Canucks deliver best performance of the season in historic 11th straight loss

First Period

Lining up for your Vancouver Canucks were Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, and Elias Pettersson, who came out guns-a-blazin’ against Matthew Schaefer and the Islanders. The Canucks tripled their usual shot output in the first three minutes of the game with ONE shot on Ilya Sorokin, and a helluva lot of hits thrown inside the offensive zone.

A slick tic-tac-toe cross-ice passing play between Nils Höglander and Linus Karlsson yielded the evening’s first goal, with Max Sasson’s first of the game, and his TENTH of the season.

1-0 Canucks

Importantly (for him), the secondary assist on Sasson’s goal marked Höglander’s first point in 14 games since returning from injury.

Hysterically, the Canucks wound up on the receiving end of an eerily similar passing play that saw Tony DeAngelo give DeBrusk the old shimmy-shake at the top of the blue before driving down the left wing for an East-West pass to Anthony Duclair for the Isles’ equalizer.

1-1 Tie

It was a less-than-ideal sequence for the Canucks’ first line, who were comically slow to react to the developing play. Credit to DeBrusk for attempting to stick with DeAngelo as the high forward of the “5v5 umbrella.” And EP40 had the right idea, sticking close to Schaefer after his initial pass to DeAngelo, too. However, some communication would have been essential after DeAngelo worked his way down the wing. Poor Elias Pettersson (the defenceman) and EP40 had no idea who was on Duclair, with Boeser floating in the middle in anticipation of the swarm.

Fortunately, the Canucks responded quickly, with D-Petey capitalizing on a weak exit pass to tee up a one-timer on Sorokin, tipped by Evander Kane at the net front.

2-1 Canucks

A hot minute later, Matthew Schaefer responded to a long shift hemmed inside the d-zone with a vicious two-on-one breakaway and drag move that slipped under Kevin Lankinen for the game’s second equalizer in 10 minutes.

Fortunately, the play was as offside as offside gets, pulling Schaefer’s 14th goal of the season off the scoreboard.

The two teams exchanged fun scrambles outside the goalmouth in the waning minutes, but the Canucks would take the lead heading into the second period.

Second Period

The Canucks must have remembered how their last 2nd period went, coming out hot and heavy with a Pantene-esque volume of shots on Sorokin. DeBrusk with a twisting wrister from the slot, Linus Karlsson with a shot off Sorokin’s stick, Aatu Räty with a clapper through traffic off Sorokin’s blocker, and Höglander with a wrist shot off Sorokin’s shoulder all within the opening three minutes.

The Karlsson-Höglander-Sasson trio dominated their minutes against an Isles’ fourth line that featured ex-Abbotsford Canuck Marc Gatcomb. Their sustained o-zone pressure resulted in four or five shot attempts, pushing momentum in Vancouver’s favour.

Midway through the frame, a heavy shift from EP40 & Co saw Zeev Buium draw a slashing penalty against New York’s Calum Ritchie, sending the Canucks to the game’s first power play opportunity.

Ironically, the Canucks’ play on the man advantage wasn’t nearly as strong as their play at 5-on-5. A shorthanded drive from Casey Cizikas would prove to be the most dangerous for either team.

In the dying seconds of the power play, Liam Ohgren looked to have gotten a tiny piece of a cross-ice feed from Filip Hronek at the netfront.

Adam Pelech would draw a tripping penalty against Sasson, giving the Islanders a chance to equalize on the man advantage. Initially, the Isles’ best look came off a bizarre-o rebound off of referee Chris Peters’ head that dropped in front of Lankinen’s feet.

Then, Mat Barzal slipped a pass between Tyler Myers’ legs to Calum Ritchie for the point-blank setup to Duclair for his second of the night.

2-2 Tie

Less than two minutes later, Ryan Pulock gave the Isles their first lead of the game with his second goal of the season.

3-2 Islanders

I’m not sure where in the manual it states that all three forwards and the right-shot defenseman need to collapse to the puck carrier, or that the left-shot defenseman should step out to cover the opposition’s right winger, leaving the middle completely uncontested for a snap shot. But it did on the Pulock goal sequence.

The Canucks’ taketh, and the Canucks’ gaveth away.

It wasn’t their worst second period. It was actually pretty good! Unfortunately, the low-to-high coverage was giving them problems, and the Isles took advantage.

Third Period

Early into the third, DeAngelo drew a tripping penalty against Drew O’Connor to give the Isles their second straight power play opportunity. Then, off the opening draw, Emil Heineman drew a cross-checking minor penalty against Myers.

The Isles had 1:40 to work on the two-man advantage, but the Canucks’ PK trio of Marcus Pettersson, EP40, and Conor Garland did an incredible job holding the Isles to just three shots on goal. Making matters worse, Marcus Pettersson’s stick broke seconds into the Isles’ two-man advantage, effectively turning it into a 5-on-2.

O’Connor wound up on a shorthanded breakaway after leaving the box, but the refs blew down the play due to a hand-pass.

Deservedly, the Canuck faithful inside Rogers Arena rewarded their team with a raucous cheer when Myers left the box.

After ripping a 99 mph slapshot into Lankinen’s chest, Ryan Pulock went knee-on-knee with Myers, giving Vancouver a critical power play chance to equalize.

They did not do anything with their opportunity, short of a near-goal for Kane in the final 30 seconds.

Too bad, too, because Tony DeAngelo doubled the Isles’ lead with his third goal of the season just two minutes after the return to 5-on-5.

4-2 Islanders

Head Coach Adam Foote went for the ultra-aggressive goalie-pull with four minutes remaining in the period, down by two.

With less than two minutes to go, O’Connor got a redirect on Hronek’s point-shot to halve the Isles’ lead.

4-3 Islanders

Right off the center-ice draw, the Islanders iced the puck, giving the Canucks a critical 6-on-5 o-zone faceoff draw. Though they struggled to find shots on Sorokin, the pressure resulted in a second icing and another o-zone start for Vancouver.

Despite their best, tired efforts, the Canucks’ six-man unit failed to register a serious chance on the 6-on-5, moving their losing streak to a historic 11 straight.

All told, it was a perfect tank game.

• Evander Kane played like a man trying to move to a contender by the trade deadline.
• Linus Karlsson, Nils Höglander, and Max Sasson legitimately looked good whenever they were in the offensive zone.
• Kevin Lankinen did everything he possibly could to keep the Canucks’ alive
• The battled to make things interesting late
• They lost in regulation
• It wasn’t a completely boring game

Not bad!

What’s your instant reaction to this game? Let us know in the comments section below!