HITTING A WALL
FLAMES 5, CANUCKS 2: Vancouver fans on five first-period power plays, and things go downhill from there
The Vancouver Canucks scratched Jake Virtanen in the morning and things got worse from there.
Virtually handed the game early with five first-period power plays, the Canucks rolled over instead.
The Calgary Flames cruised to a 5-2 game that was littered with soft goaltending and nearly zero offensive push from the Canucks.
These are things we learned:
AT LEAST BOESER IS LIVING UP TO THE HYPE
It was a game only a tanker could love.
Jacob Markstrom was bad. The power play was worse. But there was one shining light for the surprisingly limp Vancouver Canucks.
Cutting through the slot, Boeser showed again he’s the best oneshot scorer on the team. He doesn’t have much competition.
He does, however, have five goals in 11 NHL games. He nearly had a sixth on Thursday too, but had to settle for an assist.
Just imagine what he could do if he was on a power play that didn’t play like it was pulled from a chapter in a Stephen King book.
WATCHING THE SEDINS ON THE POWER PLAY WASN’T FUN
Most of the past five years of Canucks hockey was summed up in the first period. You could call it Peak Canucks. Vancouver got all the calls. Five different times they went on the power play. It totalled 8:49 in clock time and for 1:11 of it, the Canucks had a twoman advantage.
Back in the day, it would have been a set-up for magic, a moment for the Sedins to show off their wondrous skills. On Saturday, it was just sad. In all that time, the Canucks managed just one shot. Calgary had two short-handed shots and scored a goal on one of them.
The goal came at the end of an inexplicable Sedin shift that lasted 2:12. It’s been years since the Sedins were effective on the power play. At no time in any game should they be partaking in two-minute shifts.
GOLDOBIN NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED
Loui Eriksson left the game early in the first, and never returned. If he’s out Tuesday, the obvious move to make is get Jake Virtanen back in.
But the Canucks’ offensive push was pathetic Saturday. The team lacks dynamic difference-makers.
Goldobin can be one. In seven games in Utica, he has seven goals.
Do you think he could help on the power play?
Is there a world where Virtanen, Brock Boeser and Goldobin can all be in the same lineup for a Green coach team?
There should be.
MARKSTROM NOT HAVING AN EASY TIME IN HIS NEW ROLE
For the fourth straight game, Markstrom was tapped to start, strongly suggesting Green sees him as the team’s No. 1 goalie. At least, for now.
For the second straight game, Markstrom had a tough time.
But remember this: In Ryan Miller’s first 15 games in Vancouver, he gave up at least four on five different occasions.
Markstrom’s current transition from clear backup to a guy the team hopes can start five or six straight is much more difficult than Miller’s transition in coming here.
CANUCKS STRUGGLING TO FILL THE PLACE
You’re not alone if you were shocked at how many empty seats you saw on the broadcast in Rogers Arena. There were some sections had more empty seats than fans.
The Canucks publicly remain positive when it comes to the sales trend, claiming season-ticket renewals were up five per cent year over year.
Canucks cite strong group sales and said single-game tickets are selling 33 per cent over expectations.
That said, Thursday’s announced crowd was 15,589, the lowest since December 2001. That was a weekday.
Saturday’s lower bowl didn’t look any fuller. Some believe part of the seat optics is because the Canucks have either stopped or reduced significantly the number of tickets they comp to sponsors.
VIRTANEN GOT SOME TOUGH LOVE
Green said his decision to scratch Virtanen Saturday was as much about getting a message to the young player as it was about icing the Canucks’ best lineup.
“He’ll be the first to admit it, he wasn’t very good the other night,” Green said. Tough love, indeed. “He needs to ... I just thought his intensity level, his assertiveness wasn’t where it had to be. I know Jake well. Am I worried about taking him out? Is it going to impact our speed?
“Meh, a little bit. I’m not just going to keep a guy in because he’s fast.
“Part of this is making sure Jake knows how he has to play. Getting him to play the way he needs to.” That’s strong. A review of every shift Virtanen played Thursday revealed a mixed bag for the winger. There were plays where you could see how his speed was creating time and space, fitting nicely with Green’s go-get-em system.
But there were some obvious shifts where Virtanen could have been more physical. On a late second-period shift, he didn’t move his feet enough to get in the way of a point shot, which ended up nailing the post behind Markstrom.
Virtanen then sat out virtually the entire third period.
Still, the data shows the power forward has been among the Canucks best wingers in limited time, so this Green’s decision still redlined the surprise meter.