With the tragic news that Jannik Hansen was out with a knee injury, Vancouver fans mentally prepared for the torturous prospect of seeing Brandon Sutter teamed with the Sedin twins yet again. But it didn't happen! Great news, but how? Is it possible that sometime between October and now, head coach Willie Desjardins picked up a newspaper, logged on to Twitter, or used his eyeballs to watch hockey events? Desjardins instead tagged Jayson Megna for that role. (The promotion was pure blackmail by Megna: he totally caught Desjardins dumping used motor oil into a storm drain.)
To counter the loss of Hansen, Alex Edler returned to the ice after missing thirteen games. It was the same old Alex: "I don't always shoot the puck, but when I do, I break my stick." His return was most welcome against a big and tough Los Angeles team, though he and the Canucks barely hung on through the last two periods. I saw 36 timely Ryan Miller saves as I watched this game.
- After shaving his mustache and losing his touch, Loui Eriksson’s new scoring button has been found. Just pop him in the nose, and he’ll pop a puck into the net. Jake Muzzin cracked Loui in the face with an errant stick and inadvertently depressed Eriksson’s Score Now button. On the following power play, Loui took a pass from Bo Horvat, made an extra step in front of Peter Budaj, and whipped it home stick side to open the scoring. “That was easy”, said a relieved Eriksson.
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After Jason Megna's bygone backhanded comments towards the Sedins after the Canucks ousted Chicago in 2011, it’s only fair that Henrik did something backhanded in return. Shortly after the first goal, Henrik Sedin held up at the blue line and threw a behind-the back feed to a streaking Megna. He wasn’t able to get a good shot off, but he did draw a penalty for Vancouver.
- It didn’t take long before the shiny new Christmas Troy that Vancouver fans received started to give back. Racing into the offensive zone just 23 seconds into the second period, Troy Stecher picked up a blocked shot and flung a very quick blast on net. A driving and determined Henrik Sedin deflected the bobbling puck past a stunned Peter Budaj. Can't blame the netminder on that one, Stecher really deTroyed his confidence.
- Seconds later, Sven Baertschi appeared to make it 3-0, but the play was ruled offside. Nikita Tryamkin ripped a puck on net, but it had evidently just inched across the far edge of the blue line. My biased eyes saw a good goal, but don’t be too hard on the linesman. Tryamkin casts a larger shadow than the Matterhorn and it's easy to lose the puck in it. Still, the big Russian was perplexed. “In Russia, linesmen too afraid to call offside, because many players are bears.”
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After a hot Vancouver start to the second, the momentum shifted to Los Angeles for the rest of the match. The Canucks were lucky that Ryan Miller was on his game. He made a sharp stop against a patient Trevor Lewis at the side of the net, and moments later he made himself big to body down a laser by Nick Shore.
Near the end of the frame Anze Kopitar received a bank pass from Dustin Brown and fired on a wide open net, but Miller slid across and made an incredible stop. In the dry desert of nearly two periods of sustained LA pressure, Miller was an oasis of hope. Not surprising. After all, he’s their wonderwall.
Miller save pic.twitter.com/ZFMhQbZrlR
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 29, 2016 - The Kings sure started out flat, but they must have watched this episode of Dr. Quantum during intermission, because they quickly gained three dimensional form. It’s almost like they suddenly remembered, “Oh yeah, we’re big, we're fast, and we have a Norris-winning defenceman. Maybe we should dominate the rest of the game?” The second and third period were shooting galleries for Los Angeles. Luckily they were more Stormtrooper than Vasily Zaytsev.
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Tanner “Party Pooper” Pearson likes to break things, which is why he’s not often invited to parties. Most recently, he busted up Ryan Miller’s perfect game by firing a shot that eluded the netminder with just three minutes to play. Miller was not to blame. Instead, blame Devin McDill of Dawson Creek, the Canucks fan who stupidly said the word "shutout" before the game was finished. Frig off, Devin!
- With an empty net, Los Angeles made like a Hudson’s Bay Company fur trader and pelted, but Tru Fakt, Ryan Miller is a firm advocate of PETA, and refused to give in to this deeply unethical team, top hat dandiness be darned.
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It was encouraging to see the team start with jump and energy, and heartening to notch a win against a big, deep and tough team like LA, but Vancouver was one dominant goalie performance removed from catching an L. They registered just 20 shots on net to the Kings' 37. Their Corsi chart was an ugly downward slide. See for yourself.
- Russian sniper warning: It was good to see Nikita Tryamkin continue to fire bullets on net. After his first goal of the season against Calgary came on a colossal slapper, he had multiple blasts against LA as well. He seemingly musters hard shots effortlessly. Makes sense, he's got all the leverage in the world. Tryamkin translates literally as, “man with entire tree for stick.” Earlier this year Tryamkin said he idolizes Zdeno Chara, but hopes to be better than him. Big man, bigger confidence.
- Strong Sedin showing: Both twins were in fine form, driving to the net more often than fans are accustomed to seeing. The top line was probably the best one for Vancouver. Luckily Jayson Megna ensured their cycling game was hindered, lest they look too dominant. It's hard to judge accurately with just one game, but I saw more rough than diamond from this new trio.
- This will be my last IWTG for the next several weeks as I head to the land that wifi forgot. Guest blogger Chris Nash, who wrote the last write-up, will be filling in for me and has some great stuff lined up for you. Be sure to send him an encouraging word or two!
