Canucks could become road worriers
Return of ace defenceman Karlsson will make Sens a difficult opponent to start away series
It looks, sounds and feels all too familiar. As the Vancouver Canucks embark on a five-game road trip that opens Tuesday in Ottawa — following a four-game home stand in which they suffered two injuries, managed just three points and have at least four areas of concern — the red-hot Senators are among the litmus tests.
The Sens swept their three-game Western Canada swing for the first time in franchise history Saturday with a 6-1 whipping of the Edmonton Oilers. They outscored the opposition 15-3, they went 116:35 without surrendering a goal and are expected to have all-world defenceman Erik Karlsson back Tuesday after off-season foot surgery.
“He’s a world-class player and one of the smartest guys in the league,” Canucks winger Sven Baertschi said Saturday following a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames. “Like any top guy, you have to take away time and space, and make it hard for him and make it a frustrating night for them.” Easier said than done. Karlsson is an elusive, fast-skating, quick-decision puck-mover who cannot only change the tempo of the game, he can also be a difference-maker. He finished second to Brent Burns in Norris Trophy bal- loting last season and his 17 goals and 54 assists were impressive. So were 18 points in 19 playoff games before the Senators were eliminated in seven games in the Eastern Conference final.
“You have to be careful that you don’t over-commit to him,” cautioned winger Derek Dorsett. “Sometimes, you can get a little anxious because you want to play a guy like that hard. He’s going to play a lot of minutes and you want to wear him down, but you have to be careful because he can escape from a lot of situations.”
It just adds another layer of con- cern to get a trip off to the right start before stops in Boston on Thursday, Buffalo on Friday, Detroit on Sunday and Minnesota a week from this Tuesday.
The Sens were without defencemen Johnny Oduya, Ben Harper and Karlsson, but still piled up 42 shots in a 3-2 shootout win here last Tuesday. They clogged up the neutral zone with a suffocating 1-3-1 trap, forechecked ferociously and Canucks coach Travis Green bemoaned that his club was soft on too many puck battles.
If that isn’t enough, the injury-ravaged Canucks were 12-26-3 on the road last season — only the Colorado Avalanche were worse at 9-30-2 — and they’re trending in the wrong direction. An uptempo, high-risk, high-reward system has placed a premium on pace. It’s fun to watch, but fraught with danger.
Here are road points to ponder:
Power play hits new low
Newell Brown was brought back to turn back the special-teams clock. Maybe not a total rewind to the glory days, but a mid-pack, power-play presence seemed reasonable. After being ranked 29th and 27th, respectively, the last two sorry seasons, there was reason for optimism.
The Canucks had the No. 1-ranked power play in 2011 (24.3 per cent) and were No. 4 in 2012 (19.8 per cent). There was significant talent in the alignments — the smooth-skating Christian Ehrhoff and opportunistic Mikael Samuelson — but also inventiveness and puck movement.
However, despite four-forward combinations and the 1-3-1 strategy in the offensive zone — three players aligned down the middle like an ‘I’ formation in football — nothing has changed.
There is supposed to be the netfront forward (Thomas Vanek) to provide screens and tips, and move from side-to-side to allow other options. The middle man is supposed to be a puck distributor and set high screens. In theory, it should work. It hasn’t.
The Canucks had five, first-period power plays Saturday. They even had a 5-on-3 for 1:11 and had but one shot and gave up a short-handed goal. Losing Alex Edler until Christmas with a medical collateral ligament sprain Thursday and Loui Eriksson to a knee injury Saturday have altered power-play personnel but not the results.
The best citing was Brock Boeser and once the Canucks realize he’s usually wide open on the faceoff dot for one-timers, things should improved. He should have been out for the 5-on-3 advantage Saturday.
“We were too slow and they were able to block shots,” winger Daniel Sedin said Saturday of a power play that has but two goals in 23 chances and is ranked 25th with just an 8.7-per-cent success rate.
“We’ve got to be better and a lot of things need to happen. That short-handed goal can’t happen. You’re not going to win a lot of games if that happens.”
Boeser best of B-line?
Green called Bo Horvat’s effort Saturday average. That says something because the centre had just three shifts in the third period.
He also said he’s happy with Baertschi’s speed and that “he’s close to scoring.” He hasn’t. That also says something.
So does the play of Boeser because the rookie is playing as advertised. He’s smart and strong, and the heavy, quick and accurate wrist shot he ripped past Mike Smith on Saturday served notice that he’s only going to get better. Boeser had six shot attempts and the four that found the mark had zip.
“We’re not sitting with a bunch of 40-goal scorers,” said Green. “We hope Brock turns into that. I’ve liked his game so far and thought he was good again (Saturday).”
But what about Horvat? His three, third-period shifts were 17, 40 and 34 seconds in length. He was great in the faceoff circle, winning 10 of 13 draws, but for all his hustle through the neutral zone, he could have used his wingers better.
“I wasn’t crazy about his game,” said Green, who gave Alexander Burmistrov a look with Baertschi and Boeser. “We had 11 forwards (after Eriksson injury) and Bo was average. I wanted to try some different looks.”
And give Horvat a motivational nudge.
As for Baertschi, this is what he had to say about not scoring and having one assist through four games: “We get pucks to the net, but the rebounds, we’re not there and that’s my bread-and-butter,” he said. “It’s why I haven’t scored yet and I have to do a better job.
“When you struggle to score goals, it’s the simplest thing to do, being around the net.”
Holes in Markstrom’s game
Give credit to Jacob Markstrom owning soft goals and bad goals. That’s good. That’s maturity.
Still, Green considered giving Anders Nilsson the start Saturday and pulling Markstrom after the fifth goal at 11:11 of the third period.
Nilsson will soon get a start and the natural is for the towering Swede to play against his old club Friday in Buffalo in the second half of back-toback games. Now, it could be sooner if Green wants to throw the Sens a curveball.
As for Markstrom, concerns are pucks going through him and over-committing in crease movements and leaving too much of the net exposed.
“It’s killing momentum — a bad time to let in a goal,” he said of the Flames’ first-period, short-handed tally. “I don’t know if I need to work harder in practice. I’ve got to come up with something. It’s one of those sh---y days — I’m not too satisfied with today’s game on my part.”
“That short-handed goal can’t happen. You’re not going to win a lot of games if that happens.” — Daniel Sedin