CANUCKS: Young guns make the most of opportunity in Anaheim
After Eriksson injured, Goldobin, Granlund and Megna seize the day in victory over Ducks
Opportunity came knocking in the worst possible way Sunday. When Loui Eriksson was lost to a left-leg injury early in the first period after a heavy sideboards collision with Chris Wagner, the Vancouver Canucks were forced to double-shift wingers.
Nikolay Goldobin, Jayson Megna and Markus Granlund got the extra work and social media did the wave with coach Willie Desjardins forced to deploy Goldobin more than he did Saturday in Los Angeles.
However, on the second half of back-to-back games, it was a big ask because the legs were supposed to eventually go away, but that wasn’t really a factor in a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks as the Canucks concluded a three-game California tour with a 2-1-0 record.
With St. Louis winning as well Sunday, the Canucks narrowed the gap to six points in the unlikely pursuit of the final Western Conference wildcard spot and haven given more reason for hope than total despair.
Netminder Richard Bachman did his part to instil that feeling Sunday. His calmness and ability to shake off a first-period non-goal when the puck was kicked in by Ondrej Kase spoke of the goalie’s ability to maintain mental sharpness despite not seeing an NHL crease in more than 16 months. He finished with 43 saves.
“That felt really good,” said Bachman. “The win was special because you want to relish it and show management you can play. We gave up a lot of shots, but they were straight on and I was able to see most of them, so we did a nice job tonight.
“And the big thing early on is that I thought I was making pretty good reads and you want to make some big saves early and give the guys a chance to get a lead.”
It took 32 shots to finally beat Bachman, who played in place of injured Jacob Markstrom and resting Ryan Miller, when Patrick Eaves went short side off a cross-ice feed from Ryan Getzlaf.
As much as Eriksson’s ailment looked like it might be knee-related — he braced for impact and his leg was crushed against the boards before he collapsed to the ice — it was a cruel way to end his day because there were recent signs of life in the high-priced, free-agent acquisition.
The struggling winger was coming off a more-engaged, two-assist effort in a 4-3 victory over the Kings and was developing chemistry with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi. They were baby steps for someone counted on for 30 goals, yet has but 11 in 65 games and has scored just once in the last 19.
“That (injury) was tough to see,” said Horvat, who opened the scoring. “The last two or three games, we were finding each other out there and making plays. For him to go down like that definitely sucks. But he’s a tough player and hopefully he gets back in the lineup soon.”
All that did Sunday was refocus the attention on a younger core that didn’t wilt under the added duress of more ice time. The kids actually lapped it up. Granlund found an extra step and gave the Canucks a two-goal cushion when he snapped a wrist shot from the slot between the pads of struggling backup goalie Jonathan Bernier in the second period for his career-high 17th goal.
It was further proof why the Ducks have lost eight of their last 13 games and that they are missing starting goalie John Gibson, who has been out four games with a muscle strain.
Meanwhile, Goldobin even got power-play time as Desjardins tried to come up with the right combinations at even strength and with the man advantage to put away the Ducks. And even when the Ducks crashed the crease, there was a sense of resiliency and belief the Canucks could make something of this trip.
“We keep battling and keep trying to prove people wrong,” said Horvat. “This team has a lot of character, a lot of fight and lot of good players. I mean we’re right there.”
Desjardins is often questioned for line deployment, but his willingness to work with Granlund and allow him to become a Top 6 fixture is as encouraging as the results. So was this trip.