. The offseason losses of Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen (and their 42 combined goals) seem to have damaged the team more than anticipated, and going into tonight’s matchup key summer acquisition Andrew Ladd had yet to score (sound familiar?) Well, trust it to the Canucks to clear up those grey skies! Despite a good start and an early lead, Vancouver tied its low point from last season by falling short for the ninth straight game. I watched as a deep, abiding sadness beset Loui Eriksson while I watched this game.
- Daniel Sedin started off the game with a bang in spite of the fact that his face received an unwelcome introduction to Nazem Kadri’s shoulder on Saturday night against Toronto. He showed that he is a true Swedish meatball: both tough and saucy. After stealing the puck from last man back, Shane Prince, Daniel wristed the puck under Jaroslav Halak’s glove.
- The Canucks experienced an immediate cloud of disorientation as they were overwhelmed by an unfamiliar sensation. You know that odd feeling where the amount of goals you’ve scored exceeds the number that your opponent has scored? Yeah, Vancouver isn't used to it, it feels way too weird. So five minutes after Daniel’s tally they returned to form by blowing their short-lived lead and allowing the Isles to tie things up. Jason Chimera batted a flying rebound out of mid air and into the back of the net.
- In the second period, Nikolay Kulemin stood at the side of the net, patient and unscathed, and tapped a loose puck behind Ryan Miller with nary an orca sweater in sight. There are no logical reasons for Vancouver’s complete lack of net-front presence on this goal, so I came up with a few of my own. 1) Erik Gudbranson was distracted dreaming up a clever chirp that rhymes “Hickey” with “Dickey.” 2) The Canucks were unable to multitask because they were gearing up for a flying V. More on that in a bit. 3) When Willie Desjardins yelled, "Go clear the net for Miller!" Nikita Tryamkin thought he heard, "Chicken McNuggets are largely filler!" Which is true, but always upsetting to be reminded of.
- Late in the second period, Vancouver was able to rally back and knot the score before going into the second intermission. Bo Horvat made a beautiful centring pass from behind the net and fed Markus Granlund at front door with a wide open net. Bo deserves kudos for driving the play and notching his first assist of the season, but I have to say that Markus Granlund had fantastic Finnish. He’s sauna good line and when he received that pass the first thought that went through my mind was, “Helsinki that puck.”
- Michael Chaput made his Canucks debut and didn’t look out of place on the fourth line with Brendan Gaunce and Jack Skille. He even had a nifty little partial breakaway in the dying moments of the second period. Now, I’m a professional, I take this hockey journalism stuff seriously and I try my absolute darndest not to giggle like a schoolgirl over bathroom humour, but when John Shorthouse excitedly yells out that “Sha-poo flies into the net!” well, I’m not made of stone.
- Loui Eriksson had a brilliant opportunity to break his scoreless streak on a breakaway late in the second, but he lacked the afterburners to get away from Nick Leddy, who poked the puck away before he could get a real shot off. Poor Loui. He’s doing absolutely everything right. He’s been a presence in front of the net, takes every chance he gets, and has recently made the commendable choice to adopt Tom Selleck as his spirit animal and sprout a distinctive and luxurious mouth brow.
-
Here’s a clip of one of Loui’s scoring opportunities against the Islanders. Keep your chin up man, that was close!
- Any vague optimism that the Canucks might rally and notch their first win in weeks was dashed when Cal Clutterbuck ducked behind the defence to knock in a big, fat Alan Quine rebound. At this point I hopped on my smartphone and shifted all my investments into Vancouver area distilleries and breweries. I’ve got a hunch this is gonna be a big year for booze.
- Andrew Ladd scored his first goal of the season on an improbable snap shot from near the blue line to give the Islanders a 4-2 lead over the Canucks. A major free agent acquisition by the Islanders, he was facing increasing pressure from fans to score and the relief on his face was palpable when he tallied his first goal as an Islander. Meanwhile on the Canucks bench, the darkness took Loui Eriksson and he just stared. Oh, how he stared.
- Vancouver’s inability to put together a complete effort is more troubling than this adult's life circumstances. This time the issue was defence. Not dissimilar to Saturday’s tilt with Toronto, the Canucks allowed the Isles' offensive players far too easy access to scoring areas. In order to limit scoring opportunities they really need to focus on keeping shots to the outside. And for crying out sakes, clear the front of the net!
- I know this is an uncomfortable subject for everyone, but it’s on everyone’s mind: I think it’s time we talked about Vancouver’s PP. It is clearly underperforming and, dare I say it, flaccid. Against the Islanders, Vancouver had four opportunities to use their PP and each effort was limp and embarrassing. It’s not their fault, a lot of teams deal with this kind of dysfunction, but we can’t laugh it off and pretend like it’s not a problem, especially with such stiff competition.
- With this loss, Vancouver tied last season’s lengthy 9-game losing streak, and tomorrow they head into a clash with the top-scoring New York Rangers, who sit atop the Metropolitan division with 20 points and come into this game riding a five-game win streak. They have scored at well over double the pace of the Canucks this year. Pray for Mojo.
-
It was great to see Willie Desjardins bust out an old-school move from the playbook, unleashing the always effective Flying V. Awesome, yes. Miller's into it, yes. Directionally challenged, yes.
This amuses me pic.twitter.com/TOx9cSHhe4
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) November 8, 2016 -
After such an extended Canucks losing streak, lots of folks around the Twittersphere are saying Willie Desjardins is toast. I have to agree, the Islanders really grilled them tonight. They got scorched by a hot offence, and what’s worse, after allowing a two-goal lead, they crumb-led. They had no jam, and the Isles cut through their defence like a hot knife through butter. (If you’re eating breakfast while reading these puns, you are legally obligated to slap your thigh and yell out, “Sir you’ve done it again!”)
