Competitive effort hits ‘another level’
CANUCKS 2, BRUINS 1 (OT) Seven games don’t make a season but they can make a statement.
That was Erik Gudbranson’s summation of an early-season push by the Vancouver Canucks to establish a new culture and push aside any self-doubt after Henrik and Daniel Sedin retired.
“The competitiveness in this room is at another level from where it was last year,” Gudbranson said before facing the Boston Bruins on Saturday at Rogers Arena. “It’s kind of hard to explain. Guys make mistakes and guys are patting each other on the back and saying it’s OK and we’ll get it back.”
Instead of stubbing their toes after a tough six-game slog, the Canucks came to play Saturday because they had to.
When the Bruins found their legs in the second period, the Canucks fought to hold on to a 1-0 lead provided by Brandon Sutter before Joakim Nordstrom tied it in the third on the Bruins’ 28th shot. Offence was at a premium for the Canucks and getting the game to overtime was a morale victory because David Pastrnak nearly drilled the winner with 3:18 remaining in regulation time.
Here’s what we learned as Bo Horvat went to the backhand at 3:12 of overtime for the win.
GREEN PUSHES RIGHT ERIKSSON BUTTONS
Travis Green not only came to the defence of Loui Eriksson — the winger is now pointless in six games, has but three assists and seven shots in eight games after starting the season with the injured Elias Pettersson — the coach found a way to explain his value and also motivate the Swede to beat his former club.
Eriksson was aligned with Sutter and Antoine Roussel to shut down the formidable trio of Patrice Bergeron between super-pest Brad Marchand and Pastrnak, who had combined for a whopping 16 goals and 36 points entering the clash with the Canucks. They were held pointless Saturday but still combined for nine shots.
MARKSTROM ANSWERS THE CHALLENGE
Jacob Markstrom didn’t have to look far for motivation Saturday.
Anders Nilsson not only went 3-1 on the road trip, the supposed backup looked like a starter with a 2.26 goals-against average and .925 saves percentage. Markstrom needed the net Saturday to improve on a bloated 4.02 GAA and .883 save percentage.
To his credit, Markstrom looked like somebody who took advantage of practice time. He held his ground when a Zdeno Chara point shot wound up at the side of the net and Chris Wagner tried to find the short side with a backhand attempt.
Markstrom then foiled Marchand with a strong post-to-post move to thwart a cross-ice power play slapper before getting a glove on a David Backes wrister from the top of the faceoff circle.