NO EGG LAID
Canucks fall 3-2 to Chicago for their eighth straight loss, but it wasn’t an embarrassment
When the Vancouver Canucks signed Ryan Miller two years ago, they believed they were obtaining a safe passage through the dangerous territory they were about to travel.
Remember? Yes, the Canucks were changing their team, but with a bigtime goalie they would continue to make the playoffs while they integrated new players into the lineup. A “soft rebuild” was the term coined to describe this plan and it would keep the fans, the players and, most importantly, the owners happy as they worked through this new phase.
Two years later, you can’t say Miller hasn’t tried to make this work. But the wrongness of that decision, the complete misreading of where the Canucks were in their evolution, has been restated on almost a nightly basis.
Then, as now, the Canucks had many needs. A $6-million, 35-yearold goalie was about 137th on that list.
On Sunday, Miller’s part in the Canucks’ 3-2 loss was another chapter in a story all too familiar for the faithful. The goalie stopped 29 of 32 shots. He turned in an NHL-calibre performance.
But for this team to win, the Canucks need another level of goaltending. While both Miller and Jacob Markstrom have held up their end of the bargain this season, they haven’t been good enough to make a difference on this team.
That’s because there isn’t a goalie alive who’s good enough to make a difference on this team.
“They (Chicago) made a couple of nice plays to put the puck in the net,” Miller said. “It’s frustrating. I mean, I want to make a difference. Again this one slips away and it’s frustrating. I don’t know what to say.”
He didn’t have to say much else. He’s frustrated.
The defending Cup champs, who were playing their second game in as many nights, weren’t at their best, but they still had enough to deliver the win. Each of their three goals — by Tomas Fleischmann, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Ladd — were high-skill plays with a polished, professional finish. Even when the Canucks pressed in the third period, it seemed the Hawks had an answer for whatever was asked of them.
Miller, meanwhile, delivered three standout saves in the final frame after Ladd’s go-ahead goal with 2 1/2 minutes left, which just meant he was good enough to lose by a goal. Again.
And this seems to be wearing on the veteran.
“Our job is to battle and it doesn’t change,” he said. “I’m just trying to impart that on the younger guys. They have to know that every night, no matter what the situation, you come with your best and with something to prove.”
Those younger guys have a whole career ahead of them and, maybe one day, they’ll turn into a team that doesn’t need Superman in goal.
Miller, meanwhile, turns 36 this summer and wants to win now. You can understand the source of his frustration.