Canucks look to find some offence in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Vancouver Canucks need a hero.
It’s not going to be the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. It ruled that Predators forward Cody McLeod’s blindside hit on Sven Baertschi an accidental collision Tuesday. Good luck finding anyone who really believes that.
“If you look at the angle he came, he tries to skate for the puck … I don’t think you have to go through Sven to get there,” Henrik Sedin said. “To call it accidental, that’s not the way we look at it. But I’ve seen worse hits get nothing.”
With a concussion, Baertschi did travel with the team to Columbus on Wednesday. He was at the rink for practice, though he didn’t skate, and remains hopeful of playing in a week.
In the meantime, in the midst of their most critical road trip of the season, the Canucks need salvation. Losers of four straight games, their modest dream of playing competitive games into late March is being methodically asphyxiated.
If only they had a saviour, a guardian angel who could fly in from the heavens to deliver them from ruin. If that’s off the menu, some more goals from Loui Eriksson would help, too.
The only thing flashy about Eriksson is his contract, a July scene-stealer because of its length, six years, and value, $36 million US. That’s a ton to be paying a 31-year-old.
Most assumed the Canucks would get value in the first two years, but they’re now 53 games into the contract and their marquee free-agent signing, the one they thought would help lift the franchise, has 10 goals.
He should have more. In Nashville on Tuesday, Eriksson had one chance goal-scorer’s fantasize about. He was in alone, off the rush and had the goalie moving. It was late enough in the game, if he had put it in, that the Canucks would have gone to overtime, and got themselves a point.
Eriksson got all of that shot too, but the goalie made a great save and the forward had to theoretically carve another “shoulda, woulda, coulda” notch in his bedpost. There can’t be much room left on that thing.
“It feels like a lot of things are going against me,” Eriksson said. “It’s not like I don’t want to score those goals. You try to do everything you can. … But sometimes, it just goes against you. I just need some luck and some good bounces, and get that momentum going. It’s tough to find it right now.”
Since the new year, Eriksson has two goals in 15 games. But he has largely avoided the usual vortex of criticism you’d expect for an underachieving, big-money free agent playing hockey in a Canadian city. Maybe that’s because the Vancouver market has become numb to underachieving free agents. Then again, it could also be a sign of sophistication.
Because a decent argument can be presented that Eriksson has been the Canucks’ best forward. No regular has had a more positive impact on generating shot attempts. In fact, the Canucks are averaging seven more shot attempts every 60 minutes that Eriksson plays than when he doesn’t. He leads the team by a wide margin.
He’s been doing this for a coaching staff that can’t seem to figure out what to do with him. Earlier in the season, head coach Willie Desjardins passed on opportunities to play him with the twins. Then, in the past month, the coach wouldn’t take him off the Sedin line.
Eriksson is back playing with Brandon Sutter at even strength, but still hasn’t been asked to man the net front on the power play, which would play to his strengths. Despite all of this, he leads the Canucks in individual scoring chances.
“I told him, if he would have scored on half of his great chances, he’d have 15 or 16 goals right now,” Henrik said. “No one would be saying anything. He’s had a lot of chances on the goalline that just haven’t gone in for him. I’m sure it wears on him. It’s tough when you keep losing those close games.”