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. That’s right: two post-game articles for the price of one! That price is still zero dollars.
The entire team needs someone to drop the gloves with them after an uninspired effort in front of the home crowd.
Have to drop the gloves with Daniel Sedin for his weak fly-by defence on David Perron, who dragged the puck around him and sniped past Jacob Markstrom for the opening goal. There’s no excuse for letting Perron waltz to the slot like that.
Alex Edler and Derrick Pouliot have been excellent the last couple games, but everything went wrong for them in this one. On the Knights’ second goal, both Edler and Pouliot deserve dropped gloves: Pouliot for his soft play on Alex Tuch behind the net and Edler for puck-watching and failing to pick up WIlliam Karlsson in front of the net.
William Karlsson scores to put @GoldenKnights up 2-0#Canucks pic.twitter.com/wh19ZjmFxN
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) November 17, 2017
Tap of the stick to Travis Green for changing up the lines after a shaky start by the Canucks, looking for some sort of spark. The only line that remained intact in the second period was the Sedin line with Loui Eriksson. The blenderized lines came up with two goals to tie the game heading into the third.
Stick-tap to Brock Boeser for continuing his point-per-game pace with his sixth goal of the season, picking up a turnover in the offensive zone and ripping the puck past Maxime Lagace.
Boeser gets the present and snaps it past Lagace to cut the lead to 2-1#Canucks pic.twitter.com/oosYlF4EDw
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) November 17, 2017
A tap of the stick to Bo Horvat for scoring in back-to-back games from where it seems he belongs: right in front of the net. He took Thomas Vanek’s tipped shot and shoveled it in to make it 2-2. The Canucks’ two leading scorers did their part.
Stick-tap for the referees who called the end of the second period with a minute left after a fan was hit by a puck. It was the right move to send the teams to the locker rooms and play the final minute of the period after the intermission. Our thoughts are with the fan who got hit with the puck, who left the game on a stretcher.
Gotta drop the gloves with Erik Gudbranson on the Knights’ third goal. He tried to pick the puck up off the boards, but put it into his own skates, then fell to the ice when James Neal picked his pocket. That gave Neal plenty of time to pass out front to Perron, who found Erik Haula at the back door with the open net.
Guddy falls/stick hits his legs and slides away into eternal sorrow pic.twitter.com/41xV05Mu0v
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) November 17, 2017
Derrick Pouliot gets the gloves dropped for the fourth Knights goal. With the Canucks only down by one, they still had a chance to get back into the game, but he mishandled the puck in his own zone, giving it up to Jonathan Marchessault for an impromptu breakaway. His quick backhand fooled Jacob Markstrom and slid 5-hole.
I’m dropping the gloves with the Canucks’ power play. Though it only had two opportunities to work with, they only got one shot on goal with the man advantage and rarely even got over the blue line and set up in the offensive zone. It was a disappointment after a promising performance in Los Angeles.
Dropping extra gloves with the Canucks as a whole for their dreadful third period. They only had five shots on goal in the final frame and seemed unable to put any consistent pressure on the Knights. They made things far too easy for Maxime Lagace, who picked up just the third win of his career.
