The good: Jacob Markstrom was solid in the shutout win, and Chris Tanev blocked like a bazillion shots and helped shut down the opposition’s top line.
The bad: those guys play for the Calgary Flames now.
Over the first three games, we’ve seen three very different looks from the Vancouver Canucks. In game one, the squad arrived in Edmonton with their lunchbuckets firmly in hand. From the top of the roster to the bottom, they skated hard, they bumped & ground, and they flummoxed an Oilers team that is by most measures more talented. Every player on the scorecard was dangerous, so the Oil didn’t know where to focus. Result: 5-3 win.
In game two, the good guys let Edmonton dictate play. Yes, the Canucks have some talent — elite talent, even, in Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson — but they just ain’t going to keep up with a roster full of Connor McDavids, Leon Draisaitls, Kailer Yamamotos, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkinses. Without the bottom six doling out hits and otherwise worrying the Oiler D, the Canuck top six found themselves working without the puck, and without much movement when they did get it. What I said above, re: ‘more talented’. Result: 5-2 loss.
Game three against the Calgary Flames saw a lot of shots both ways, but not much movement. Last season, mostly in the first half of the schedule, the Canucks feasted on the man advantage. Petey, Hughes, Brock Boeser, JT Miller, Bo Horvat… They buzzed the zone, putting the heads of penalty killers on pikes and turning opposition goaltenders dizzy. So far this year? Not so much. Here’s a video of the Canucks power play against Calgary:
The Flames, by contrast, scored thrice when up a skater. Frankly the Canucks made it easy for Jacob Markstrom in his first game against his old club. Hopefully before game four, Travis Green reminds them that Marky isn’t their goalie any more; this isn’t warmup, and their job ain’t to shoot at 70% into his pads. Result: 3-0 loss.
Game four goes tonight, and JT Miller is back. Will he prove to be the stick that stirs the drink, as Vancouver sports radio has desperately posited the past couple of days? Or will the Canucks quickly fall to 1-3 and be an early front-runner for a lottery spot in the draft? Only four teams make the playoffs in the North (Canadian) Division. If Vancouver plays like it did in game one, they’ve got a shot at the post-season. If they put in efforts like we saw in games two and three, this year will feel a lot longer than 56 games.
On another note, what is it with the massive, yet subtle orca logos on Braden Holtby? Are these painted onto his equipment?
Out of town, the best-looking team so far has been the Habs. Like, les mains vers le bas. What the Canucks did in game one, the Habs have done in three straight. Sure, they lost the opener to the dirty rotten stinkin’ Maple Leafs, but they were unlucky to do so, the tying goal literally bouncing into the slot off the referee to let Toronto back in it. Marc Bergevin has put together an entertaining, uptempo roster, and don’t be surprised if Montreal wins this division going away.
Did a double take when Joe Thornton scored his first as a Maple Leaf the other night. Everyone talks about “Old Man Joe”, and that beard speaks to a thousand years of growth, experience and wisdom, so it was no surprise when announcers said he was the second-oldest player to ever score a goal in a Leafs uniform. The part that hurt? At 41 years, 198 days of age, Old Man Joe is 8.5 years younger than I am.
