The Canucks got off to a great start in this game, outshooting the Sharks 15-7 in the first period, and even outscoring them 2-0. Sadly, there was more hockey after the first period, and somebody forgot to tell them.
Over the next forty minutes, San Jose chipped away at Vancouver's lead, much like this year's Canucks have chipped away at my ability to feel any emotion whatsoever when they blow a lead. I felt nothing when I watched this game.
- The first goal came from Jake [Nickname Redacted] Virtanen, who dashed down his wing, put a shot on Martin Jones, then collected his own rebound and banked it in on the far side of the goal. It was the best far side moment since Professor Schwartzman became the first human being on earth to hear what barking dogs are actually saying.
- Virtanen was involved in the second Canucks' tally as well, picking up an assist when Sven Baertschi redirected a Dan Hamhuis shot past Jones. It was a great tip from the winger, who caught Jones going the wrong way and managed to guide the puck through the five-hole. Arguably the best wing tip I've seen in a while. But it still needed more broguing, as I am a man of elegant tastes.
- As for Willie's tastes, it's hard to say. All I can tell you is that Virtanen did nothing in the first period, apparently, to move the needle in terms of icetime. He actually played less in the second, en route to skating just 11:17 in a game where the Canucks are supposedly playing their kids more. Emerson Etem, on the other hand, saw 19:24 of icetime, in large part because he skated with the Sedins -- although you wouldn't know it from his stats. Etem had zero shots on goal and just one attempt alongside Daniel and Henrik, who had 6 and 4 attempts, respectively, so it's not like they were never in the offensive zone. Etem was just not on their level. But, in Etem's defence, you don't develop chemistry with the Sedins overnight. They're asleep then.
- Speaking of chemistry, I liked the Baertschi-Granlund-Virtanen line, and others must have as well, because Willie Desjardins was asked about the trio postgame. "Can that line be a 2nd line, can that line be a 3rd line?" Willie asked, rhetorically. Here's hoping. If so, the Canucks can save Horvat for Steven Stamkos. I believe. I belieeeeeeeeeeeve.
- The Sharks began their comeback midway through the second period, when Tomas Hertl deflected a puck out of mid-air, past Ryan Miller. Some people thought it was a high stick, because it was. But the officials disagreed, ruling it a goal on the ice, and a video review found no evidence to overturn the call, due to a longstanding league rule that goals scored after 11pm Eastern don't get reviewed, because who cares. It's just too late at night. Plus it's when all the talk shows start. You'd hate to miss Colbert just because Tomas Hertl might have knocked a puck out of mid-air. Maybe. I mean, sure, the net's four feet high, he's 6'2" and he's wearing skates so he's probably about 6'4" out there, he's standing straight up, and he's holding the stick at chin height at the moment of deflection, but if you choose to ignore all of that because Colbert is zinging the crap outta Donald Trump, it's totally inconclusive.
- For real, though, it was a high stick. Hertl literally knocked Lakitu out of his cloud, rode it to the crease, dropped a handful of spiny eggs, then reached down and deflected the puck, and it counted. Ryan Miller was pretty upset about it after the game. "I just watched the replay, it's 100% a high stick. I'm very disappointed in the call," he said. And then he added: "I don't think I've got a high stick call since I got here." Now, I don't want to read too much into this, but it seems to me Miller is suggesting that calls don't tend to go his way since he became a Canuck, which one could take to mean that two years in Vancouver have convinced Miller the league is out to get the Canucks. God, I love this city.
- I have problems with the third Sharks goal as well. I don't think it was a illegal or anything. I just didn't like watching San Jose score it, since a) it meant the Canucks had blown yet another game they led going into the third, and b) watching Matt Bartkowski try to defend that play was like watching Chris Christie try to feign excitement as he endorses Donald Trump -- truly sad and painful. Bartkowski had one job there: keep the puck out of the middle. He had a chance to staple the hilariously named Joonas Donskoi to the wall and separate him from the puck. Instead, he oozed towards Donskoi, then backed away, giving the Shark the room he needed to feed Patrick Marleau all alone in front. It was jaw-droppingly bad defending, like watching Chris Christie try to explain why he looked so sad during his Trump endorsement the next day.
- I liked Brendan Gaunce's game tonight. Granted, three shots on goal and two hits isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, but when you compare him to Linden Vey, he looked pretty good out there. Why compare Gaunce to Vey, you ask? Simple. So I'll be more excited about Gaunce. Life hack: If you're ever not as excited about something as you'd like to be, compare it to Linden Vey. Also, you can use binder clips for pretty much anything.
- Your icetime leader, with 26:00 even tonight: Ben "Top Floor of the Sutton" Hutton. It's the busiest pro game of Hutton's career to date, and a great sign of both the coach's trust in him and his steady development this season. Think about it: if Hutton is playing 26 minutes a night in his rookie season, imagine how many minutes a night he'll be playing a few years down the road? 60? 70? The sky's the limit.
- Finally, one quick correction: I've just been informed that 60 minutes, not the sky, is the limit in a regulation NHL game. Huh. The more you know.
