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I Watched This Game: Canucks 5, Blackhawks 4 (OT)

Ok, someone is trolling the universe again. Here was Vancouver’s lineup against Chicago.
Will Graham
I Watched This Game

Ok, someone is trolling the universe again. Here was Vancouver’s lineup against Chicago. It's downright amusing:

Predictable outcome? Never. In the gleaming markets of the jeweled city of Chicago-graba, Vancouver was a crew of street rats. But perhaps somewhere amongst this scrappy group there might be a diamond in the rough. Riff raff? Street rat? I don’t buy that. If only Willie would look closer. Would he see a fourth-liner? No siree! He’d find out there’s so much more to Reid.

Boucher and friends successfully navigated the Cave of Wonders, but watched as the riches of a higher draft position melted into lava. Meh, let it burn I say. It was refreshing to see a super improbable win against Chicago when I watched this game.

  • Along this bumpy path, Reid Boucher has learned some valuable lessons. Earning a regular spot requires finishing your checks, going hard to the net, and making sure most of your teammates are riddled with injury and plague. With Markus Granlund out for the season with wrist surgery, Reid Boucher was finally given a “sizeable” opportunity riding shotgun alongside Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi.

    He made the most of it too, scoring a pretty goal and being rewarded with an incredible 12 minutes of ice time. What does the guy have to do to earn Willie Desjardins’ trust? What exactly is the coach concerned about? Reid, just a thought, maybe stop blasting MxPx’s Responsibility in the locker room.
  • The first period was pretty lopsided. The Canucks played like they’d caught a tiger by the tail; survival was the best outcome. Just breaking out of their zone was a moral victory. I don’t really blame them. What answer could they possibly have against the Blackhawks' juggernaut offense? Chicago is a team full of monstrous Kaiju, and Vancouver’s Jaeger is in the shop. Totally doomed, unless...
  • Deus ex giant robotic machina! In handy SedinBot format! After a Vancouver power play expired, Michael Chaput held the puck in and sent it sailing over to the Sedin twins. After Henrik teed it up for Daniel, the winger fired and Henrik tip-lifted the puck up and over Corey Crawford to give Vancouver an unexpected lead going into the second period.
  • There was an interesting first period interview with former Canuck Brent Sopel, who was recently featured in the Player’s Tribune, opening up about his struggles with both alcohol and dyslexia. You can go to BrentSopel.com to learn more about the guy… apparently he personally answers emails from people struggling with similar stuff. Also I’m glad to see he’s still rocking the greasiest Sopel flow, now with bonus hipster manbun.

    Sopel's Man Bun
  • During the second frame an already odd game degraded into Inception-style weirdness. Despite being hugely outshot, the Canucks managed to outscore their opponent 2-1 during the period.

    To start, Chicago flubbed an opportunity to break out twice. The reason? Jayson "Willie Feels Vindicated" Megna. He went full street rat, picked Nick Schmaltz’s pocket and sent it up to Brandon Sutter. Sutter deked beautifully and slid it past a down-and-out Crawford for the 2-0 lead. At this point Vancouver had a total of four shots on goal. I tried to study the replay, but it was drowned out by the BWAAAAH playing in my head. It’s still going. BWAAAAH!
  • Right after the goal, Bo Horvat took an unfortunate penalty and a dominant Chicago power play went to work. On a tic-tac-toe play, Marian Hossa found Ryan Hartman driving right down the middle. Hartman’s slick backhander put Chicago on the board and cut Vancouver’s lead in half. Snap back to reality...
  • Oh, there goes gravity! Sven Baertschi gained the Chicago zone, fed Chris Tanev, who found Reid Boucher driving to the net. Reid Boucher driving to the net. No typo, just repeating to emphasize he actually does neat stuff like that. Anyway, Boucher tipped the puck over Crawford and the Canucks were up by two again.
  • Early in the third period, Jack Skille sped into Chicago’s end with Brandon Sutter along for the ride. Skille patiently out-waited Brian Campbell and dished the puck over to Sutter for an easy tap in to pad Vancouver’s lead and suck the air out of United Center. It was a thing of beauty, and also the end of Crawford’s night. Ever notice that Skille has weirdly inconsistent moments of pure brilliance like this? He should change his first name to "Occasionally."
  • Joe Cramarossa took an ill-timed holding penalty early in the third. Facing a 4-1 deficit, the Hawks power play squad, like members of the Nervous Unionworkers Support Group, were anxious to strike. Marian Hossa fired a one-timer laser from perhaps 20 feet out that eluded Ryan Miller and shrunk Vancouver’s lead to two.
  • After a TV timeout, Richard Panik walked unimpeded into the middle ice. He found an opening and placed it perfectly past Miller through loads of traffic. The tally left the Blackhawks just one back, and for Vancouver this triggered some serious Panik at the D-zone.
  • Chicago got really into Vancouver’s whole “diamond in the rough” shtick, and did their part to transform that coal by creating intense pressure throughout the latter half of the third. With the Ice Tilter 3000 set to max, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and friends controlled the puck for minutes at a time. So it was no surprise when Panik set up newly-signed college rookie John Hayden for the tying goal. Sigh.

    Or maybe not. Willie Desjardins issued a coach’s challenge, and the ensuing review found Panik entered the zone just offside, lifting the spirits of team blue and crushing the spirits of team tank.
  • But you knew they’d tie it. Like a Facebook feed full of Trump outrage, healing crystal flat lays, and Candy Crush invitations, it was unavoidable. Chicago pulled Scott Darling and ramped up pressure with an extra skater. Kane stripped the puck from Chris Tanev, passed through the crease to Ryan Hartman, and with just a minute on the clock the comeback (and my emotional breakdown) was complete. Off to overtime.
  • Vancouver was totally gonna lose, right? There was no way they could halt Chicago’s comeback, right? I’ve got just one thing to say to all you naysayers: nice mane.

    Neigh-Sayers

    Also, you’re wrong! Jonathan Toews interfered with Miller and took an OT penalty, so Vancouver got a juicy chance for redemption. While four-on-three, Daniel Sedin took his time, aimed and fired home the game winner through a ton of traffic.
  • Let’s review the aftermath. Shots for Chicago: 44. Shots for Vancouver: 15. Yep, that’s five goals on 15 shots for the Canucks. They had a Corsi For of around 31%. For advanced stats junkies, it was a nightmarish hellscape of “It’s A Small World” ride proportions. Yet Vancouver eked out a win, in large part thanks to Ryan Miller. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing them beat up on the Blackhawks, but the only game they should have won tonight was World of Tanks.

    At least they now have 67 points. Deal with it, USA Today.