One of the key challenges when it comes to using computer-generated imagery (CGI) to model humans is that skin is translucent, meaning you can partially see through it. Instead of being an opaque solid, skin allows light through, which you can see even by holding the tip of your finger over the flashlight on your cellphone.
The way light enters into your skin (or other materials) and then gets absorbed and scattered is called subsurface scattering and it’s very important for CGI artists in movies, TV shows, and video games that attempt to create realistic-looking people.
Without using subsurface scattering on skin, CGI people tend to look like plastic because the light simply reflects off the skin instead of going partially through the skin and partially absorbing and scattering the way it would in real life. It’s one of the big reasons why Gollum fits in relatively seamlessly with the live action characters in Lord of the Rings: his CGI skin seemingly reacts to light the same way that their real skin does.
While skin is semi-transparent, when you wrap that skin around a human body with all of its bones, organs, and muscles, then put hockey pads over top of that skin, then a hockey jersey over those pads, the end result isn’t the least bit transparent. You can’t see through it at all.
And then if you take all that skin and organs and muscles and pads and jersey and you skate directly in front of your goaltender as another collection of skin, organs, muscles, pads, and jersey shoots a puck, it turns out your goaltender can’t see the puck. It’s very inconvenient.
There may have been some concerns about the Vancouver Canucks starting Braden Holtby, who has struggled this season, on Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens, the second half of a back-to-back set against the team just ahead of the Canucks in the standings. Thatcher Demko has certainly been on a roll, with an obscene .950 save percentage in the month of March that ranks first in the NHL, but he also just played on Friday night and had just started four games in seven nights. It made sense to give Holtby the start to keep from burning Demko out.
The Canadiens did it the other way around, starting their backup, Jake Allen, on Friday night and their starter, Carey Price, on Saturday. Maybe it wasn’t the other way around, actually. Allen has outplayed Price this season, with a .920 save percentage to Price’s .903. It showed on Saturday, as Price gave up four goals on just 18 shots.
Holtby also gave up four goals, but did so while facing 40 shots. On all four goals, he had a tough time seeing the puck come off the stick, as he was screened. On two of those goals, he was screened by his own, non-translucent teammates.
“If you’re going to be in front of the goalie, you’ve got to get in front of the shot,” said head coach Travis Green.
Holtby, for his part, took responsibility for even those goals, saying that there were times where he could have adjusted his positioning either to hold the middle of the net and get a better chance of making the save without eyes on the puck or adjusting to keep sight of the puck better. Some of that might come from such a long break between games — he hadn’t played in 18 days — and battling to track the puck through traffic is tough to practice.
“It sounds like an excuse and it isn't, but that obviously is one of the things that is tough to replicate in practice,” said Holtby. “At the same time, I've played a long time, so I should be able to be ready for those, no matter what.”
It wasn’t exactly a goaltending duel for the ages between the two former Vezina winners, but it did make for a wild and woolly viewing experience. Thankfully, I didn’t need to try to look through skin, bones, muscles, organs, pads, and jerseys as I watched this game.
- The Canucks got absolutely dominated in the first period. The Canadiens out-shot the Canucks 10-2 and one of the Canucks “shots” was a dump-in from the neutral zone by Travis Hamonic that happened to be on net. If it wasn’t the worst period offensively for the Canucks all season, it was awfully close.
- Little moments in a hockey game can have big consequences. Five minutes into the game, Zack MacEwen gave the puck away in the defensive zone, leading to a long shift in the defensive zone that ended with Tyler Myers taking an interference penalty. The Canadiens opened the scoring on the subsequent power play.
- The first goal was an uncanny replica of the Canadiens’ second goal on Friday night: Nick Suzuki ripping a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle on the power play and putting it top corner on the short side with Corey Perry parked in front of the net. If it wasn’t for the Canadiens wearing their blue reverse retro jerseys on Saturday I would have accused the NHL of splicing in the footage of Friday’s goal to manipulate the standings.
- Whatever was said in the first intermission must have worked, because the Canucks scored on the first shift of the second period. It was a simple and direct play: Jimmy Vesey forechecked hard and Suzuki lost the puck trying to avoid the hit. J.T. Miller nabbed the loose puck and swung it out front to Jake Virtanen, whose quick shot deflected off Shea Weber’s stick and past Price.
- I’ve railed against hits in the numbers when they’ve been against the Canucks and it’s only fair to do the same when the situation is reversed. This hit by Travis Hamonic on Brendan Gallagher has to be a penalty. It has to. It’s directly in the numbers and sends Gallagher headfirst into the boards. Around the NHL, these types of hits are going uncalled and players are going to get seriously hurt.
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- The Canucks made it 2-1 later in the second period on the power play. Quinn Hughes sent a pass across to the top of the left faceoff circle and Brock Boeser stepped into it like a pair of crocs, blasting the puck like shaving cream previously placed in said crocs, sending it under Price’s glove.
- “It was a hard-fought game. I like that we battled back when we weren't playing well,” said Green, before bluntly saying, “I didn't like the second half of the second period.”
- The Canadiens took over after Boeser gave the Canucks the 2-1 lead and scored two goals before the end of the second. Tatar tied the game 2-2 with a wrist shot right as Tyler Motte skaed his very opaque body right in front of Holtby’s face. Then Joel Edmundson sent a shot from the point that went through Gallagher’s legs as he battled Alex Edler in front to make it 3-2.
- Just like in the second, the Canucks came out firing on all cylinders to open the third, again scoring 22 seconds into the period. Horvat won an offensive zone faceoff, Nils Höglander sent the puck to the point, and Hughes a point shot past the first man for Horvat to tip down past an awkwardly leaping Price.
- “We've talked about it all year,” said Horvat. “Just simplifying our game and getting pucks and bodies towards the net and I know it sounds cliche, but it works.”
- After the goal 22 seconds in, the Canucks scored 33 seconds later to complete the Sedin tribute. It was a superb breakout, with Jordie Benn sending Jayce Hawryluk through the neutral zone with a great pass. Hawryluk gained the zone and stopped up to create some space and found Tyler Motte darting to the middle of the ice. Motte gotte the puck in the slotte and putte a lotte on his shotte to potte it into the nette.
- The Canucks couldn’t hold the lead for long. Off a Montreal faceoff win, Hawryluk was too slow getting out to Gallagher, who went glove side on Holtby past Hawryluk and Edler, who were both in between Holtby’s eyes and the puck. You could see by Hawryluk’s body language that he knew exactly how badly he had screwed up.
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- The Canadiens do their best to take all the fun out of 3-on-3 overtime. They spent the bulk of the five-minute extra frame circling in the neutral zone, looking for the perfect play and immediately giving up if it isn’t available. Is it any wonder they’re one of just four teams this season without a single overtime goal? If there were fans in the building, the Canadiens would have been booed mercilessly.
- With about 30 seconds left there was finally some excitement as Jonathan Drouin went off-script. He gave up looking for the perfect play and created one himself, darting around Miller at the point, then deking past a tired Hughes to force a fantastic glove save by Holtby.
- Brock Boeser responded with a fantastic chance of his own, getting in behind Perry and making a backhand deke that Price turned aside with his right pad. It was a wonderful reminder that 3-on-3 overtime is fun if you don’t choke the life out of it.
- One of the ways to choke the life out of overtime is to leave one of your most dynamic offensive players on the bench: Nils Höglander. Vesey and Motte both got shifts in overtime, but Höglander didn’t.
- “I just haven’t put him out there yet,” said Green about Höglander having yet to play in overtime. “It’s the NHL, there’s a lot of intricacies that go into 3-on-3. Plus we’ve won a couple in overtime that haven’t gotten right through the five minutes.”
- With that, the game went to a shootout. Perry scored on the opening shot, then Boeser replied with a wicked wrist shot that could barely be seen, let alone stopped. From there, Holtby and Price traded saves like a couple of savvy veterans, forcing both teams to their sixth shooters: Tatar beat Holtby with a slick deke and Höglander sent his shot wide.
- It was a wildly successful road trip for the Canucks, taking 7 of 8 points. On the other hand, all four games of the road trip went to overtime, giving their opponents points as well. While it doesn’t matter as much for the games against the Ottawa Senators, the Canadiens are the team the Canucks will have to catch to make the playoffs. Both teams getting three points in these two games when the Canucks have so much ground to make up stings a little.
