Look on the bright side, everybody. Sure, the Canucks lost 5-2 for the second game in a row. But as 5-2 losses go, I think the last one was worse. And in fact, this wasn't even the worst loss to the Wild this season. The Canucks dropped a 6-2 decision in Minnesota back in December. They've lost way harder than this.
Heck, I'd call this a refreshingly benign loss. A forgettable loss. When we look back at all the losses this season, why, we probably won't even remember this one. I took some solace in that when I watched this game.
- Of course, the problem with these forgettable losses is that I still have to write about them. What do you even say about the Canucks at this point? They're bad. This game was arguably more winnable than the visit from the Leafs on Saturday. The Wild came into Vancouver having dropped eight consecutive games. They can't buy two points lately. Fortunately, the Canucks are giving them away for free.
- Speaking of giveaways, the Wild's first goal was the result of a truly terrible one from Matt Bartkowski. As the Canuck defender tried to skate the puck out of his own end, Parise managed to knock him off stride, then collected the puck and put it past Jacob Markstrom. It was the kind of mistake Vancouver defencemen not acquired by Jim Benning simply cannot make.
- The Canucks got that one back on the powerplay, courtesy the greasy-haired Chris Tanev. Although Tanev didn't do much beyond keep his stick on the ice. Most of the credit here should go to Henrik Sedin, who practically banked the puck in off Tanev's stick. Unfortunately, Henrik didn't call bank, and as the NHL plays by street rules, the goal didn't count.
- Honestly, the Canucks were lucky to get out of the first period down by just one goal. They were outshot 17-4 in the opening frame, thanks to problems getting out of their own zone, as well as problems with all the other aspects of the sport. You could argue they weren't ready to play. I don't think the problem was readiness, personally. You can be as ready as you wanna be -- helps if you're good at the game.
- Henrik upped the difficulty for his next bank goal, cutting out the middleman for a mid-second period tally that briefly pared the Wild's lead to one. Rather than feed Tanev, or anybody, Henrik managed to bank the puck in directly off Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who put his stick on the ice in an attempt to stop a backdoor pass to Sven Baertschi. Silly Dubnyk. You can't stop a Henrik Sedin backdoor pass. It's why they call him Backdoor Santa. Or at least why they should.
- Back to Bartkowski, who finished this game a minus-4 (as did his partner, Alex Biega, but I'm not complaining about him right now). While plus/minus remains something of a junk stat, it's occasionally quite telling, and I'd say it is in this instance. Bartkowski was an adventure, and not the good kind, like the first Indiana Jones movie -- the bad kind, like the fourth Indiana Jones movie. His worst play, to my mind, came not on the Parise giveaway but on the Wild's final goal, scored by Nino Niederreiter. Bartkowski had a chance to hold the puck in the offensive zone. He hesitated, then jumped up too late, and by the time he realized he was advancing when he should be retreating, the play was behind him. By the time he caught up, it was behind Jacob Markstrom. Frustrating. Frankly, after the Moms trip, I think the Canucks sent the wrong Bartkowski home.
- On the flipside, the pair of Chris Tanev and Ben Hutton were excellent. The two finished plus-9 and plus-8 in even-strength corsi playing some big minutes. Hutton played a team-high 23:16 in Alex Edler's stead and didn't look out of place or overextended at all. I know there's been a lot to complain about this season, but the emergence of Hutton as a bona fide top four strikes me as a big win for the Canucks. I personally they should change their slogan from Change is Coming to At Least We Have Hutton.
- In an alternate universe, Linden Vey's return to the Canucks' lineup following his early-season demotion is a success story: the forward was busted down to the minors, he waited for a shot at redemption, and then he marched back to Vancouver and took his job back. But that's not really the way it's coming across. Rather, Vey's icetime of late has seemed curiously high and unearned. But it's important to remember that Vey is healthy. Brandon Sutter sure isn't, and while Henrik Sedin and Bo Horvat are in the lineup, they aren't either. Jared McCann, meanwhile, remains a work in progress, and Adam Cracknell is, well, Adam Cracknell. That leaves Vey as Willie Desjardins' go-to centre. I know you want to rip the coach right now for an overreliance on Vey, but honestly, I'm not sure he has many other options these days.
