Uninspired effort catching on
Canucks haven’t been this bad since dead October — but panic may be premature
On a night when the most energetic person in a Canuck sweater was a toddler shaking his booties to music during timeouts, the debate about where in the Vancouver lineup Chris Higgins belonged seemed pretty silly.
Third line or second line? It’s ridiculous. Clearly, Higgins should have been on the first line because he played with passion and had two points against the Dallas Stars and that, amid Tuesday’s tedium, was equivalent to Darryl Sittler’s 10- point night.
The Stars beat the Canucks 5- 2 because Dallas backup goalie Richard Bachman whiffed on two shots and Dallas shooters managed to miss the net or the puck on three or four open- net chances.
The Canucks have lost four of five games, are riding consecutive regulation losses for the first time since Nov. 4 and playing their worst hockey since dead October.
Vancouver is playing like a team drowsily awaiting the playoffs. Dallas played like a team desperate to make them. Just like how the Buffalo Sabres played Saturday when they hung on to beat the Canucks 5- 3.
The Canucks are on the wrong side of that thin margin of error that determines wins and losses in the National Hockey League. If you’re 10 per cent off, chances are you don’t win. And 10 per cent off would have been a huge improvement Tuesday for the Canucks.
Most of Vancouver’s travel is done and the team suddenly looks like it has been to the moon and back. The Canucks are trying to retain the Presidents’ Trophy, want to finish first in the Western Conference so that all the Game 1s and Game 7s on this side of the league are in their building.
But the reality is they can’t finish any lower than the second seed.
They have the benefit of playing in the NHL’S weakest division, which the Canucks lead by 16 points. They might win the Northwest even if they lose their remaining 15 games. And the 2012 outbreak of mediocrity in the Pacific Division makes it unlikely the Canucks could fall to the third seed and face a potential second- roundplayoff opener on the road.
They are where they are, with little to play for. At least that’s how they look.
“If we’re thinking that, then our minds are in the wrong spot,” defenceman Aaron Rome said.
“[ Motivation] shouldn’t be the problem. We don’t look at the standings that way. We want to clinch first and have home- ice advantage throughout the playoffs. You’ve got to give Dallas credit; they’re fighting for their playoff lives, fighting to win their division.” Our point exactly. And the Canucks aren’t. But they should be fighting for roles, playing with urgency if only to keep their own places in the lineup.
It is both ironic and coincidental that this late- winter lull has occurred as management has given the team more depth and diversity than ever.
Coach Alain Vigneault, who preaches a game- by- game mentality and rarely looks behind or beyond the next game, admitted Monday that the Canucks’ position in the standings and the new tools in his tool box allow him to tinker a little with his lineup in the final month of the regular season. That way, he’ll know what he has for playoffs and be able to configure his strongest lineup.
So, newcomer Zack Kassian played on the second line Tuesday while Mason Raymond was banished to the fourth. And Marc- Andre Gragnani, who couldn’t make Buffalo’s weaker lineup, played his third straight game for the Canucks and again had a privileged spot on the power play. And Higgins, who has been effective on the second line this season when not battling staph infections, is in a “checking” role on a third line.
We’re not blaming Vigneault for experimenting. He has a lot more lineup options than he did a year ago and it would be foolish for him not to explore them.
But given the Canucks’ dreadful start Saturday and carelessness Tuesday, here are some more wrinkles he should try: get Cory Schneider back in goal, Chris Tanev and Andrew Alberts back on defence, Dale Weise back on the fourth line and Byron Bitz back from the minors.
The Canucks are still one of the best teams in hockey. They’re very good at winning. Very good, period, so there’s no need to panic.
But a little shakeup – more lineup competition and less lineup security – wouldn’t be a bad thing right now. It would certainly get everyone’s attention.
“It usually does in a long season,” Canuck captain Henrik Sedin said after going pointless a sixth straight game. “Sometimes you need to get people moved around.”
Maybe even the Sedins to different lines – or Hawaii – for a few days.
Vigneault has options to make his lineup tougher or more skilled.
It doesn’t seem like much of an advantage these days, but these options represent an upgrade from last season when the Canucks failed to cope with injuries or adapt to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final.
“Clearly, we felt we needed to bolster the depth,” Canuck assistant general manager Laurence Gilman said before the game. “In the Stanley Cup Final, we more or less played with three lines. And when we lost Dan Hamhuis and Aaron Rome, it really hurt the effectiveness of our defence.
“We can definitely integrate bigger, more physical players. What it really provides is more weapons in the arsenal of our coach. We can play a number of different styles and integrate a lot of diverse components to suit Alain’s game plan, and he has the flexibility to change that game plan depending on the opponent.”
But the players must still execute it.