The Canucks might actually do it. They might actually finish below the Arizona Coyotes in the standings.
A month ago, that idea would have been considered crazy. The Coyotes were firmly in last place in the NHL with a 13-32-10 record, giving them just 36 points in 55 games. The closest team to them was the Buffalo Sabres, with 42 points. The Canucks were 14 points clear of the Coyotes: bad, but not worst-team-in-the-NHL bad.
Then, like Biggie Smalls said, things done changed (NSFW).
The Coyotes are 9-3-1 in the last month. The Canucks are 3-7-3 in the same span. Suddenly the Canucks are just four points ahead of the Coyotes and, with 13 games left, could still fall to last place in the NHL. They could be the first team in NHL history to finish in 31st place.
That would guarantee the Canucks a top-four draft pick and give them the best possible odds of picking first overall. There are still some hurdles for the Canucks to, well, hurdle, namely the Senators, Sabres, and Coyotes, but last place is within their reach. These two losses to the Coyotes in the last week may have been the best possible thing the Canucks could have done to improve their long-term future.
I watched this game.
- Just in case you were wondering where Tyler Motte was during this game, he was scratched to ensure that he doesn’t play too many games down the stretch, as he’ll be waiver eligible unless he’s scratched four times. The Canucks want Motte to play for the Utica Comets in the AHL playoffs, so you can expect to see Motte scratched at least three more times this season.
- Also, if you were really desperately wondering where Motte was, you might need to reassess your priorities in life.
- The Canucks and Coyotes allow the fifth and sixth most goals per game in the NHL, by the way, in case you were wondering how unlikely it was that this game would have just one goal. Two goals, really, if you count tanking for the first overall pick.
- After scratching him last game, Travis Green gave Nikolay Goldobin a chance to play on the top line with Bo Horvat and Brendan Leipsic. Through the first half of the game, they were the Canucks best line, with Goldobin contributing to some of the Canucks’ best offensive chances, ie. their only offensive chances. So, of course, Green took Goldobin off that line.
- Goldobin didn’t have a perfect game, by any means. He didn’t take care of the puck as well as he should have, turning it over a couple times, but his offensive creativity was still evident and particularly stood out in a game with no other creativity to be seen. It was like he was in a soda commercial where everyone is in a bland grey suit walking in one direction and he was in a tie-dyed t-shirt walking the other way because he's unique and just has to be himself, y'know?
- Horvat with and without Goldobin was interesting: when Horvat had Goldobin on his line, he had five shots on goal and the Canucks out-shot the Coyotes 7-4. When Horvat didn’t have Goldobin, he got zero shots on goal and the Coyotes out-shot the Canucks 4-3.
- It’s the all-Goldobin IWTG! Okay, not really, but the Canucks best chance of the game came off a nearly-solo effort from Goldobin. Leipsic broke out of the defensive zone and hit Goldobin with a pass in stride. He entered the zone on the right side, while his check ran into Horvat at the blue line, then he cut into the slot and tried to beat Darcy Kuemper against the grain, but Kuemper shot out his glove like Michael Jackson to make the save.
- Was this Erik Gudbranson’s best game as a Canuck? It might have been. The Canucks out-shot the Coyotes 10-5 when he and Alex Edler were on the ice at 5-on-5 and Gudbranson made three fantastic plays on odd-man rushes to erase potential scoring chances, including a 5-on-2 in the first period, as he blocked Josh Archibald’s shot. If Gudbranson can consistently play that well against teams that are not the Coyotes, he might actually be worth his new contract.
- It was a rough game for Michael Del Zotto and Troy Stecher, on the other hand, as they repeatedly gave up chances to the Coyotes, They particularly struggled against the Coyotes top line of Richard Panik, Derek Stepan, and Clayton Keller. The shots on goal were 6-0 for the Coyotes when that pair was up against Stepan and, from the eye test, Del Zotto was struggling the most. For a guy who racks up as many hits as he does, he sure is fond of swinging his stick fruitlessly at the puck instead of taking the body.
- Speaking of hits, Darren Archibald led the way for the Canucks with seven solid ones. He didn’t get that many hits because the Canucks never had the puck when he was on the ice either, as the Canucks had decent possession when he was on the ice. He just repeatedly took the body like his name was Herbert West.
- It feels like Jacob Markstrom is good for one soft goal against per game, but on his best nights, that’s the only puck that gets behind him. It’s hard to call a one-timer on the power play soft, but it really looked like Markstrom had a good view of it and it just found a hole. Of course, an Oliver Ekman-Larsson shot is hard to stop because it’s like an entire law firm is shooting at you. If I was hurt in an accident, I would definitely call Oliver, Ekman, and Larsson.
- The Canucks’ best opportunity to score literally came at the last possible second. With time running out and Markstrom pulled for the extra attacker, Leipsic swung a beautiful pass across the slot to Daniel Sedin at the backdoor. His one-timer seemed to hit the post and Kuemper’s skate simultaneously as the clock showed 0.1 seconds. Daniel collapsed face down on the ice in disbelief, but trust me Daniel, we all believe it. Canucks fans have no trouble believing that the team could come that close to something good and fall just short. No trouble at all.
