Capitals blank exhausted Canucks
Even return of Hansen and stellar start from Markstrom can’t boost road-weary Vancouver
OWASHINGTON, D.C. ne in, one out. One with tightness, one with a bigger workload. In the wild roller-coaster ride that is the Vancouver Canucks, these are not surprising developments. They’re almost expected when you think of what this NHL team has already endured this season — both good and mostly bad — by playing well enough to be competitive, but not well enough to win.
Even the return of Jannik Hansen after missing 16 games with a high rib fracture near the collarbone wasn’t enough and it was tempered Sunday by the scratching of Sven Baertschi. And that lower-body tightness Ryan Miller suffered Thursday in Tampa hasn’t lessened to the point where he could have faced the Capitals.
So, Jacob Markstrom played backto-back games in less than 24 hours — the Canucks didn’t arrive here from Florida until 3 a.m. — and the backup looked like a starter by keeping his club in it until an expected 3-0 setback. It was the fourth game in six days for an exhausted club that was outshot 29-20.
And if the Canucks haven’t had enough of losing on the road — their 4-10-1 mark is 10th worst — they certainly had enough of Alex Ovechkin. The king of the one-timer slapper showed just as quick of a release with a lethal wrist shot Sunday. It’s how the Russian winger opened the scoring in the first period with a laser that surprised Markstrom on the short side.
“It (shot) comes off a little different and he’s known for shooting high, too,” said Markstrom. “Your first thought is to almost take away the top part of the net and he got it under the blocker. Frustrating. One you want back for sure.”
It’s also how Ovechkin nearly made it a two-goal bulge in the second period before his deft touch with the puck in the third made it 2-0.
Markstrom made a blocker save at the side of the net and Ovechkin effortlessly tipped the rebound back into the slot for a tic-tac-goal for Justin Williams. Then came the empty-netter and then a disallowed last-minute goal. And while Markstrom was keeping the Canucks in it, a woeful power play did nothing to help turn the tide.
An 0-for-5 performance with the man advantage was as painful as watching the top line get ground into submission at even strength. It’s also why the run of penalties the Canucks took — hooking, boarding, holding, hooking — spoke to a mounting frustration of continuing to play from behind.
“We didn’t get any kind of a forecheck going and we kept it to a onegoal game on the road in the third, but they were just better than us,” said Daniel Sedin. “And we weren’t good enough on the power play — we could have changed things around and we didn’t get anything going.”
And, of course, the Baertschi scratching only adds to the drama of being a good call — or a bad means — of messing with the winger’s fragile confidence.
Baertschi is pointless in three games with just three shots and is coming off a minus-three performance Saturday in Florida. He did have a career-high three points (1-2) Nov 23. against Anaheim, and had two goals in his next three outings.
But something is missing in his game. He’s not tenacious on pucks and often plays with one hand on the stick.
Yet, on a team struggling with the 27th-ranked offence and 26th-rated power play, his 11 points were fifth-highest heading into Sunday. And that’s what you get in a trying season, always room for debate.
OF NOTE: Anton Rodin (knee) is off to Utica on a conditioning assignment, while Joseph LaBate and Andrey Pedan are also bound for the Comets.