Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

I Watched This Game: Canucks 3, Bruins 6

Like the Republican Party after the Civil Rights Movement , this game went south in a hurry. It started out so well. Jake Virtanen drew a penalty 34 seconds in with a slick dangle down the left wing and a power move to the net.
I Watched This Game - IWTG Banner

Like the Republican Party after the Civil Rights Movement, this game went south in a hurry.

It started out so well. Jake Virtanen drew a penalty 34 seconds in with a slick dangle down the left wing and a power move to the net. Shortly after the penalty expired, Derek Dorsett opened the scoring. The Bruins tied up the game less than a minute later, but the Canucks were still in good shape.

But then Erik Gudbranson lined up Frank “The Sicilian” Vatrano for a hit and drilled him directly between the numbers into the boards. He got a 5-minute boarding major and a game misconduct. Next thing you know, bada bing bada boom, the game’s over.

The Bruins scored three goals on the five-minute power play, taking a 4-1 lead. The Canucks have yet to score more than three goals in a game. This game ended less than 11 minutes in, and yet, I still watched this game.

  • The sequence leading to the opening goal was one of the best from the Canucks all game. The fourth line, along with Michael Del Zotto and Chris Tanev, were slinging the puck around the offensive zone like a kid with a Diabolo and too much time on his hands. After taking a couple slap shots, Del Zotto drew in a defender and passed instead, setting up Dorsett in the slot. He was a bit slow to get the shot off, allowing David Pastrnak to get his stick on the puck, but it worked out for the best, deflecting the puck and sending it fluttering up over Anton Khudobin’s shoulder like a drunken butterfly.
  • One of my favourite moments of the game: John Shorthouse referring to Markus Granlund and the Sedins as the “Granny and Gramps line.” I have a feeling that one won’t stick, but I love it just the same.
  • The Bruins tied the game on a defensive gaffe by Michael Del Zotto, who completely lost track of his check, Anton Bjork, likely because Bjork was oh so quiet. At first glance, Chris Tanev looks like the one out of position, skating right up to the top of the faceoff circle, but upon review Bjork is clearly Del Zotto’s man and he ends up with plenty of time to finish off his own rebound.
  • There’s no defending Gudbranson’s hit on Vatrano, though some will certainly try or deflect and talk about a different hit entirely. It was in the numbers, he followed through to the point that his skates left the ice, and he sent the smaller Vatrano head first into the boards. It was a bad hit to initiate, as Vatrano had his back to Gudbranson the entire time leading up to the hit, but even once he had committed to the hit, he had time to wrap Vatrano up instead of elevating into the hit. I would not be at all surprised to see Gudbranson get suspended for one or two games.
  • The penalty kill seemed to be doing a good job for the first three minutes of the five-minute major, but then Pastrnak went end-to-end, blew by Markus Granlund in the neutral zone, then made like Willow Rosenberg and turned Del Zotto inside out, before lifting the puck past Anders Nilsson.
  • Burmistrov didn’t look great on the Bruins fourth goal either, getting caught puck-watching instead of picking up David Krejci coming off the bench. Nilsson made a blocker save that sent the rebound right out to Krejci, who stepped into the slot unimpeded and sent the puck, likewise unimpeded, into the net.
  • Anders Nilsson, just a couple nights removed from posting a 32-save shutout in his Canucks debut, got pulled after 11 minutes during which he faced 17 shots. It’s hard to blame Nilsson for the four goals against when the Canucks’ defence had more holes than a brand new pair of jeans these days.
  • Brock Boeser made a clever play late in the first after knocking down a puck in the offensive zone with a high stick. Knowing he couldn’t touch the puck without the play being blown dead, he gave enough space for the Bruins’ defenceman to touch the puck first, but positioned himself so he could quickly steal it back. He did so, leading to a great scoring chance for Sven Baertschi.
  • It was a tough game for Hutton: not only was he on the ice for the three power play goals, but he was the goat on the Bruins’ fifth goal. He hung onto the puck for too long in the defensive zone, allowing Bergeron to sneak up and pick his pocket like a guitarist with bad depth perception. From there, Bjork took the puck and set up Brad Marchand for the goal, because this game really needed another way to make Canucks fans sad.
  • The Canucks almost made a game of it in the second period. The three free agent signings that were supposed to help on the power play bucked the odds and helped on the power play. Del Zotto fed Sam Gagner at the point and his long wristshot was neatly tipped home by Thomas Vanek. He celebrated the goal by making like God and shuffling his feet.
  • Then the kids got in on the attempted comeback: Boeser banked the puck up the boards to Baertschi, who made a nifty pass to Bo Horvat. While Ben Hutton jumped up in the rush and provided a screen, Horvat cut to the middle and sent a low shot glove-side on Khudobin. Horvat, Baertschi, and Boeser also led Canucks forwards in 5-on-5 ice time, with Horvat leading all Canucks forwards in total ice time as well.
  • On the low-end of ice-time: Jake Virtanen. Despite drawing two penalties, creating a couple scoring chances, and being one of just three Canucks to not be on the ice for a goal against, he still played under 10 minutes in this game. I mean, even Nilsson played more than Virtanen, and Nilsson didn’t even have enough ice time to listen to Led Zeppelin’s “In My Time of Dying” in its entirety. Though if he was trying to, that might explain the four goals against. Save the Zeppelin for in the locker room.