Flames burn undisciplined visitors with hot second period
Flames take over in second period to score second straight win over Canucks
Fun night to fright night. How else do you explain the Vancouver Canucks unravelling like a ball of string Monday on the road to turn what was looking like a walk in the park to falling off a cliff? New players still learning the system? No exhibition games to iron out the kinks?
From first-period domination of the Calgary Flames to second-period humiliation, it wasn't so much that the Canucks saw their early dominance and a 1-0 lead evaporate in the second period.
When the Flames struck twice in a span of 1:25 and then bagged a buzzer-beater at the end of the middle frame en route to a 5-2 victory, it was almost too much to fathom.
It was how they fell apart in being outshot 20-3 in the second period that was a shocker.
The Canucks had a 16-4 shot advantage in the first period. Adam Gaudette had five shots and three glorious scoring chances while Jake Virtanen opened the scoring. J.T. Miller returned from coronavirus pandemic quarantine protocol as a high-risk, close-contact exposure to teammate Jordie Benn, who remains in isolation.
And while Miller didn't factor in the scoring, his early playmaking presence was expected to help provide a spark, symmetry and a victory. He sprung Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser on a 2-on-0 break in which Pettersson sprawled and couldn't convert a feed from his linemate in the first period.
It was a telling sequence. Here's what we learned as the Canucks lost their third straight and fell to 1-3-0 on the young season:
MIDDLE-FRAME COLLAPSE
When Thatcher Demko was forced to make a couple of tough saves early in the second frame — staying square to thwart Sean Monahan in the slot and stopping Elias Lindholm down low — it lit the fuse to the Flames tipping the ice in their direction.
The Canucks couldn't clear the zone and Johnny Gaudreau finished off a giveand-go with Monahan at 12:05 before Mikael Backlund struck at 13:30 on a play that started with a Gaudette turnover in the neutral zone.
But it would get worse. A frustrated Pettersson got his stick up on Monahan and Tyler Myers delivered a left jab to the mug of Matthew Tkachuk to provide a 5-on-3 power play for 1:18.
Lindholm would score on the advantage and Mark Giordano would add a power play goal early in the third period to add to the misery as the undisciplined Canucks coughed up seven power plays in all.
Myers was credited with a third-period, short-handed effort to ease some of the pain before the Flames added an empty-netter. But undisciplined play combined with offensive-zone penalties was the story.
“Penalties and turnovers,” lamented Canucks coach Travis Green.
“It's a bad combination. We took seven penalties in the last 40 minutes and five seconds and they got the momentum and we never got it back — especially after the first period that we had. It's a frustrated team tonight and we should be disappointed.”
Pettersson took the loss hard. On a pointless night, his four shot attempts were overshadowed by a pair of bad second-period penalties. Add no goals through four games and the centre is searching for answers.
“I think I can do a lot better stuff out there and I'm not playing with the best confidence right now,” he said.
“I'm playing too stationary and I need to move my feet because I'm an easy target. And I take two dumb penalties and it's not acceptable. I was disappointed in letting my team down and letting my frustrations show. It's not going to happen again. When
we're not playing our best hockey, we can't sink that low. We have to find our game and we can't let them roll over us.”
THIRD-LINE ADVENTURES
On a night when the top two lines drew tough matchups, opportunity was knocking for the third alignment of Gaudette between Antoine Roussel and Virtanen.
Gaudette showed early jump by drawing a tripping minor on Milan Lucic, as the Oilers' fourth line struggled to keep pace.
The Canucks centre was then foiled on a power play chance and had three more great looks, including pouncing on a bouncing puck and putting a high shot off the butt end of Jacob Markstrom's stick.
Virtanen opened scoring midway through the first period on what looked like a harmless shot from the sideboards.
But his wrister was aided by a Olli Juolevi screen before the effort deflected off the stick of defenceman Juuso Valimaki and changed directions.
Another example of the line's effectiveness came early in the second period when Roussel drew a tripping minor on Lucic to take the Flames off the power play.
POWER PLAY UPS, DOWNS
The Canucks went 0-for-4 and have yet to score with 15 man-advantages through four games.
Panic or progress? A little of both.
The Canucks had four shots on their first power play that featured Miller finding Bo Horvat in the bumper slot for a Grade A chance.
And better puck movement allowed Quinn Hughes to unload a heavy shot from the point through traffic. And Boeser was setting screens and making it tough early for Markstrom.
However, that was about as good as it got.
The Canucks mustered four shots on their other three power plays and returned to stagnant positioning on the perimeter and trying to thread pucks through skates.
Is it rust and Miller missing the first three games? Probably a little of both, but it's bothersome.