Heading into Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Kraken, the Vancouver Canucks talked the talk that they still believed they could make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It didn’t matter how far back they were from a playoff spot; they just needed to take it one game at a time and play some desperate hockey.
Then they took the ice and failed to walk the walk, or skate the skate, as might be more appropriate.
Facing a Kraken team that was 13 points behind them in the standings with a below .500 record, the Canucks couldn’t score a single goal. The Canucks didn’t look desperate; they looked depleted.
Maybe that’s the inevitable consequence of playing the equivalent of a dozen Game 7s in a row. The result of all the lost points earlier in the season meant a series of must-win games at the hardest time of the season and the Canucks looked physically and mentally exhausted.
But that’s no excuse. Not according to Canucks captain Quinn Hughes.
“It’s just reality,” said Hughes. “Ask the St. Louis Blues if they’re mentally tired from playing Game 7s every other night trying to win. They’ve won ten in a row, so they’re not using that as an excuse. They’re just playing good hockey.”
The Canucks did not play good hockey Wednesday night. They made mental mistakes, committing turnovers in dangerous areas of the ice. Scoring chances were few and far between, and they often missed the net on the limited chances they did create.
Shot attempts weren’t the problem — they had lots of those, firing 77 shots in the general vicinity of the net. But they missed the net 24 times and had another 29 shots blocked, as they failed to find shooting lanes that didn’t have a Kraken tentacle in them.
At the other end of the ice, Thatcher Demko wasn’t particularly good, giving up four goals on just 18 shots, but Canucks fans can’t blame the goaltender when the team isn’t scoring unless it’s the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
This game was bad. This season was bad. This sport is bad. As I have often said, hockey was a mistake.
Probably as a penance for some awful sin I committed in a previous life, I watched this game.
- The Canucks carried play early and drew two penalties in the first five minutes but they couldn’t find the back of the net, likely because it’s the same colour as the ice. Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?
- The Kraken opened the scoring off an absolutely atrocious giveaway by Jake DeBrusk. He was skating through the neutral zone and he inexplicably turned and handed the puck to Michael Eyssimont. It wasn’t like Eyssimont made a great defensive play to pick off the pass; DeBrusk put it on his tape, letting Eyssimont burst back into the Canucks’ zone for a breakaway and slide a sneaky shot five-hole through Thatcher Demko.
- Seriously, that might be the worst giveaway I have ever seen and I saw three seasons of Lucas Sbisa on the Canucks.
- Thatcher Demko came up with a big save on former Canuck Jared McCann to keep his team only down by one early in the second period. On the penalty kill, Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson were miles apart, leaving ample acreage with an ocean view for McCann to get a breakaway, but Demko listened to the instructions from DJ Casper and slid to the right to stop McCann, then cha cha’d real smooth.
- That’s the only great save Demko could come up with. He got victimized on the 2-0 goal when he went into the post with a reverse-VH against a 3-on-2 rush. That’s a stance intended for when the puck is below the faceoff circle but Chandler Stephenson was at the faceoff dot, so Demko gave up the entire far corner of the net and Stephenson hit the tempting target.
- Demko got beat over the glove again for the 3-0 goal but at least this time he was out at the top of his crease challenging the shot. It looked like Demko was anticipating a drag-and-shoot from Shane Wright, but Wright instead snapped the shot at full extension. With Demko cheating to the short side on the anticipated drag, the far side had just enough space for Wright to pick the corner.
- Dakota Joshua got a penalty for being awesome. When his attempted zone entry got blocked and the puck popped into the air, he caught the puck and bounced it behind his back like he was Russell Westbrook, then drew a tripping penalty as he went after the puck. Only, you’re not allowed to close your hand on the puck, so he got a penalty too.
- Here’s the thing: players catch pucks on the ice all the time without getting a penalty. They get away with it by being boring and just dropping the puck straight in front of them. The only reason Joshua got called is because he did something rad and got noticed, so he literally got a penalty for being too cool.
- All season, it’s seemed like Quinn Hughes simply does not get tired. On Wednesday night, he looked tired. He was getting beat defensively in ways he typically doesn’t and wasn’t able to create chances the way he normally does, even as he had eight shot attempts. It looked like a season of carrying the Canucks on his back had finally gotten to the captain.
- Hughes seemed more than just tired. Midway through the third period, Hughes had a shift where he was dancing around the offensive zone, desperately trying to create something — anything — to spark a comeback, only for his teammates to fail to get open for passes or create any sort of space for him, leading to a turnover. Hughes slammed the bench door then snapped his stick in half. It’s the most frustrated I’ve ever seen him.
- Then the Kraken made it 4-0. On a 3-on-2, Demko bit hard on a fake shot by McCann, leaving the entire net open for Andre Burakovsky. It was McCann’s third assist of the night.
- That’s the only one of the Kraken’s five goals for which Filip Hronek was not on the ice. Like he had eaten Taco Bell for dinner and the Airbnb he had rented only had one-ply toilet paper, it was a rough night for Hronek.
- Tyler Myers didn’t play the final 11:47 of the game. He briefly left down the tunnel but came back to the bench, only to sit there for the rest of the third period. There didn’t appear to be any particular incident that might have caused an injury in his final shift of the game.
- “[Myers] got banged up,” said Tocchet. “He wanted to keep going but we shut him down at that point. He’ll be evaluated.”
- With five minutes left and down by four goals, Rick Tocchet made the bold move of pulling Demko for the extra attacker. Given the Canucks complete inability to generate offence up to that point, it was a startlingly optimistic move.
- “You’re looking for who’s giving up and who’s not,” said Tocchet about going 6-on-5 in that situation. He also suggested it was good practice: “Who knows, we might need it on Saturday, we might go 6-on-5, so why not?”
- “We need the points,” said Marcus Pettersson about Tocchet pulling Demko. “We’re fighting, so it’s not surprising at all. I think it’s a good move.”
- The Canucks couldn’t score at 6-on-5 but the Kraken added an empty net goal from Adam Larsson despite Conor Garland’s best efforts, as the forward took a flying leap trying to block the shot. I commend the commitment, I guess, but it really wasn’t necessary. Garland is like Dr. Delia Surridge in V for Vendetta: as with the rest of the Canucks, he’s already dead; he just doesn’t realize it yet.
