Prior to the start of the season, I collated the opinions of various hockey pundits and the models of various hockey statisticians to see what they predicted for the Canucks in 2017-18. The general consensus? The Canucks were going to be bad.
For a more specific consensus, I took the average of all their predictions when it came to points, placement in the Pacific division and overall placement in the NHL. The point predictions ranged from 63 to 85.5, but the average came out to 75 points, with a 7th-place finish in the Pacific and 29th-place finish overall.
Some Canucks fans scoffed at these predictions, suggesting the team would be a lot better with the addition of Brock Boeser, the growth of young players like Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen, and Troy Stecher, and the depth added in free agency.
After this loss to the Sharks, the Canucks sit 7th in the Pacific, 28th in the NHL, and are on pace for 71 points. The collective wisdom of the pundits and analysts appears to have been pretty accurate.
Of course, pretty much every single one of them predicted the Las Vegas Golden Knights would finish dead last in the NHL, so they all have to turn in their “hockey expert” badges and guns. They’re not only off the case, they’re off the force! I watched this game.
- Nikolay Goldobin got back in the lineup. He was pretty okay! He made some nice passes, created some scoring chances, and didn’t look out of place away from the puck. I’m not a fan of taking Sven Baertschi out of the lineup to insert Goldobin, but that’s not Goldobin’s fault. He was fine.
- According to Travis Green, Baertschi “looked tired,” which is the same reasoning he gave for scratching Brock Boeser for the first two games of the season. I didn’t buy it then and I don’t buy it now. Baertschi wasn’t too tired to pick up two assists last game by winning puck battles and four points in his last four games, on one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL.
- Green also said that he wanted to put Goldobin in a position to succeed, playing him with skilled players in Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser. I buy that, but why scratch Baertschi? Is it impossible to have two skilled wingers in the lineup at the same time? Is there any reason why Loui Eriksson can’t sit for a game?
- As if he knew fans were talking about him behind his back, Eriksson made like Bonnie Raitt and gave them something to talk about, making a baffling drop pass to no one at his own bench while his linemates were changing. The mental lapse led to a too many men on the ice penalty that gave the Sharks some early momentum.
- Of course, since one of the main arguments for keeping Eriksson in the lineup is that he kills penalties, and too many men is a bench minor that he doesn’t have to serve, maybe he was just angling for more ice time.
- Troy Stecher was certainly on the ice. You couldn’t miss him, though it was mostly for all the wrong reasons. He got caught impersonating a police officer — a flatfoot, if you will — on the first Sharks goal, standing still while Mikkel Boedker stepped around him to get the return pass in front and score. Unfortunately, like when Jillian Bell accidentally killed a stripper, it wasn’t the end of his rough night.
- Early in the second period, Stecher nearly knocked a Shark pass into his own net. He was both fortunate, as the puck hit the post, and quick-witted, as he quickly pulled the puck off the goal line and cleared it away. He wasn’t so lucky later in the frame, when a Brent Burns slap shot deflected off his stick and beat Jacob Markstrom through the wickets to make it 2-0.
- That goal wasn’t Stecher’s fault; it was mostly Jake Virtanen’s. While Nic Dowd lost the faceoff and ended up benched for most of the game, it was Virtanen who missed his assignment, leaving Burns wide open for the one-timer. Virtanen was on his way out to Burns off the faceoff, but diverted his path when Joakim Ryan faked a shot, squaring up for the block. Problem is, Ryan was Reid Boucher’s man, and Boucher had already closed the gap and was in his shooting lane, so when the pass went back to Burns, Virtanen was way out of position.
- On the second night of back-to-backs, complete with a travel day and a late arrival in San Jose, you might expect some tired legs and fatigued minds. But it was the 37-year-old Sedins and the 34-year-old Vanek who looked full of vim and vigour. They poured it on in the second and third periods, pushing relentlessly for a goal, but were stymied at every turn by Martin Jones, who made 43 saves.
- Daniel Sedin played this game like he wants to be the power forward the Canucks have been craving for years. He was throwing glass-rattling hits on the forecheck and making power moves to the net like a smaller Swedish Todd Bertuzzi. I’m not sure what got into him, which is why I’ve called in John Constantine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEa508Xmmio to perform an exorcism.
- The Sedins still have a few tricks up their combined sleeves, pulling one out to break the shutout. Every pass was pinpoint precise as they moved from zone entry to wide open net with practiced ease. There was no hesitation at any point, with every pass flowing into the next one — Henrik to Daniel to Henrik to Vanek to Daniel to net — dissecting the Sharks like a marine biologist performing an autopsy. Cause of death: Wizardous Sedinery.
