In some ways, this game could not have gone better for the Canucks. Their prized free agent signing, Loui Eriksson, opened the scoring with his first goal of the season. Ryan Miller didn’t allow a single goal. Sven Baertschi and Bo Horvat were dominant in puck possession. And the Sedins combined with Eriksson for some vintage Wizardous Sedinery.
Except Eriksson’s goal was into his own net. Because of the own goal, Miller was robbed of a shutout. Baertschi and Horvat weren’t playing on the same line, so their outstanding puck possession was squandered. And, while the Sedinery was truly wizardous, the top line was largely ineffective for the rest of the game.
It was a weird and contradictory start to a Canucks season that is almost certain to be full of weird and contradictory emotions. To whit, I saw people legitimately upset that the Canucks won this game—the very first game of the season—because it lowered their draft position. That's silly. I, for one, enjoyed the win when I watched this game.
- Bo Horvat is the Canucks’ leading scorer in 2016. He played on a line with Derek Dorsett and the incorporeal shadow-being that once was Alex Burrows. While the line was legitimately effective as a shutdown line, allowing no shot attempts against while matched against the Flames’ top line, the Canucks are going to be so goal-starved this season that it makes no sense to hamstring one of your top offensive threats.
- Like a too-thick salsa, this game was chippy. The scrum-heavy game must have delighted Jim Benning and the Canucks threw some big hits, starting with Luca Sbisa a minute into the game: he made like a weak-armed mic operator and lowered the boom on Michael Frolik. It’s an early candidate for hit of the year.
- Can we talk about how play-by-play man Dave Randorf pronounces Sbisa? All game he threw in an extra vowel between the “S” and the “B”, saying “Sabisa” every time. It was immensely distracting and ruined any potential for “Luca’s Pizza” jokes. What, are we supposed to joke that Luca owns the island nation of Ibiza now? Don’t be ridiculous.
- Erik Gudbranson had a couple decent highlights in his first (real) game as a Canuck: he got the first good scoring chance of the game off a nice pass from Brendan Gaunce and dove out to stop a Ferland breakaway with a perfect pokecheck. But the lasting image of his first game will unfortunately be him hurtling headlong into the net trying to prevent an own goal.
- As for that own goal, I don’t really blame Eriksson. He was being hounded by four Flames on the delayed penalty and tried to keep the play alive by sliding the puck back to Daniel Sedin. Regrettably, Daniel was heading to the bench on a line change and the puck passed him by, then passed the posts. Smart play by Daniel: he avoided a too many men on the ice call.
- Chris Tanev took just four penalties all last season, so it was shocking to see him take two in one game, even if one was a necessary hook to prevent a Johnny Gaudreau scoring chance. He must really be rattled by the Blue Jays losing the first two games in Cleveland.
- I’m willing to give it more time, but the first unit power play setup bothers me. The Canucks finally have a right-handed shot at the point in Philip Larsen, making it easier to set up one-timers from the right wall. They also have a right-handed shot in the slot in Brandon Sutter. So why in the world would you put the Sedins, who excel at cycling the puck with short passes, on opposite sides of the ice from each other. Just put them both on the right boards, for Pete’s sake! Also, for my sake. It’s stressing me out.
- Sidenote: I have yet to see anything from Sutter that suggests he has something to contribute to the first power play unit. It was absolutely baffling to see him with the Sedins on the 4-on-3 power play in overtime instead of Eriksson, who had 10 power play goals last season, more than any Canuck. Is it because Sutter’s right-handed and Eriksson’s left-handed? Because that’s sinistrist.
- The Sedins may have struggled for most of the game, but they made up for it with one glorious shift, pinning the Flames in their own end for nearly two full minutes. It was a magnificent spectacle, the kind of thing you always wonder if you’ll ever see again, and the Sedins busted it out in the first game of the season, as if to prove that this isn’t a comeback; they’ve been here for years.
- The goal was pure, vintage Wizardous Sedinery, complete with an insane, blind, backhand pass by Henrik through his own legs. And making up for his earlier gaffe was Eriksson with the primary assist, though he got a bit lucky, banking it off a defender’s skate to Daniel for the finish. If it was Henrik, I would have said he banked it off the skate on purpose, but Eriksson lost the benefit of the doubt with his earlier pass to Daniel.
- Ryan Miller had an incredible game, stopping all 25 shots he faced in regulation, then all four Flames’ shootout attempts. His best save came on Johnny Gaudreau in the first period, after which he yelled at Gaudreau, “More like Johnny Badcolumn!” because he’s good at being a goalie, not trashtalking.
- Brandon Sutter won the game with the only goal in the shootout. I thought it was a bold move to go five-hole after both Sven Baertschi and Loui Eriksson were stopped trying the same spot, but to Sutter’s credit, unlike them he came in faster than a tree sloth with dull ice skates, so he gave himself a slightly better chance to score.
