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Stick-taps and Glove-drops: Canucks vs Golden Knights, April 3, 2018

Kudos and critiques from the Sedins' penultimate home game.
Daniel Wagner
Stick-taps and Glove-drops

Stick-taps and glove-drops is a recurring feature after every Canucks game giving some quick kudos and criticism before the longer I Watched This Game feature. Feel free to leave your own stick-taps and glove-drops in the comments.

A tap of the stick to the Sedins, who must have seen the rising ticket prices and made sure to give the fans in attendance their money’s worth. They were superb in this game, digging out a fine selection of their greatest hits, including a shift in the first period that would make a worthy addition to some of their greatest shifts of all time.

Stick-tap to the Canucks in-arena presentation crew, who went old-school and busted out “Where the Streets Have No Name” for the Canucks’ intro music. It was a great touch for a night that honoured the Sedins. Now, just bring it back permanently.

The Canucks as a whole deserve a stick-tap for recognizing World Autism Awareness Day and making Rogers Arena an “Autism Aware” facility. Dylan Okinaw, a 13-year-old from Kelowna who is part of the Canucks Autism Network, sang the anthems, Jacob Markstrom wore a custom autism awareness mask, and the arena itself has been outfitted with resources to make the typically over-stimulating environment of a hockey arena more comfortable for those on the spectrum.

 

 

Let’s drop the gloves with Sportsnet for deciding to show the end of a 14-5 thumping by the Toronto Blue Jays over the Chicago White Sox instead of cutting to the beginning of the Canucks game. There are probably all sorts of contractual obligations at play that say when they can and can’t cut away from a game, but it’s just not right that many Canucks fans missed not only the intro and anthems, but a chunk of the penultimate home game for the Sedins.

I’ll drop the gloves with Alex Edler on the opening goal. When the puck came to Brandon Pirri in the slot, Edler needed to close the gap aggressively, but hesitated, then dropped back to the front of the net. Given that kind of space, Pirri had no choice but to roof the puck past Markstrom.

A tap of the stick to Nikolay Goldobin, who kept turning the corner like a Nascar driver in this game. He scored a pair of goals and his first was a pretty one. When Brandon Sutter dropped the puck to him, Goldobin neatly chipped the puck around Cody Eakin, then ripped the puck just inside the post past Malcolm Subban.

Dropping the gloves with Ashton Sautner and Alex Biega. The pair had a rough game overall, getting badly out-shot when they were on the ice, but their toughest moment came after the Knights went ahead 2-1. They ended up stuck on the ice for nearly three minutes, as the Knights put on relentless pressure, resulting in a long shot from the point deflecting in off Tomas Tatar’s skate to make it 3-1.

I’ll drop the gloves with Gerard Gallant, the Vegas head coach, for challenging what looked like Ashton Sautner’s first career NHL goal. To top it off, it looked like it might have been assisted by both Sedins, which would have been just perfect given the spirit of the evening. But Gallant had to be a spoilsport and the NHL’s situation room determined that Derrick Pouliot was offside over 30 seconds earlier in the play. Ugh.

Troy Stecher gets the gloves dropped for shooting the puck over the glass on a penalty kill early in the third period, giving the Golden Knights a long 5-on-3. With Edler already in the box, that left the penalty kill to Alex Biega and Michael Del Zotto on defence, which is a pretty significant step down from Edler and Stecher. To no one’s surprise, the Knights’ capitalized, with the prolific William Karlsson converting a pass from below the goal line.

A tap of the stick to Bo Horvat for his quick hands in front of the net. When Subban couldn’t control the rebound on an Edler point shot, Horvat got the puck to his forehand and tucked it in, giving Daniel Sedin a secondary assist in the process.

Brendan Gaunce gets a tap of the stick for his Sedinesque pass to set up Brandon Sutter’s goal. Seriously, Gaunce made a fantastic play, accelerating down the right wing, then suddenly cutting back just as it seemed he might lower his shoulder and drive to the net. He spun around and found Sutter between two defenders. Sutter finished on the backhand, then immediately pointed at Gaunce, appreciating just how good that pass was.

A tap of the stick to Jake Virtanen, who was electric in this game even if he somehow didn’t get on the scoresheet. He had a strong shift leading up to Goldobin’s second goal, a deflection that had no business getting past Subban. Virtanen is the one who stole the puck down low and fed it to the point, but a D-to-D pass, a shot, and a tip erased his potential assist.

A tap of the stick to Alex Edler, who basically never left the ice in overtime. He played 4:05 of the five-minute extra frame, including all two minutes on the penalty kill after Jake Virtanen took a penalty on the opening shift. In total, Edler played a game-high 28:22.

Stick-tap to Jacob Markstrom for his enormous glove save on Colin Miller in overtime. Michael Del Zotto gave Miller far too much room to load up his shot, but Markstrom was equal to the task, ensuring that the game got to the shootout.

A tap of the stick to Travis Green for getting both Sedins out there for the shootout, giving them the chance to win the game in front of a hyped-up crowd, even though they are probably the worst superstar forwards in the shootout of all time. They failed, but it was an endearing kind of failure, the kind that made Canucks fans say, “Ah yes, those are our Sedin twins.”

Stick-tap to the Vegas Golden Knights for sticking around on the ice after the game was over to shake hands with the Sedins. It was a classy gesture and hopefully one that is repeated by Arizona Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and Saturday.