WHEELIN' AND DEALIN IN DENVER
Goal in first two minutes of game sets tone in Vancouver victory
Rrust.DENVER est versus
It was the obvious storyline after a nineday break in which some of the Vancouver Canucks went to Mexico, some went back home and some stayed put. A slow and sloppy start to open a four-game road trip was expected.
Scoring on their first shot and notching two goals on their first four against the Colorado Avalanche wasn’t.
The Canucks looked fresh and fast out of the gate. Jake Virtanen’s dash to the net to open the scoring and Brock Boeser’s no-hesitation, downon-one-knee wrist rocket from the slot off an Elias Pettersson faceoff win were encouraging signs.
Brandon Sutter even drew the second assist on the opening goal for just his second helper. His first came on opening night.
Nikolay Goldobin, who returned after sitting out the previous four games and six of nine, was aggressive early on the forecheck and engaged a defender physically. He even tried to block a shot before ripping home a third-period power-play laser for his first goal in 14 games.
And it got better.
Antoine Roussel set up the opening goal and then scored his sixth of the season, and Tyler Motte got his seventh. Loui Eriksson was denied on a short-handed breakaway.
If that wasn’t enough, it took the 20th shot, a deflected effort from the point that trickled over the shoulder of Jacob Markstrom, to finally beat the sharp starter in the second period.
Here’s what we learned as the Canucks claimed a 5-1 victory to move past the slumping Avalanche (3-8-0) in the wacky race for a Western Conference wild-card playoff spot : VIRTANEN GETS MESSAGE
Maybe it was that practice the day before the Jan. 23 loss to Carolina.
Virtanen wasn’t in line rushes, and even though coach Travis Green didn’t indicate the winger might be a healthy scratch for the first time this season — he did play in the 5-2 loss to the Hurricanes but his goalless streak hit 13 games — there was still speculation he might get a wake-up call. He didn’t.
The ask of Virtanen isn’t complicated. Use your speed and take a direct route to the net, whether you have the puck or not. His bolt to the net for a career-high 12th goal was a light-bulb moment. When Antoine Roussel bolted down the right side and fed a backhander to Virtanen’s tape, he redirected it with a backhand effort. He also had an assist on Roussel’s goal. MARKSTROM MAKES MARK
Finding your skating legs after a long break is hard; finding your form as a goaltender is harder.
Markstrom showed early that his calm and poised positioning was going to make a difference against the league’s fifth-ranked power play, which was nullified on three chances. And holding Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen — who had combined for 79 goals and 199 points through the first 50 games — off the scoresheet was crucial.
Markstrom didn’t panic when Ben Hutton was pressured on an outlet pass from the corner boards by Landeskog and coughed up the puck, which forced the starter to stop Rantanen. He also stopped Tyson Barrie on a backdoor play by moving smartly from post to post, and then got the better of Rantanen again on a backhand-to-forehand power-play move.
Markstrom finished with 34 saves.
PRETTY PETTERSSON PLAY
Maybe it was more about the matchups, more about not getting into a track meet.
Whatever the rationale, the Calder Trophy front-runner logged the least amount of ice of club centres through two periods. The centre had just 4:16 of ice in the first period and 8:01 through 40 minutes.
That didn’t stop Pettersson from producing a jaw-dropping play. In the opening period, he froze defenceman Ian Cole by first faking a forehand and putting the puck between his own skates, before spinning and feeding Goldobin for a scoring chance.
ROUSSEL IN TOP FORM
Maybe it was that fresh mountain air in Whistler during the break that rejuvenated the winger.
He looked like he was shot out of a cannon on the opening goal and then went one better on his goal. On a dominating shift, he got to the net and buried a Bo Horvat feed to the far side to give the Canucks a three-goal cushion.
Roussel also showed restraint when he didn’t get the benefit of the doubt on two plays where penalties should have been called as he was interfered with and thrown to the ice.