The one-goal losses must be getting frustrating for the Vancouver Canucks. Ignoring empty net goals, just one of the Canucks’ eight losses this season has come by more than one goal.
On Tuesday night, the Canucks played their best game of the season and it was still the same old story: they lost by one goal, bringing them to 2-4-1 on their seven-game homestand.
Still, it wasn’t the worst way to wrap up a stint on home ice. They dominated puck possession, racked up 43 shots on goal, and staged a thrilling third period comeback to force overtime in a game where they seemed doomed to lose in regulation. At the very least, they got a point out of a loss; at most, they gave themselves a shot of confidence as they head out on the road.
Most importantly, Elias Pettersson and his Lotto Line mates Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller got going, coming through with two clutch goals in the third period on a goaltender that seemed impossible to beat.
John Gibson was absurdly good for the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night, making 41 saves. But Gibson has always seemed to have the Canucks’ number: in 13 previous meeting, Gibson had a 10-2-1 record against the Canucks, with three shutouts and a .937 save percentage that was his highest against any team.
Gibson only improved those numbers, bringing him to a .939 save percentage against the Canucks in his career.
“I played with John back in juniors and was really good buddies with him,” said J.T. Miller. “I know his game really well. He’s a big goalie, he’s been very dominant at every level — it’s funny that our two goals tonight were not pretty goals, but we got traffic and I know Petey didn’t get all of his [shot] on his [goal] and those are the ones that seem to find a way to go in.”
Those were the only ways to beat Gibson in this game: completely take away his eyes or make a mistake on your shot so the puck didn’t go where he was expecting it to.
Fortunately, no one took away my eyes or else I could not have watched this game.
- The Canucks were all over the Ducks right from the opening faceoff. There’s an old hockey joke about the Zamboni only needing to clean one end of the ice but it was nearly true in the first period with how much time the Canucks spent in the Ducks’ end of the ice. The only problem was the Canucks took a penalty and their lousy penalty kill struck again.
- That’s a little harsh: the Canucks actually improved their penalty killing percentage by killing 3 of 4 penalties but they still allowed a goal on their first one, so it’s hard to be too positive about it. If you’re a Secret Service agent, you don’t get credit for stopping “most” assassination attempts. Slightly different stakes involved, but you get the idea.
- In an interesting twist, the Canucks put Bo Horvat on the penalty kill almost entirely just to take faceoffs. On the goal, he actually won the faceoff but then Tucker Poolman immediately lost a puck battle, the Ducks stole the puck, and Cam Fowler — the annual winner of the “Most Appropriate Last Name for a Member of the Anaheim Ducks” Award — fired a shot past Jaroslav Halak, who was screened by his own defenceman, Travis Hamonic. Not the most stellar work from the two guys who are supposed to be the team’s steady defensive defencemen.
- Horvat took so many faceoffs in this game, basically because he’s the only guy who can be trusted to consistently win them. He took a whopping 30 of the team’s 46 faceoffs in this game, winning 21 of them. I haven’t seen someone so gung ho about taking faceoffs since Optimus Prime. Wait, that’s “faces off” not “faceoffs.”
- “He was a horse tonight,” said head coach Travis Green of Horvat, who played a team-high 25:24 in ice time. “Bo’s game, probably for the last 5-6 games, he’s really picked it up. I think his line’s probably been our best line.”
- The line of Conor Garland, Jason Dickinson, and Vasily Podkolzin has been pretty good too the last couple of game and was particularly dominant in puck possession, with Podkolzin leading the Canucks with a 76.92% corsi: shot attempts were 20-to-6 for the Canucks when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. This is the type of dominant two-way play that scouts suggested he was capable of in the NHL.
- Podkolzin was superb in transition, confidently deking past forecheckers and gaining the offensive zone with possession and his mid-second period forecheck on Kevin Shattenkirk was remarkable, skating the length of the ice, then neatly lifting Shattenkirk’s stick and knocking the puck free to Dickinson. It’s a great mix of hustle and intelligence — where another player may have just tried to throw a big hit at the end of that long skate, Podkolzin was laser-focused on winning the puck.
- “He's really come a long way,” said Green. “From day one at camp, a young player that was just trying to understand the league, had days where he looked a little out of place, I thought, but has really rapidly put in the work to become a better player. And not necessarily just the work but I think it's just understanding certain areas that he needed to improve in and I give him a lot of credit. When you talk to him, he really takes it to heart what you're trying to teach. I think the quickness in his game has improved immensely from day one and he's become a better hockey player in the last 10 games, for sure.”
- Garland is no slouch when it comes to forechecking either. This little steal in the first period was brilliant, as he held his stick towards the middle of the ice right up until the moment when defenceman Jamie Drysdale committed to passing up the boards. Then he immediately stretched out his stick along the ice and took the puck away. That led to a fantastic scoring chance for Dickinson later in the shift.
- Despite all the strong play from the Canucks, it really seemed like Gibson wasn’t going to be beat. Horvat had the best chance to do it, busting down the right wing on a feed from Garland and completely bamboozled Fowler with a nifty move behind the Ducks’ legs, then patiently out-waited Gibson only for the goaltender to reach back with his stick and get just enough of his blade on the puck to turn the shot aside.
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- The Canucks couldn’t buy a goal, while the Ducks were gifted one. Halak made a fantastic save on Isac Lundestrom when the forward got in behind Miller, who was covering for Poolman on defence. Unfortunately, the rebound then bounced off Miller and into the net, if only just barely. Miller cleared the puck off the line and play continued until the horn sounded to let everyone know that the puck, which had stood on end instead of staying neatly flat on the ice, had gone in.
- Here’s a thing that didn’t end up mattering but really bothered me when I saw it. A bit before the 2-0 goal, Hamonic had the puck in his own end and Miller swooped back for the breakout pass. Under no pressure whatsoever, Hamonic sent that pass — what should be one of the easiest passes to make — directly into Miller’s skates. Miller had to stop moving his feet and kick the puck up to his stick. Is that why Miller iced the puck, because it killed his speed and caused him to lose a step on Ryan Getzlaf in the neutral zone? Maybe. Probably not. It just grinds my gears and makes it easy to see why the Canucks might struggle to break the puck out when there actually is pressure.
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- With 7 minutes to go and down 2-0, the Lotto Line took over. A good pinch by Quinn Hughes kept the puck in the zone, then Miller got the puck at the point with both Pettersson and Boeser screening in front — one for each of Gibson’s eyes. Miller faked a one-timer, stepped to his left to create a shooting lane, and ripped a wrist shot inside the far post.
- “That wasn't a perfect or heavy shot, by any means, but when you get traffic and get guys to the net and outnumber them there, if that doesn't go in and hits him, we know we can have a rebound chance,” said Miller. “We need more of that.”
- The comeback nearly stalled out on a laughable penalty call. With less than three minutes remaining, Getzlaf cut to the net, then cut back towards the corner and fell. The referee called a tripping penalty on Halak, causing Green on the bench to yell, if my lip reading is correct, “He fell on his f***ing own! Wake the f*** up!”
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- Yeah, he fell on his f***ing own. Sure, maybe Halak’s skate ever-so-delicately brushed up against Getzlaf’s skate, but what caused him to trip is that he tried to turn and toe-picked the ice. That’s especially tough because Halak was only stretching out his right pad because he was expecting Getzlaf to shoot on the backhand.
- “I don’t have to say much,” said Green of the call. “He knows he made a mistake there and he came over and talked about it.”
- With Halak pulled to make it 5-on-5, the Lotto Line went to work again. Defenceman Josh Manson broke his stick and centre Derek Grant gave him his, so it became a pseudo-power play. Then Grant made a foolish move: he went over to Pettersson and tried to push him out of the play. It could’ve been interference but Pettersson wasn’t fazed — he just sidestepped Grant, giving himself a clear path to the net. Hughes fed him the puck, and Pettersson fired a shot that slipped off the toe of his stick and went five-hole instead of top corner where Gibson was expecting it.
- Weirdly enough, that’s the first shorthanded goal of the season for the Canucks and the first shorthanded goal of Pettersson’s career. See, I told you Pettersson should be on the penalty kill.
- Overtime was thrilling, with fast-paced, back-and-forth action. The Canucks had two golden opportunities to win the game but they were both breakaways, so no one was screening Gibson, and neither Horvat nor Miller fanned on their shots, so Gibson stopped them both.
- I don’t like make-up calls, but the refs definitely had a chance to make up for the egregious tripping call on Halak when the Ducks had five skaters on the ice. Normally, that’s fine, but in overtime you’re only allowed three.
- Eventually, the back-and-forth action ended on a forth. Miller tried one more drive to the net when both he and Horvat were exhausted. The puck was knocked off his stick and the Ducks had a 3-on-1 for the full length of the ice. Getzlaf fed Troy Terry and the Ducks’ leading scorer made no mistake, just like I didn’t make a mistake when I said a guy named Troy Terry leads the Ducks in scoring. He’s a real person and that’s his real name.
