Canucks find roster clarity in OT loss
Pencils have erasSAN JO S E , C A L I F. ers.
The Vancouver Canucks’ roster may appear somewhat set, but that’s simply not the case. Willie Desjardins has preached there are jobs to be won and lost and that the pre-season process for the coach is determining much more than the 13th forward and eighth defenceman. It’s about finding offence and balance, being harder to play against and having legitimate depth to overcome injuries.
And if an apparent second-period shoulder injury to Jake Virtanen is significant — he didn’t return for the third period — then the search for lineup solutions will only intensify.
“We have some spots on our team that we’re looking to fill and we can fill them with different types of players,” Desjardins said Tuesday before his club fell 3-2 in overtime to the San Jose Sharks.
“It doesn’t have to be a skilled player. We can mix and match. There are quite a few guys in the lineup (Tuesday) who are going to be pushing for spots.”
It means the versatile Brendan Gaunce will get a serious look as a fourth-line centre. The improved Andrey Pedan is changing the depth conversation on the back end, and if Virtanen heals and plays like a power forward, he’ll be in Vancouver and not Utica.
Canucks goalie Richard Bachman didn’t allow a goal with 20 saves in 27:25 of work and was the first star before giving way to Michael Garteig. Tommy Wingels forced extra time with 23 seconds remaining and Kevin Labanc potted the winner at 1:05. Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi scored for the Canucks, who were outshot 33-15.
Here’s what we can take away from Tuesday’s game: Larsen shows some promise, some concern: On a second-period power play, Philip Larsen’s ability to move his hips and pivot quickly in a small space at the opposition blue-line was noticeable. He didn’t hesitate to find the open man, which would be a PP improvement. But he had his challenges containing forwards down low and was on the wrong side of the puck for a near Sharks goal.
“You don’t have to be good in your own zone, as long as you get it (puck) out right away,” Desjardins said. “How quick does he move it? What does he do with it? Can he get away from the forecheck? Does he add something at the offensive blue-line? There are a few different dimensions, but the one you want to see is how he defends.” Virtanen likes to shoot the puck a lot: In his 9:10 of ice time, Virtanen had one shot on goal. But he also had two attempts blocked and missed the net with another. The heavy shot he got through from the
wing found a charging Horvat for a rebound goal. Virtanen also took an interference penalty and did some disturbing stick-checking.
“It’s consistency in his game and in his shifts to go hard for 40 seconds, to play physical, to go to the net and play like a power forward,” Desjardins said. Gaunce in the middle solves one riddle: Markus Granlund may be better served on the wing than as a fourth-line centre. The Sharks are toying with Tomas Hertl as their third-line centre for better physical matchups and the Canucks may be thinking the same. Gaunce was converted to left wing in the mi- nors to ramp up his skating and edge and he nearly made the club last fall. Now, he’s bigger and better. On Tuesday, he was matched with James Sheppard and Jayson Megna to see if he could handle the load. He did.
“If you get that, then it frees us up to do other things up the lineup,” Desjardins said. Rendulic struts stuff, Ruutu has jam, Baertschi has confidence: Borna Rendulic, 24, will become the Croatian Sensation if he keeps this up in the pre-season. The big right-winger had 16 AHL goals last season and was noticeable Tuesday. He turned a defender insideout on a rush for a scoring chance and he easily kept pace with the Sharks. Tuomo Ruutu, 33, threw two heavy checks, was good on the penalty kill and feathered a sweet pass in traffic to Alex Grenier for a scoring chance. And that toe-drag, short-side snipe by Baertschi for a goal was sublime.