Ever since divisional realignment made the NHL's trio of successful Calfornia franchises Vancouver's problem, the Canucks have been trying to solve San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. They've tried playing smart, playing tough, even playing possum -- nothing has worked.
Until now. Turns out the solution was playing poorly. Do it for long enough, and you won't have to worry about getting up for the California Three -- they'll play down to you. Now that the Canucks are the sort of team that good teams underestimate, the California Three are a snap. If Vancouver wasn't so prone to losing, you could call this a winning strategy. I watched this game.
- Congratulations are in order for the Canucks, who won their third consecutive game with this 3-2 defeat of the Los Angeles Kings. It's baby's first win streak! And it only took 79 games. Better late than never, though, I always say. Frankly, I think the Canucks should order a celebratory banner. It can hang from the bottom of Trevor Linden's retired number 16 like a center fold-out in a magazine.
- Of course, the Canucks can't even streak right. The time for this run was in the fall, before it became clear that the Canucks were the sort of team that needed 80 games to three straight. A team like that could really use some help. Impressive as it is to rattle off three W's against three of hockey's toughest teams, coming now, all it does is decrease the likelihood that the Canucks will draft an impact player, and increase the likelihood they'll draft an Impact player. (After Matthews and the Finns, it's all midfielders.)
- But far be it from me to accuse the Canucks of untimeliness, especially after a game like this. Vancouver was incredibly timely in this contest, scoring huge goals in the final minute of both the first and second periods. Just 13 seconds from the first intermission, Emerson Etem scored a goal that tied the game at one, as Derek Dorsett's one-timer deflected in off his shin. Smart play from Dorsett, employing the shins. It did wonders for Zach Braff.
- The Kings erased that goal midway through the second, but the Canucks had an answer for that one as well. With Vancouver on a five-on-three powerplay, the Sedins connected with Jannik Hansen, who was seeing some rare PP time. Hansen definitely made a case for more, converting a beautiful feed from Henrik Sedin into a goal with a one-time blast so rich it was doxxed in the Panama Papers.
- And then, once again, the Canucks struck inside the final minute. With forty seconds remaining in the second, Jared McCann poked a puck out to the neutral zone, then raced onto it alone. Jonathan Quick tried a pokecheck, but McCann pulled the puck back then put it upstairs, where creepy movie families keep the crazy one.
- The Kings pressed for an equalizer, but Ryan Miller was up to the task, which is a reasonable expectation, considering how much he's paid for the task. Miller stopped 40 of 42 shots in the win, and 20 of those 40 in the third period, when the Kings went turbo and threw everything his way. Miller quietly absorbed everything like your kid on the Internet when you're not around.
- After all the gushing about Nikita Tryamkin, you knew he was due for a stinker, and boy, did he ever have one Monday night. Tryamkin finished a game-worst minus-21 in even-strength shots. I suspect much of this was a speed issue -- Los Angele's forecheck is brutal, and when you're still adjusting to the smaller-ice, it's no surprise that one of the world's best small-ice teams had Tryamkin spending about as much time in his own end as his sigmoid colon.
- Brendan Gaunce had a rough night in the faceoff circle. Real rough. He went 0-for-6. Meanwhile, Bo Horvat was, as usual, the lone Canuck who knew how to do it, winning 13-of-19. It's too late in the season to change much now, but Horvat should see about explaining the process to his teammates: you're supposed to GET the puck.
- Finally, I loved Henrik Sedin's response when asked about what this win streak, against three very good teams, means. "Nothing," he said. "Would have been nice to do it earlier." Yep, back when it would have meant something. But I'd argue that it means a little more than nothing, Henrik. Did you really want Vancouver going a full season without a win streak during your captaincy?
