Dorsett powers Canucks past Sabres
Tough winger’s torrid start continues with two goals in comeback victory
BUFFALO Jacob Markstrom gave up one bad goal Friday.
Then he got angry. And then he got good.
In fact, the same could be said for the Vancouver Canucks.
The Canucks bounced back from a Thursday disaster in Boston to beat up a bad Buffalo Sabres team. The Canucks got single goals from Daniel Sedin and Markus Granlund and two from Derek Dorsett for a 4-2 NHL win.
Here’s what we learned:
COACH PULLED A RABBIT OUT OF HIS HAT
It was the line change nobody saw coming. Coach Travis Green united the three players under the most scrutiny.
Jake Virtanen’s playing time has been a focus because he hasn’t been playing in the third period. Like, at all.
The Sedins, because they haven’t been playing. At least not the type of minutes they’re used to. Green put them together and the results went surprisingly well, betting Virtanen’s youth and speed would help the old men in back-to-back games. Sunday
Vancouver Canucks at Detroit Red Wings
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He was right. By the end of the second period, they had produced a goal and had been on the ice for 10 of 12 shot attempts.
“I think it was his best game,” Green said of Virtanen. “I think he got some energy off playing with Hank and Danny.
“You know when you play with them, it’s a pretty good opportunity. Somebody has to stick there.”
Green is fickle, but he’s stumbled here on something that works. It’s a line, by the way, that many in Vancouver wanted to see more of two years ago.
THE GOALTENDING CAN ONLY GET BETTER
That’s the positive. There didn’t seem to be many after another soul-crushing goal slid under Jacob Markstrom’s pad.
Yes, Ben Hutton looked like he was trying to fix a PVR remote when Jack Eichel glided around him on the slowest end-to-end rush you’ll ever see.
But Eichel’s shot skimmed slowly across the ice and rolled through a Markstrom hole so big you could have fit a bowling ball through it. Maybe even two.
But then amazing things happened. First, Markstrom used adrenalin and anger to save the next 17 shots.
Then, after the game. Markstrom hosted the best scrum that’s happened in a Canucks’ locker-room in years. He was accountable.
“The second goal was completely my fault,” he said. “I was really frustrated that I let the guys down. After that I looked in the mirror and battled back.”
He was funny, too. Asked about how he’s consistently getting beat early, he said: “Maybe we should call the league and have the games moved to 8 p.m.”
When the bad goal came up again, he said: “I lifted my pad up so he would get it.”
That’s some Roberto Luongolike humour right there.
THINGS ARE GOING GREAT FOR DORSETT
It wasn’t that long ago he was wondering if he’d ever play again. Then this season started.
In Dorsett’s first game, he played a big role in slowing down the Oilers’ Connor McDavid. Since then, he’s been leading the team in goals. He scored two and now has four.
Can you have an MVP just seven games into the season? Asking for a friend! (If you can, is the Canucks’ guy Dorsett?)
“We have a 50-goal scorer on our team all of a sudden,” Brandon Sutter joked.
Humour aside, Dorsett’s hot start is the Canucks’ best story of the young season.
“A lot of it is opportunity,” Dorsett said. “And I really feel like I’m playing with good players.”
GRANLUND IS ALIVE AND WELL
It was touch and go through the first six games. Granlund, who many picked to lead the team in goals this season, had been shut out before the Canucks landed in Buffalo. No goals and no points.
It was a problem because he was second among forwards in average ice time. That all changed against the Sabres.
THE SABRES ARE REALLY BAD
It wasn’t even midway through the second period, and the shots were 29-8 for the Canucks.
The Canucks had 21 more shots than an opponent on the road and the game wasn’t half over. The Canucks also had two key injuries, a defenceman suspended, and were playing their third game in four nights.
They looked like they had just traded for six all-stars. Before the game, Buffalo media were eagerly predicting the Canucks’ struggling penalty-kill unit would shine and even score. Sure enough, Dorsett scored a short-handed goal.
DEL ZOTTO IS A WILD MAN
Have you ever thought that Michael Del Zotto plays the game with his hair on fire?
The answer, it seems, is yes. Del Zotto is this eclectic mix of shottaking and risk-taking. There are times it works well. There are reasons Green plays him more than 20 minutes every game.
But when you play with fire, you can get burned. When the Sabres scored their first goal Friday, on a play Del Zotto had a hand in, it was the 15th time this season he’s been on the ice for a goal against.
THE SEDINS WON’T BE GETTING MORE ICE TIME
At least, not significantly. When the game started, Henrik was averaging 14:52 a game. Green suggested that may be as good as it gets this season.
“I think we’ve had a couple of games where their minutes have been 12½. There’s been a couple others where it’s been 17,” Green said.
“I see them going back and forth between those numbers.
“Sometimes, depending on whether we’re down, we’re up, depending on how we’ve been playing, what kind of chances they’re producing.”
The Canucks were up Friday, and the Sedins hardly played in the final 10 minutes. It was the third consecutive game Henrik didn’t play 13 minutes.