The First two periods of the Vancouver Canucks’ game against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night might have been the team’s two worst periods of the season.
The Canucks managed just four shots on goal in the first period, then just two shots on goal in the second. By the second intermission, the Kings had out-shot the Canucks 23-to-6.
Even the third period was lopsided, although the Canucks managed a few more shots. The Canucks still got out-shot 17-to-8 in the third, leading to a final shot tally of 40-to-14 after regulation.
And yet, somehow, the Canucks got the game to overtime and won in the shootout. Rather, let’s be clear, it was all because of Thatcher “Somehow” Demko, who made 38 saves to get the game to overtime and also stopped every shootout attempt he faced.
“Demko was incredible tonight. He kept us in the game the first two periods,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet. “Rope-a-dope and you win the game.”
It was Demko’s highest number of saves of the season, surpassing the 37 saves he made back in November, which also happened to be against the Kings. You can call it a vintage Canucks performance, as they relied on Demko to keep them in the game and got a lucky bounce and a power play goal to lead them to victory.
“They were in our zone a lot. The guys found a way to hang in there. We buckled down defensively, Demko played great,” said Ethan Bear. “We found a way to grease one out.”
Let’s be clear: the Canucks very much did not buckle down defensively. The Canucks buckled less than the passengers in a car in the forties. Also, when one is in California, one typically only "greases one out" after eating at In-N-Out.
Some might suggest the Canucks mostly kept shots to the outside, but that’s just not the case. The heatmap of the two teams’ shots at 5-on-5 from Natural Stat Trick makes it pretty clear: the Kings got to the inside of the Canucks like arthroscopic surgery.
Really, this is the type of game that makes very few Canucks fans happy. For those on Team Tank, who want the Canucks to lose as many games as possible to improve their draft position, any win is frustrating. But even those eager to see the Canucks take steps forward down the stretch have to be dismayed at the team’s structural issues, inability to break out the puck, and struggles to win puck battles.
A win like this doesn’t do much for establishing a culture or reinforcing a good process. All it really establishes is what we already know: Thatcher Demko is capable of stealing a win when he’s on top of his game.
Then again, maybe you’re a fan that just wants to see the Canucks win, no matter how it’s done or what it might mean for the future. In which case, this was a pretty good game, I guess.
The Canucks got a big two points in the standings when I watched this game.
- Ethan Bear returned to the lineup for the first time after taking a puck to the mouth for some serious dental damage. He stepped in for Tyler Myers, who was reportedly feeling under the weather, and wasn’t any worse than anyone else on the ice for the Canucks, to damn him with faint praise.
- “First period was a little slow for me,” said Bear. “Obviously, getting used to the speed again was probably the most challenging part — not so much cardio, just more the thinking part of the game. Once I got that first period under my belt, my game started to come back.”
- The most stunning statistic of the game arguably belongs to Quinn Hughes, who had a couple of big, visible errors on the Kings’ two goals, but somehow managed to be the only Canuck with a positive corsi. Even though he was primarily matched up against the Kings’ top line, when Hughes was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Canucks out-attempted the Kings 24-to-17. In a game where the Kings doubled the Canucks in shot attempts 68-to-34, that’s impressive.
- As you might imagine, the Canucks’ other defence pairings got crushed like post-it notes in a hydraulic press. Guillaume Brisebois took the worst of it: shot attempts were 24-to-4 for the Kings when he was on the ice at 5-on-5 and the Canucks didn’t get a single shot on goal, out-shot 10-to-0 by the Kings.
- “We lost a lot of battles in the corners the first two periods,” said Tocchet. “I think a couple of guys addressed it in the third and a couple of guys led. It kind of turned the tables but still, I’m a little disappointed in our first two periods.”
- It seems ludicrous that the Canucks opened the scoring in this game. It took some dumb luck for a player that hasn’t had a lot of luck this season, Brock Boeser. J.T. Miller took an aggressive breakout pass from Hughes and controlled it brilliantly, relaying the puck to Boeser for the zone entry. His shot from distance deflected off Alex Edler’s blade and knuckled under Joonas Korpisalo’s blocker, off the post, and in. For someone as snakebitten as Boeser, it must have been nice to see the snake bite someone else for a change.
- Edler quickly made up for it. Hughes whiffed on a point shot and the Kings countered, with Edler galloping up to join the rush. Hughes and Noah Juulsen got backed in by the speed of the Kings rush and Jack Studnicka chased a hit on Gabriel Vilardi, leaving Edler with more space than a Belter with an Epstein Drive. The Eagle landed his shot just over Demko’s left pad and off the far post and in to tie the game.
- One remarkable thing about the first period: there were no TV timeouts. The first period flew by with no commercial breaks. TV timeouts take place at the first stoppage of play after six, 10, and 14 minutes have passed in a period, but the only stoppages after six minutes were because of goals and icing calls until Demko froze a puck with 20 seconds left. TV timeouts are not allowed after a goal or icing and they don’t do them with less than 30 seconds remaining in a period, so all the commercials had to wait for the first intermission.
- The second period wasn’t a good one for the Canucks but they nearly escaped without giving up a goal. Demko made a big stop on an Adrian Kempe penalty shot and Hughes came up with a huge block on what looked like a sure goal for Jordan Spence on an open net. The Canucks were bending, but not breaking, like a sponge in a hydraulic press.
- Hughes broke, however, with a few minutes left in the second. It’s not that he lost the puck behind the net — the pass from Kyle Burroughs was bouncing and hard to handle — but that after he lost the puck, he should have come out to cover Carl Grundstrom. Instead, he took too long puck-watching and then came out on the wrong side of the net, leaving Grundstrom all alone to kick the puck into the net.
- Yeah, it was a kick. He kicked the puck. We all saw it. The Canucks saw it too. The intermission panel questioned why the Canucks didn’t challenge the goal, with Kevin Bieksa suggesting their video coach was asleep at the wheel, but kicking the puck into the net isn’t challengable. Coaches can only challenge for offside, goaltender interference, or for a stoppage earlier in the play. So, don’t blame the Canucks for that one.
- Despite the biggest disparity in shots coming in the second period, Demko’s best saves came in the third period, starting with a stellar series of saves in the opening minutes. Demko was denying the Kings like he was Daniel.
- See, Daniel refused to eat King Nebuchadnezzar’s food, then later refused to worship King Darius and was thrown into the lion’s den, so he actually denied two different kings. Right? You get it.
- The Canucks got just one power play in this game — not surprising given how much the Kings were dominating — but it’s all they needed. Just six seconds into the power play, Elias Pettersson unleashed an unholy wristshot past a Boeser screen that went off the inside of the near post. His shot was so unbelievably perfect that it accidentally proved the existence of god.
- Here’s the thing: apart from the goal, Pettersson actually had a very bad night. The Kings hard-matched Pettersson’s line with their own top line and buried him. Shots on goal were 11-to-1 for the Kings when Pettersson was on the ice at 5-on-5 and 7-to-0 when Kopitar was on the ice against Pettersson. But even on a night that was far from his best, Pettersson was a difference-maker for the Canucks.
- Pettersson nearly got the winner in overtime too. He faked a wraparound that had Korpisalo sliding to one side of the net, then cut back to the near post and nearly tucked the puck in, only for it to get knocked off his stick at the last second by a backchecking Viktor Arvidsson. It was the most underwhelming result for something so fancy since I watched a gold bar get crushed in a hydraulic press.
- The Canucks made quick work of the shootout. Demko made two stops, while Andrei Kuzmenko and J.T. Miller made the shootout look easy. You had to feel for Korpisalo, as it was like facing Randy Johnson followed by Jamie Moyer. Kuzmenko came with the fastball, attacking with speed and making a quick move to the forehand. Miller came in slow, looping his way in like a circle change, leaving Korpisalo looking silly as he tried to make a save on a shot that hadn’t even happened yet.
