Canucks excel with pressure on
About the time the Vancouver Canucks hit the third week of October, the essence of this season revealed itself to the faithful and it went something like this.
If everything went right for the Canucks in 2016-17, they had a chance not to embarrass themselves. This required dumbing the game down, relying on their goaltending and squeezing enough offence out of their meagre lineup to stay competitive. It also depended on staying healthy because, as sketchy as the Canucks’ lineup is when it’s intact, it’s borderline expansion team when it’s depleted.
True, this wasn’t the most optimistic view of the locals, but all things considered, it was the most realistic. So when the team ran headlong into a rash of injuries recently, it felt like the Canucks were on the verge of a crisis and not the run-of-themill sort of crisis that is the staple of the Canucks’ fandom. This was a full-blown, season-in-the-balance moment, the kind that can define a team in the worst and best way or, in the case of Tuesday night, a little of both.
“I think this is the time the team will come together,” said Luca Sbisa, now the most experienced blue-liner in the Canucks’ juryrigged lineup. “We have to be successful through this stretch. We’ve got to set ourselves up, not just for points, but mentally knowing we’ve battled through this hard time in a tough part of the season.”
And battle they did in a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
“I thought as a whole we were great tonight,” said Ben Hutton.
We can argue that point another night. This night they earned that conceit.
If you doubted the scope of the challenge that now confronts the Canucks, you just had to look at the lineup that faced the Wild on Tuesday night and cringe. Their No. 1 and No. 2 defencemen, Chris Tanev and Alex Edler, were out. Jannik Hansen, one of their three best forwards, was out. Throw in Derek Dorsett, Anton Rodin and the Canucks’ gift to Utica, Jake Virtanen, and there were six players who figured to be regulars this season unavailable for selection.
As for the ripple effect, well, four of the Canucks’ six defencemen weren’t in the NHL two years ago, they dressed seven players who haven’t scored a goal this season and two, Jayson Megna and Troy Stecher, with one apiece, although Stecher will win the Norris so there’s that.
This motley assortment then spotted the visiting Minnesota Wild a two-goal lead before roaring back to record a win that was as exciting as it was unpredictable. The Orcans were outplayed by an absurd margin for the first half of the game before back-to-back power plays sparked a four-goal run. Then Erik Gudbranson clanged a slap shot off the Wild’s Jason Zucker which allowed a breakaway and a goal. Then Erik Haula scored the tying goal for the Wild on a weird deflection. Then Sven Baertschi scored the game-winner on an even weirder deflection with two and a half minutes left.
And the Canucks, suddenly, had their third win in four games and ninth point in six at a time when the prophets of doom were predicting their demise. Can they keep this up? Maybe not. But if they can just hold the fort until some bodies come back, who knows what can happen?
“We have 12 games before Christmas,” said Alex Burrows. “This is the stretch where you have to make up some ground because if you’re eight, 10 points back, it’s too hard. We’re down some bodies. We have to find ways to win games.”
Burrows, as it happens, has played a lead role in this mini-surge and therein lies a story. At the conclusion of last season, it was widely assumed his time as a Canuck had come to an end and even when he made the team in training camp, he seemed destined for a fringe role.
But he’s found something playing with Bo Horvat and Baertschi and that line produced two goals in the third and eight shots in the game. Burrows was credited with one assist but the scoresheet didn’t reflect his larger contribution on the forecheck or his relentless drive on the night.
Burrows is 35. Baertschi is 24. Horvat is 21. Burrows was asked about his line mates.
“It’s been almost three weeks now (10 games) and it feels like we’re getting better every game,” Burrows said. “They have high hockey IQs. We have a plan when we get in on the forecheck. We have a plan on faceoffs. Hopefully we can keep it going.” Right up until April. “Our vision internally is to make the playoffs,” Burrows said. “It doesn’t really bother us what everyone says on the outside. We want to make the playoffs and those two guys feels like they can drive the bus.”
But the old guy is hardly a passenger on this ride.