IWTG: The Canucks power play goes ice cold in Game 4 loss to the Blues

The Vancouver Canucks’ power play was a monster through the first three games against the St. Louis Blues, and it covered over a multitude of sins. 

In order to have a chance to win this series, the Canucks needed two things: Jacob Marsktrom to put up a brick wall in their net and the power play to erupt like Mount Vesuvius, sweeping over the Blues’ penalty killers like a flood of smoke and ash. Early on, it looked like the power play might actually win them the series.

In Game 1, the Canucks had just 22 shots on goal, but scored five goals, fueled by the power play going 3-for-6. In Game 2, they were out-shot 37-to-25, but a 2-for-3 power play and some overtime heroics by Bo Horvat got them the win.

Don’t get me wrong, the Canucks were good in those two games, but if not for the power play going HAM, they don’t take a 2-0 series lead.

Even in Game 3, the power play came through. They got just two opportunities, but cashed in on one, helping take the game to overtime. It’s a good thing, because the Canucks were absolutely crushed at 5-on-5: scoring chances were 49-to-21 for the Blues at 5-on-5 according to Natural Stat Trick.

The Canucks once again needed the power play to come up big in Game 4. The Blues were by far the better team at 5-on-5, swarming the Canucks’ zone and preventing them from breaking the puck out cleanly. 

They got their opportunities. As much as the officiating has been chaotic and incomprehensible all series, the Canucks can’t blame the refs for this one: they had 7 power plays, though a couple were cut short by Canucks penalties.

The Canucks went 0-for-7 on the power play. The Blues went 2-for-5. In a game decided by two goals, the power play was literally the difference.

In the third period, down by two goals, the Canucks drew three power plays. They got just two shots on goal on those three power plays and one came with 20 seconds left in the game when it was too little too late.

It’s not time to sound the alarm, by any means — the power play wasn’t going to roll along at a 50+% clip all series — but it did look disconcertingly static. Through the first three games, the power play was dynamic, opening up passing lanes and shooting lanes with quick, precise puck movement and calculated motion from the team’s skaters. On Monday, there was far too much standing around.

With the series tied 2-2, it now becomes a best-of-3, but the Blues are on a roll and seem to have woken up after weaker efforts in the first two games. The Canucks desperately need the power play to bounce back in the remaining games to even the odds against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

And I desperately need my serotonin levels to bounce back after I watched this game.

• It’s amazing how quickly a series can turn. 24 hours ago, the Canucks were one goal away from taking a 3-0 stranglehold on the series. Instead, the Blues got the overtime game winner and tied up the series a day later 2-2. Before getting too despondent, keep that in mind: the Canucks could swing the momentum back in their direction at a moment’s notice.
   
• The Canucks were honestly solid in the first period, drawing three power plays with strong shifts in the offensive zone. For a moment, it looked like the Blues had tired themselves out on Sunday in Game 3 and the Canucks had found their second wind in the series. Then the second period happened. 
   
• Before that, however, the Blues took the lead on a first period power play. Alex Pietrangelo figured out a solution to the Canucks penalty killers blocking so many shots: he intentionally missed the net. At least, iit looked intentional: his shot banked off the back boards right to Ryan O’Reilly, who corralled it and shot it in one smooth motion before Jacob Markstrom could get back to his post.
   
• The second period started on a good note for the Canucks, as they tied up the game in the opening minute. Brock Boeser put in work on the goal, thrrowing a hit on Carl Gunnarrsson to create a turnover, then pursuing the puck again on the end boards, pressuriing Piietrangelo into giving the puck away to Alex Edler at the point. Edler threw the puck towards the net and J.T. Miller tipped it down, bouncing the puck over Jake Allen’s left pad. Like Nicolas Cage sharing his lottery winnings with a waitress, it was a tip that could have started a wonderful story, but the Blues spoiled the plot.
   
• The Blues took over after that goal, out-shooting the Canucks 17-5 in the second period and scoring twice. The O’Reilly line was particularly overwhelming and it might be because the Canucks got Elias Pettersson away from O’Reilly and the Blues let them. Without being tasked to shut down Pettersson, O’Reilly was free to dominate everyone else. 
   
• O’Reilly himself got the 2-1 goal when Troy Stecher made a bad read, moving to the corner to engage in a 2-on-2 battle alongside Alex Edler, instead of making sure the netfront was covered and allowed the first forward back to join Edler in the corner. O’Reilly got free from the corner and Edler didn’t go with him, leaving the Blues’ most dangerous player in the series wide open for a slick backhand goal. 
   
• Then the Canucks got into penalty trouble. If the Canucks have any complaint about the reffing, it would be about Zack MacEwen’s roughing penalty, where he bumped the goaltender and then got scrummed by three Blues players. If anything, coincidental minors would have made sense. Then Oscar Fantenberg exacerbated the issue with an ugly hit from behind on Rob Thomas, giving the Blues a 5-on-3. Even then, the Blues were lucky to score, as Pietrangelo’s centring pass went in off Edler’s stick.
   
• With the first power play unit unable to convert, this would have been a great time for the second unit to step up and chip in, like they did all season. Unfortunately, the second unit looked comically inept, in particular on one ugly sequence from Jake Virtanen. The second unit gained the zone twice with Virtanen playing a role. On the first, he passed the puck down low to Tanner Pearson, then flat-out abandoned him when Pearson looked to return the puck, with Pearson looking visibly frustrated.

View post on imgur.com

• The power play regrouped and regained the zone, with Virtanen skating it in before dropping the puck to Brandon Sutter. Virtanen took the return feed and then blindly shot it around the boards, clearing it the length of the ice. He couldn’t have done it better if he was killing the penalty himself.

View post on imgur.com

• A lack of contribution from depth players has unfortunately been a theme for the playoffs so far. The top-six, along with Quinn Hughes, have done a lot of heavy lifting for the Canucks, which makes sense. In order to succeed in the playoffs, however, you need to have depth that can step up and deliver when the opposing team stymies your best players, as the Blues did in this game. Just 2 of the Canucks’ 24 goals have come from bottom-six forwards this postseason and both came against the Wild.
   
• There are no easy answers either. Jay Beagle has been dominated all series, to the point that Green gave him just five minutes of 5-on-5 ice time, but he also played over four minutes on the penalty kill. Can they take him out and replace him with Adam Gaudette for an offensive boost? Is Gaudette even ready to play an offensive role against a team like the Blues? Should Jake Virtanen or Zack MacEwen come out? Do the Canucks even have options better than those two waiting in the wings?
   
• The Canucks also don't need to panic, or, in vernacular familiar to long-time readers of PITB, they don't need to flip the pool. The Canucks are still in this series, they still have game-breaking talent that can create magic out of the mundane, and they still have the better goaltender. It's not over yet.