Calgary came to Vancouver smarting from a 6-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators and hungry for redemption. Vancouver was reeling from a tighter, 3-2 shootout loss to the same team. So predictably, both teams were on edge and fired up. Like that time the Lays factory exploded, it was a greasy and chippy affair. Frustrations were evident and penalty minutes were handed out like compensation cheques for those impacted by the Lays chip factory explosion.
While the shots on net and penalties taken were roughly even, the Flames bested the Canucks by a significant degree, boosted by an outstanding Calgary defensive core and a rock solid penalty kill. But then Brock Boeser did a thing, which totally redeemed the evening I spent on this. I was very relieved that Brock Boeser did a thing when I watched this game.
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I’m excited to fill in for Daniel on this IWTG. He’s been a workhorse, but he needed to take the evening off to attend a wedding. I hope they play some good tunes at that reception. Little known fact: Daniel Wagner has formidable dance skills. If you’re hoping to win some money off the upcoming inaugural Canucks Blogger Dance-Off, (here’s a preview), Daniel is the one to place your bets on.
It was fun to cover a game again. I particularly enjoyed tweeting hockey stuff with my Twitter account, with which I like to tweet. Sorry, that was the most shameless plug since William H. Macy plugged Shameless. -
The last game at Rogers Arena featured the lowest attendance in ages, with a little over 15,000 choosing to take it in. On Saturday against Calgary, Canucks brass came up with a clever solution to the problem of empty seats. They covered those blatant burgundy buckets with blue and white towels. Unfortunately, many of them stayed on seatbacks all game. I haven’t seen that many towels since I attended a Douglas Adams appreciation rally. (This was intended as a joke but then I Googled it and of course it’s a real thing.)
Back to the empty seats: it was bad. Attendance was the poorest I’ve ever seen it. But let’s be fair, ownership doesn’t have much control. It’s not like they could choose to lower ticket prices in keeping with the on-ice product, or field a younger, riskier lineup. Towels it is.
This “free giveaway” also highlights that a re-upholstering of the West Coast Express-era chairs is probably long overdue. There hasn’t been burgundy in a Canucks Jersey since I was in college (I went to college a long time ago, OK?) - On an early two-on-one with Alexander Burmistrov, Loui Eriksson flew into the net hard, launched into flight by a pitchfork from former Canuck and Scrabble champ, Tanner Glass. (Hey Tanner, how many points would “scumbag” be worth?) Eriksson headed to the dressing room favouring his left leg. He didn’t return and is now being listed as injured. Let the call-up speculation begin. Silver lining: we’ve been waiting for ages for Loui to start filling the net.
- Vancouver’s fourth line had a great opportunity halfway through the first period. Granlund lured a defender behind the net before saucering a pass to Brandon “foundational means bottom line” Sutter. He tried to outwait Mike Smith but Sutter, like a lapsed weightlifter with newfound motivation, was rebuffed.
- A first period two-man advantage was kind of a microcosm of this game. The Canucks were unable to score or even really set up, despite two extra players and acres of ice. Then, somehow, the Flames managed to score on a three-on-one. Dougie Hamilton found Troy Brouwer, who found captain Mark Giordano, who found daylight between Jacob Markstrom’s pads. The goal left me more discouraged than that time the Wizard of Oz took the Lion’s medal away.
- Fans were howling for more ice time for Brock Boeser all game. Despite plenty of chances, he didn’t have tremendous luck from his usual camping spot on the right dot, where he twice bobbled perfect one-timer feeds. Like a good Tinder user, Brock made himself attractive and available. Now he just needs to effectively swipe the puck right.
- Near the end of the first Derek Dorsett finally evened up the score. The tally came right after Sam Bennett blatantly tripped the winger in front of the benches. Dorsett must be watching lots of uplifting teen movies because he took the high road and showed that bully good. He hopped back onto his skates, cruised into the Calgary end, took an Alex Burmistrov pass and scored. The puck pinballed off Mike Smith, off Dougie Hamilton’s face, and into the twine; a set scoring play if I’ve ever seen one.
- Matthew Tkachuk has a major tactical advantage: a punchable face. Tkachuk drew two penalties in quick succession, landing both Erik Gudbranson and Derrick Pouliot in the penalty box. (Side note: PIM is considered an indicator of gritty play, but if you’re trying to understand a player’s pestiness, penalties drawn is a better metric to track. I’m surprised it’s still only found on advanced stat sites.)
- In the second period, Ben Hutton, Markus Granlund and Gudbranson had an excellent opportunity to take the lead. Their tic-tac-toe play was nearly perfect, but Smith said tic-tac-no. Gudbranson just couldn’t sneak it around the goalie’s right pad.
- The fourth line giveth, the fourth line taketh away. Pinned into their own end by the Flames’ top trio, Sutter, Granlund and Dorsett were unable to clear. Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan made like overzealous canvassers and barged right onto Markstrom’s front porch. With everyone distracted, the puck trickled back to a pinching Travis Hamonic, who buried it five-hole.
- Brock Boeser had a brilliant scoring chance on a return rush alongside Sven Baertschi and Bo Horvat. Only an equally brilliant Mike Smith sliding glove save kept Calgary in the lead. He may not have scored, but Boeser shows so much promise every night, especially on this line. Like the Disney prince he closely resembles, you just know there’s a fairytale ending around the corner.
- Late in the second, Sean Monahan won a draw, then coasted back between the hashmarks, perfectly positioning himself to redirect a Dougie Hamilton shot for a 3-1 Calgary lead. Coaches normally loathe when a player coasts, but I imagine Glen Gulutzan will forgive this one.
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Speaking of special teams frustrations, Johnny Gaudreau boosted Calgary’s lead up to 4-1 after a Henrik Sedin penalty. T.J. Brodie gained the line and fed Jaromir Jagr, who then snuck it back to Gaudreau, who banked a shot off Michael Del Zotto’s skate. In addition to this unfortunate bit of luck, Del Zotto led the Canucks in ice time with 24:50, which alarmed me as much as learning that his off-season workout includes parrot-lifting.
- Brock Boeser is like a magic, mythical creature that can be summoned to grant you three wishes. I’m 100% positive there’s no mythical creature like that, so I’ll invent one: Brock Boeser is a Magic Wish Pony™. Right at my most deflated-est, Sven Baertschi threaded the needle to connect with Boeser in full stride. He sped up on Smith and buried the puck like a Magic Wish Pony buries its secret luck acorns. (Bear with me, it’s a mythos in progress.) The goal also awarded Derrick Pouliot his first point as a Canuck in his first game.
- Unfortunately, moments later the Flames made me even more deflated-est-er. Yes, it was so rough that I feel compelled to butcher the English language. Dougie Hamilton reclaimed their three goal lead after the Canucks were unable to clear. Matt Tkachuk passed across the blueline and Hamilton’s wobbly slapshot skipped over Markstrom’s pads for Calgary’s fifth goal. This wasn't a great game for Markstrom, who had been stellar the two previous starts. I suspect fans will see Anders Nilsson get his first game against Ottawa on Tuesday.
- Calgary won the physical battle, out-hitting Vancouver 17-9 and frustrating the Canucks into taking dumb penalties, of which there were a lot. Saturday was a penalty fest, which is among the least popular of fests. Vancouver took nine penalties and had seven power plays, during which they scored -1 goals. Credit to Calgary, their penalty kill was firing on all cylinders, but 0-for-7 is dismal.
- Obvious take of the night: the Sedins frequently looked like the best line, which is heartwarming, but also deeply concerning. This team needs a succession plan. Horvat and Boeser are a good start, but the team will become awfully thin up front when the twins decide to retire.
