We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
Thursday night’s diversion in Chicago was a lot of fun, as the Canucks dominated the Blackhawks like they have all season, cutting short their 7-game losing streak and moving them three points up on the Buffalo Sabres for last place in the NHL. It wasn’t a sign of a corner, page, or leaf turned, however, and the Canucks came crashing down to reality on the second night of back-to-backs.
The Canucks poured everything they had left into the first period against the Blues, then saw their competitive qualities go the way of the dinosaur: on fire and melting into slag.
There’s essentially just one storyline left in this season — will they or won’t they finish in last place? — with just a few minor subplots along the way. Is Nikolay Goldobin an NHL-caliber forward? Will Adam Gaudette play for the Canucks this season? How many more Canucks can get injured? What was the deal with Walt on Lost? Does he actually have psychic powers? Why can he throws knives so well?
Apart from those last three questions, we’ll probably get answers in the coming couple weeks. But to get them, you’ll have to watch the games, much like I watched this game.
- Ashton Sautner got called up from the Utica Comets today on an “emergency recall,” which likely means that Chris Tanev is injured and can’t play. Halfway through the third period, he went down awkwardly in a puck battle with Alexander Steen and appeared to twist his knee. After the game he was spotted with giant ice packs strapped to both of his legs.
- When Tanev fractured his leg against Tampa Bay, a doctor told him he was good to go back into the game. He played nearly ten minutes on a fractured leg. He subsequently missed five weeks recovering from the injury. On Friday night, he evidently was told he was good to go back into the game and played one 40-second shift. Why?
- I can understand Tanev still playing this season. There are all sorts of reasons why a hockey player would not want to sit on the sidelines when he feels healthy enough to play. I cannot comprehend putting Tanev back in for one shift late in a 4-1 game. I don’t really blame the coaching staff — if they see a guy on the bench, they’re going to assume he’s healthy — but I have to question the medical and training staff. Just tell him to take it easy, rest his legs, the game doesn’t matter.
- What are the outcomes for Tanev? He’s either going to get traded in the off-season or return with the Canucks next season. Either way, you want him to be 100% healthy. A healthy Tanev gets you more in a trade and, if you think the team will be better next season, a healthy Tanev is key to the Canucks’ defence not being a disaster. Keep. Him. Healthy.
- Tanev has essentially become Sami Salo, just with a gluten-free muffin of a shot instead of Salo's Lumberjack Slam. In this particular metaphor, their shots are breakfasts.
- Tanev just needs to steer clear of snakes, that's all I'm saying.
- Troy Stecher got burned on the opening goal a minute into the game, as Patrik Berglund skated right past him. Stecher evidently thought Tyler Motte was going to stick with Berglund, but it wouldn’t have made any sense for him to do so. Besides, that would have required Motte to have a discernible impact on the game, which would require a complete reevaluation of Motte on my part and I’m not prepared to do that.
- Stecher was clearly the guiltiest party on the Blues’ first goal, but Michael Del Zotto made me involuntarily shake my head when I watched the replay of the goal. As Berglund takes the pass and roofs the puck on the backhand, Del Zotto turns to look at the play and stands stock still. His man, Alex Pietrangelo, goes to the net, but Del Zotto acts like his controller got disconnected from his XBox. What if there was a rebound? What if the puck hit the post and came back out? Del Zotto needs to listen to more Sia to remind him to move his body.
- Derrick Pouliot was a pleasant surprise early in the season, but the bloom has come off the rose and there's a lot less light hitting the gloom on the grey. His giveaway at the blue line while on the power play was pretty inexcusable, as he tried a cute little saucer pass in a dangerous area instead of a safer play down the boards. He exacerbated the issue by locking in on Kyle Brodziak, who took the puck, and missing Berglund skating in behind, giving him a breakaway for a shorthanded goal.
- If there’s one thing a goaltender should never do, it’s get out of the way of the puck. When literally doing nothing would lead to a save and you allow a goal, you’re essentially no better than a shooter tutor. Perhaps that’s harsh, but it was hard to watch Anders Nilsson lift up his right pad and stick to let Vladimir Tarasenko’s slow-as-molasses backhand to slide through his legs. It might be the slowest shot I have ever seen result in a goal.
- I’m not a huge fan of Sam Gagner as a linemate for the Sedins, but he’s picked up points in back-to-back games with them now, finishing off a slick backdoor pass from Henrik for the Canucks’ lone goal. It was some old-school Sedinery, as Daniel and Henrik went for a quick cycle, then Henrik passed the puck through Colton Parayko’s legs to Gagner. It was a nice reminder that yes, they can still do that. Unlike Harrison, I’m not ready for them to move on.
