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 love and to Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to express that love. Sure, Valentine’s Day is a corporate capitalist scam, designed to put pressure on couples to spend money and on singles to find someone on whom to spend money, but it can simply be a nice reminder to say, “I love you,” if you let it.
I’m dropping the gloves with the first period of this game for being way too extra. Six of the game’s seven goals were scored in the first period, with goals scored in such rapid succession that it was nearly overwhelming. The game was on-pace for a 12-6 finish, but thankfully slowed down.
The second and third periods get the gloves dropped for slowing down too much. Is it too much to ask for a little middle ground? Maybe three goals per period, evenly spaced.
Stick-tap to Bo Horvat for a three-point night. He had a smart setup on the opening goal less than a minute in, taking Sven Baertschi’s pass off the boards and feeding Michael Del Zotto for a better shot instead of trying to score on the backhand. Del Zotto’s shot was stopped, but Aaron Ekblad accidentally knocked the rebound out of mid-air into his own net.
Dropping the gloves with the NHL for not giving the goal to Brock Boeser, who touched the puck ever-so-slightly, but enough to change its direction before Ekblad touched it.
Here’s the shot confirms Boeser hit it pic.twitter.com/dQkHVVD851
— Broncooo (@A1SportsJunkie) February 15, 2018
Dropping the gloves with Alex Edler and Erik Gudbranson. After a solid performance in Dallas, the Edler/Gudbranson pairing got worked over by the Panthers’ top line and were on the ice for three goals against. Edler was most at fault on the first Florida goal, getting beat through the neutral zone by Evgenii Dadonov, who fought off his check and beat Jacob Markstrom five-hole.
Sven Baertschi gets a tap of the stick for his two-point night. He forced a turnover from Aleksander Barkov, tipping away his pass, which bounced out front and was chipped in by Horvat, who was relentless on the shift leading up to the goal.
I’m dropping the gloves with the laws of physics, which clearly have it in for the Canucks. The Panthers’ second goal took a series of bizarre bounces. Troy Stecher tried to clear it from the net, but it bounced off Ekblad, up and over Markstrom, and went in off Jamie McGinn’s back.
Gudbranson gets the gloves dropped on the 3-2 goal. He tried to feed Brandon Sutter on the breakout, but his pass was picked off by Jared McCann, who swung it out front for Radim Vrbata. He missed the pass, but Alexander Petrovic gathered it in and ripped it past Markstrom’s blocker.
Henrik Sedin gets the gloves dropped for his struggles in the faceoff circle. He went 4-for-12, worst among Canucks centres, and one of those losses ended up in the back of the Canucks’ net. He lost the faceoff clean to Barkov, and Nick Bjugstad stepped in and fired the puck under Markstrom’s arm.
A tap of the stick to Anders Nilsson, who came in to replace Markstrom to start the second period and stopped all 20 shots he faced. He didn’t see a lot of action in the second period, but made some stunning saves in the third period to give the Canucks a chance.
Stick-tap to Brock Boeser, who left no room for questions with what should have been his second goal of the night. On a 9-second long 5-on-3, Horvat won the faceoff to the side, where Daniel Sedin tipped it back to Boeser. He drew the puck into the middle of the ice and beat James Reimer under the blocker, as Reimer lifted it up, seemingly anticipating a top-shelf finish.
Brock Boeser scores his 27th of the season#Canucks pic.twitter.com/IuXYPqCBrK
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) February 15, 2018
Reid Boucher and Jake Virtanen deserve stick-taps, as they seemed to have a little chemistry together on a line with Nic Dowd. Virtanen was very noticeable buzzing around the offensive zone, while Boucher seemed to always be around the puck when he was on the ice. Boucher had three shots on goal and saw the Canucks out-shoot the Panthers 10-3 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.
Stick-taps for the pairing of Ben Hutton and Derrick Pouliot, who kept the puck moving in the right direction all night. On one rush, Pouliot did get beat by Ekblad, who batted in the rebound with a high stick, but he also drew the penalty leading to the 5-on-3. The Canucks out-shot the Panthers 11-4 with Hutton and Pouliot on the ice at 5-on-5, though they faced softer competition than the other two pairings.
Dropping the gloves with Darren Archibald, who had a tough night after a solid couple of games. Playing on a checking line with Brandon Sutter and Loui Eriksson, Archibald spent most of his ice time trapped in the defensive zone and was unable to have the same physical impact he had in his previous games. The Canucks were out-shot 8-1 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.
