Canucks have a Devil of a time
Gritty squad didn’t quit in losing effort
How did Taylor Hall get faster to finish with a threepoint night?
How did rookies Nico Hischier and Will Butcher acclimatize so quickly to the NHL?
And why did the Vancouver Canucks often look a step slower despite getting the agile Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher back from injury Friday against the New Jersey Devils?
Then again, the gritty Canucks didn’t quit in a 3-2 loss and that’s what sets them apart from previous seasons.
After Bo Horvat was stoned by Cory Schneider midway through the third period, the centre pulled the Canucks to within a goal with a deft backhand-to-forehand, power-play move.
“I can definitely add that (goal) to my game,” said Horvat. “We had lots of chances to make it a tie game and you still get confidence that way to take it into the next game.
“But any time you get a lot of speed coming at you as fast as they come on the forecheck — especially for our defence is tough. We have to find ways to counter that and shut them down in the neutral zone.”
After a U.S. Thanksgiving feast a day earlier, it looked like the Canucks were going to be fed humble pie by the Devils. They started strong and scored three secondperiod goals, but had to hang on for the win against the pressing Canucks.
That’s a moral victory after two wins to start this six-game slog.
Here’s what we learned:
BUTCHER, HISCHIER IMPRESSIVE
A dozen teams chased college free-agent Butcher in the spring. Now we know why. He had three assists in his season debut and leads all first-year defencemen in points with 17 (2-15).
The Canucks did contact the player’s agent, but the Devils told the puck-moving defenceman that he was going to get a serious shot to help the club transition from stagnant, plodding and trapping into a freaking fast force. It sure showed on the winning goal.
Butcher stickhandled past three defenders as he entered the Canuck zone on the power play, went wide to draw the traffic and then slipped a backhanded feed to Brian Boyle. Then there was Hischier. The first-overall pick in the 2017 entry draft made a deft move to open scoring. He slowed the game down, he got a read on the flow, then went behind the net and feathered a quick feed to Hall. The winger went far glove side on Markstrom, who was on his knees.
THE DEFENCE RESTS
On paper, it looked good and made a lot of sense.
Stecher returned from a knee injury and was paired with Michael Del Zotto. Tanev was back from a left-thumb injury and aligned with Ben Hutton while Alex Edler and Derrick Pouliot stayed intact.
Maybe it was an early brain cramp by Edler — throwing the puck up the middle and forcing goalie Jacob Markstrom to make a tough early save and Pouliot doing the same — that was a precursor to a challenging night.
It was Tanev who Hall blew by on the third goal before putting a backhander off the post before an unchecked Damon Severson easily deposited the loose puck.
“(Tanev and Stecher) are going to be rusty when they miss that much time,” said Canucks coach Travis Green. “I don’t expect our team to go away and I liked how we pressed in the third, but I wasn’t crazy about some of our details in the second period.
“When both teams play a pretty structured game, those little details usually separate who wins and loses. And it wasn’t just the defencemen’s fault. Up the ice we weren’t in the formation we wanted.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE?
You could have made a solid case for Anders Nilsson getting the start in net after a sparkling 43-save effort Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Green made the argument that decisions are made on performance but, more importantly, Markstrom seems to be his guy, even though Nilsson was ranked seventh in save percentage (.934), 11th in goals-against average (2.25) and tied for second in shutouts (2) heading into Friday.
Nilsson’s stoic Shooter Tutor style is more calm than the athletic Markstrom, who was 23rd in GAA (2.59) and 32nd in save percentage (.912). And after the loss, Markstrom was frank about the difference Friday.
“Special teams and goaltending,” he said. “(The Devils) play a pretty structured game and have some pretty fast players and as soon as we shoot, they have a lot of guys who blow the zone and are looking for breakaways.”
OVERTIME: Daniel Sedin’s secondperiod goal and third-period assist gave the winger 998 career points. Green said Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is expected to be sidelined day-to-day. He was injured in the second period Wednesday in Pittsburgh and although he clenched his wrist when doubled over, it could have been because of a shoulder strain. Derek Dorsett will be examined Monday in Los Angeles by the surgeon who performed his cervical fusion procedure last December.
I liked how we pressed in the third, but I wasn’t crazy about some of our details in the second period.