Gritty Canucks defying conventional wisdom
Points to ponder after a 6-2 victory Thursday at Rogers Arena in which the Canucks discovered the Capitals wanted little to do with their relentlessness. They also discovered their power play and discovered a Masterton Trophy candidate in Derek Dorsett. goal cushion Thursday, it was just one of his latest and greatest hits. He also scored a wrap-around goal, finished with four hits on yet another night where he relished a tough role in his 505th career game before family and friends.
On any given night, Brandon Sutter, Dorsett and Granlund draw the tough task of shutting down top lines. On Thursday, it was getting to Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Chiasson and Alex Ovechkin.
It’s greasy work. It requires a relentless forecheck, frustrating finesse players who don’t want to play in their own zone and making the most of scoring opportunities generated by all the tenacity.
Ovechkin didn’t even have a first-period shot attempt as the Canucks rolled to a 15-4 shot advantage. He finished with one assist and three shots.
“Usually when you come off long road trip there’s a letdown, but we came prepared,” said Dorsett, who has five goals in his last five games. “We used our speed in the offensive zone and got in on the forecheck.
“I’m just enjoying every moment and I’m not going to change the way I play.”
And that means not being afraid to mix it up with anybody, even with Ovechkin near the end of the game.
“A few times I went to hit him early in the game and I skated up to him and said: ‘You’re a pretty solid guy.’ I just saw the puck was rimmed and I gave him a push into the wall and he wanted to get a pretty good hit on me. But that’s the way the game is. It’s emotional.”
And effective. Capitals coach Barry Trotz lauded the Canucks for being hard to play against.
“Vancouver is playing a real smart game,” he said. “There’s nothing really sexy about it. They’re patient when they need to be and relentless when they need to be. And they take advantage of opportunities. They’re hard to play because they play that frustrating game.”
Said Dorsett: “We’ve got the most depth since I’ve been here. It showed early tonight.” symbolic. It did more than break a seven-game funk.
Baertschi had a lot to smile about Thursday with the two power-play goals.
On both efforts, the winger with an occasional penchant to be a perimeter player, was either at the net or near it. It was the same story Thursday as he did all the little things that added up a good night.
He drew an early penalty by driving hard out of his own zone on a great outlet pass by Brock Boeser, who finished with three assists. He then threaded that sick back pass at side of the crease on a Bo Horvat goal before camping in Braden Holtby’s kitchen to get credit for the fourth goal.
“We’re getting pucks to the net and we’re being rewarded,” said Baertschi, who eclipsed the 100-point career plateau and extended chemistry on his line to the power play. “We’re just getting used to each other and it takes a little bit of time to turn it around.
“But I think we can be really effective. We simplified the power play by getting pucks to the net and playing off the rebounds. I thought we were really effective that way. Sometimes it’s easier to go simpler.”
The Canucks were anything but simple in their puck pursuit and drive to the net.
How do you explain Erik Gudbranson having two chances on the hash marks to score? Or Thomas Vanek faking a slap on a partial break and then attempting a toe-drag move that went over the net? Gudbranson also fought Tom Wilson in the third period to answer for drilling Prince George’s Brett Connolly into the glass in the second period. The winger didn’t finish the game.