When the Vancouver Canucks rapidly constructed a 3-0 lead towards the Calgary Flames on Wednesday (Oct. 9), it appeared followers had been going to see a rerun of final season’s house opener once they blitzed the Edmonton Oilers 8-1. However the Flames had different concepts, as they stormed again and shocked the 2023-24 Pacific Division champs in time beyond regulation by a rating of 6-5. If not for the heroics of captain Quinn Hughes and JT Miller’s 94.86 mph slapper within the ultimate two minutes, they might have walked away with zero factors within the standings. Not precisely an indicator of a crew that’s speculated to be a Stanley Cup contender this season (from ‘Vancouver Canucks have the on and off ice expertise to be Stanley Cup contenders,’ The Globe and Mail, 10/6/24).
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Full marks to the Flames for placing on their workboots and sticking with it, however the Canucks allowed them to get again into the sport with their sloppy and lackadaisical play after the primary interval. If they’d continued to play with tempo and velocity, they possible would have repeated the feat of a yr in the past. However alas, that wasn’t the case, and they’re now going through questions heading into their second recreation of the season towards John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers, who as we all know from final season, carry their lunchpails to each recreation.
Canucks Must Get Again to Their Identification
As talked about, the Canucks dominated the primary interval towards the Flames, constructing a lead of 3-0 earlier than the sport was 13 minutes outdated. They entered the center body with a 4-1 benefit after overwhelming their division rivals with velocity and the trademark forechecking that has grow to be a staple of their identification. Their energy play was 2/4, Brock Boeser had two objectives, and the newbies had been on the scoreboard with Daniel Sprong scoring his first (Danton Heinen helping) and Jake DeBrusk choosing up a candy helper on Boeser’s energy play objective. The whole lot was rosy for the Rogers Enviornment trustworthy – till it wasn’t.
The Flames, seemingly motivated by head coach Ryan Huska’s speech within the dressing room, had been a special crew within the second interval. They had been those dictating the tempo of play, aggressively forechecking and placing the Canucks on their heels. They mainly flipped the tables and shoved the Canucks’ identification down their throats. Tocchet mentioned it completely in his postgame press convention, “We bought away from our identification…the play with out the puck was not good, that’s a yr and a half in the past hockey.”
The Canucks are at their finest when velocity and forechecking are on the heart of their recreation. They’ve one in every of, if not the most effective transitional defenceman within the NHL in Hughes and numerous fast forwards up and down their lineup this season, to allow them to undoubtedly play that identification and overwhelm groups with their velocity. The important thing shall be doing it for a whole 60 minutes and never letting the opposite crew (on this case, the Flyers) begin slowing the sport down and limiting their assault.
Higher Goaltending & Defence
One other a part of the Canucks’ identification final season was good defensive hockey, turning stable defence into potent offence. They had been among the finest two-way groups within the NHL, ending with a objective differential of plus-56. In addition they solely gave up 223 objectives, down from 298 the season earlier than. Moreover, they hardly ever gave up a lead, going 42-1-4 once they had the benefit going into the third interval. Within the first recreation this season, they’d a 4-2 lead heading into the ultimate stanza and allowed three unanswered objectives to path 5-4 earlier than Hughes and Miller’s heroics to tie it at 5.
Backside line, the Canucks wanted to dig in defensively within the third and didn’t. Whilst you might blame rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs’ problem monitoring the puck, the very fact is, they allowed manner too many possibilities and photographs to return his manner within the ultimate 40 minutes. Ultimately, they had been outshot 21-9 and outscored 5-1 after the primary interval. Not good in any respect, and undoubtedly not a trademark of the crew that gained 50 video games final season. In the event that they need to win tonight, they should play extra like that crew moderately than the one which finally bought Bruce Boudreau fired in 2022-23 – regardless of who’s within the crease.
Watch Out For Matvei Michkov
Turning away from the house opener and onto this one, the Canucks should take care of one of the dynamic rookies within the NHL in Matvei Michkov tonight. He has already burst onto the scene, and he hasn’t performed an everyday season recreation but. Within the preseason, he had three objectives and 7 factors in 4 video games, with just a few of his tallies being highlight-reel beauties. They will’t permit him to get free and make his mark on the league at Rogers Enviornment. Everyone knows the Canucks’ historical past of giving gamers their first objective within the NHL, however this can’t be the evening that occurs for Michkov. I’ve a sense one objective will flip into far more given his expertise degree and goalscoring capability.
The Canucks don’t have a “shutdown” defenceman, in order that they should defend Michkov by committee – probably by matching JT Miller’s line and the defence pair of Tyler Myers and Carson Soucy towards him. They did this towards Connor McDavid within the playoffs and had been comparatively profitable. Whereas I’m not saying Michkov is McDavid, he has the flexibility to take over a recreation, and the Canucks should be cautious every time he’s on the ice.
Canucks Hopefully Discovered Their Lesson
If something, Wednesday’s loss was lesson for the Canucks early within the season. They can’t let up even once they have a multi-goal lead. Any crew, regardless of the expertise degree or predicted end within the standings, can beat you on any given evening. The Flyers will current a much bigger check since they virtually made the playoffs final season and have a prime sniper able to breaking open a recreation. It is going to be Canucks’ job to have their stars come to play (Elias Pettersson, I’m taking a look at you), and convey their elite two-way recreation that turned a staple of their identification final season. If they’ll do this, they are going to be strolling away with their first victory of the season.
