[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames | Dec. 29, 2019

[Mrwipeout]

Omg what an important win! Myers with his best game for the nucks and 2nd in the division. That is justs HUGE! this win was such a big stepping stone towards the playoffs that id also call it the most important game of the year. Well done by the boys. 

[*Buzzsaw*]

Calgary played the worst game I have seen from a so-called NHL team this year.

 

Their starting goalie was just horrible...  let in 3 goals on 7 shots, including two whiffs and one knuckler through the five hole.

 

And their forwards were equally bad... they shot wide on every gold plated opportunity they had.

 

Demko was good positionally when he had a chance to get set, made some nice saves.  But looked a little scrambly and got out of position when the action happened right in front of his net.  He looks a little weak on his legs... maybe the recovery from the concussion meant he couldn't train as hard?

 

Good to see Myers get the goals... he needed a confidence boost.  And so did the Horvat line.  Bo made a tremendous play to get Pearson in on the open net.

 

Wish someone would hand that PoS Lucic a beatdown... we need Tryamkin to thrash him.

[shazzam]

4 hours ago, Trebreh said:

the Lames post game show are talking about Kiprusoft instead of the 5-2 loss 

Even today kipper can provide better goaltending

[Tystick]

Good job boys!

Big 2 points tonight

[JoesRooster]

BIG WIN BOYS

[Dumb Nuck]

Y’all picking on Cassie? She could stick handle me any day, now let’s get down to business......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..........Fire Green!

[Dats hockey]

6 hours ago, Westcoasting said:

Really? That pug is the answer then!! Let's get him on the bench (is that allowed) instead of Loui.

Ahhh comon Loui’s been alright.

Not 6 million alright but a smooth 2 maybe?

[IBatch]

Late arrival - stoked we won another one and that the fire TG and Myers is a putz crowd have been silent (for now).  A winning streak is exactly what the doctor ordered.  Depth is winning out for us finally.   Fatburgers allows the L side to take a break and is just keeping the spot warm for OJ whos quietly having a very good year in the AHL.   We can afford to have several forwards out at any given moment and still get the job done offensively.  Myers had a good month offensively and kept the fort/ship from completely falling apart when Elder was out - without him things would have been worse for sure ... Eagles back and the winning is too.

 

If we duplicate the first half 30 five goal games ... wow just wow.   Been a long time since we scored 250 goals and we are on pace to challenge the best Sedin year for total offense (261)...balanced scoring will do that.  7 guys have a shot at 20 goals - 8 if Leivo wasn't injured - 9 if Ferland was here from the start and in top form himself.  Crazy.   Love this team we have right now - can feel that good times will arrive soon - maybe here already. 

 

Edit:  On the coaching side - I'm glad Myers was kept on the second PP unit,  managing Edlers minutes is wise...plus he's helping that unit get their points 

Edited December 30, 2019 by IBatch

[Duodenum]

[Phat Fingers]

4 hours ago, JamesB said:

 

 

Some late comments again.

 

1. Huge improvement over the LA game. This time the Canucks started strong and were the better team overall. 

 

2. The Canucks had the edge in the first period -- but not a 3-goal edge. The Canucks benefited from questionable goaltending by Rittich. The first goal was a solid goal -- a good shot on the PP from Myers at the point with traffic in front. But the second goal was soft. The third goal was a good play by the Canucks but a fortunate bounce. The second period was fairly close as both teams had some good looks and Calgary scored late. But the Canucks had an excellent third period and did a great job of shutting down Calgary. Natural Stat Trick credited Calgary with only 1 high danger chance in the 3rd period. I guess that was the Calgary goal. 

 

3. Have to give credit to the Horvat, Pearson, Eriksson line again. They had the primary shutdown duty against the Monahan line and did a great job against them --  and provided a lot of offence. I have been negative about Eriksson this season, but since Green put that line together it is has been very good, and that includes Eriksson. He still contributes nothing to the physical game but his defence is solid and he actually looks faster than he did earlier in the season (although obviously he is still not what you would call "fast"). He made a nice play on the first Pearson goal tonight. He was also good on the PK tonight. Having Edler and Eriksson available for the PK really helps. 

 

4. Have to say something about Myers. Obviously he had a big game with 2 goals and an assist, substantially increasing his point total for the year. He is looking more confident and he did make some nice plays. I think he was pretty fortunate to get 3 pts, but he did play a solid game -- much better than against LA.

 

5. Virtanen was good against LA and he was very good against Calgary. His goal but a bit lucky but it was a nice play, and it came right after he rocketed a shot off the post. Like Myers, he is playing with more confidence. It is a cliche in hockey to say that good offence starts with good defence. Personally I don't believe the causality necessarily runs in that direction. It can just as easily run the other way. Virtanen has been playing better defence since stepping up his offence. 

 

6. On a negative note, the Beagle line struggled. I know Green likes Beagle, Motte and Scaller, but they were crushed in Corsi numbers again tonight. Beagle himself had 5 Corsi attempts for and 15 against. And they gave up the only 5-on-5 goal.  And they had the LEAST time against the Monahan line of the 4 Canucks lines. They did not face particularly tough quality of competition. I was watching Schaller quite closely tonight. It seems to me that the rarely handles the puck cleanly. Green likes their physical game and their intensity. Beagle and Motte both play a hard physical game but I am beginning to have doubts about Schaller. 

 

7. Tonight's win was huge, moving the Canucks into second place in the Division, beating and leapfrogging a good team (Calgary) that has been ahead of them in the standings for a while. And it was a quality win, not a steal by the goalie (although Demko did play well). Great way to finish out 2019.   

I like the Eriksson Horvat Pearson line too.  If Green can get Eriksson to play at a top 6 level again... Jack Adam's.  

 

That would be as good as trading for a top six winger.  We are saddled with his contract and if he can play a consistent role with Horvat, he could find his touch again.  So far so good. 

 

The Rousell, Gaudette Virtannen line is doing really well and is currently feasting on the Qualcomp.  If that line can continue to produce secondary scoring, it will force teams to adjust, leaving more room for either Horvat's line or Ep40's line.  

 

Leivo is out for 2 months at least.  This is Eriksson's chance to cement himself on that wing.  With Pearson's game really improving in the last 10-15 games we can look to scoring threats on our top 3 lines. 

 

When was the last time you could say that about a canucks roster?  

[Phat Fingers]

4 hours ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

Calgary played the worst game I have seen from a so-called NHL team this year.

 

Their starting goalie was just horrible...  let in 3 goals on 7 shots, including two whiffs and one knuckler through the five hole.

 

And their forwards were equally bad... they shot wide on every gold plated opportunity they had.

 

Demko was good positionally when he had a chance to get set, made some nice saves.  But looked a little scrambly and got out of position when the action happened right in front of his net.  He looks a little weak on his legs... maybe the recovery from the concussion meant he couldn't train as hard?

 

Good to see Myers get the goals... he needed a confidence boost.  And so did the Horvat line.  Bo made a tremendous play to get Pearson in on the open net.

 

Wish someone would hand that PoS Lucic a beatdown... we need Tryamkin to thrash him.

Lucic is a distraction, mostly for the flames.  

 

POS and not NHL caliber if not for his contract.  

 

Trymakin has a spot on this roster to lose IMO.  He and Stecher would make a great 3rd pairing going into the final leg of the year.  

 

Lucic is too smart and shady to mess about with Trymakin.  Tkachuk on the other hand would likely agitate the big guy and regret it.  

[Boudrias]

5 hours ago, JamesB said:

 

 

Some late comments again.

 

1. Huge improvement over the LA game. This time the Canucks started strong and were the better team overall. 

 

2. The Canucks had the edge in the first period -- but not a 3-goal edge. The Canucks benefited from questionable goaltending by Rittich. The first goal was a solid goal -- a good shot on the PP from Myers at the point with traffic in front. But the second goal was soft. The third goal was a good play by the Canucks but a fortunate bounce. The second period was fairly close as both teams had some good looks and Calgary scored late. But the Canucks had an excellent third period and did a great job of shutting down Calgary. Natural Stat Trick credited Calgary with only 1 high danger chance in the 3rd period. I guess that was the Calgary goal. 

 

3. Have to give credit to the Horvat, Pearson, Eriksson line again. They had the primary shutdown duty against the Monahan line and did a great job against them --  and provided a lot of offence. I have been negative about Eriksson this season, but since Green put that line together it is has been very good, and that includes Eriksson. He still contributes nothing to the physical game but his defence is solid and he actually looks faster than he did earlier in the season (although obviously he is still not what you would call "fast"). He made a nice play on the first Pearson goal tonight. He was also good on the PK tonight. Having Edler and Eriksson available for the PK really helps. 

 

4. Have to say something about Myers. Obviously he had a big game with 2 goals and an assist, substantially increasing his point total for the year. He is looking more confident and he did make some nice plays. I think he was pretty fortunate to get 3 pts, but he did play a solid game -- much better than against LA.

 

5. Virtanen was good against LA and he was very good against Calgary. His goal but a bit lucky but it was a nice play, and it came right after he rocketed a shot off the post. Like Myers, he is playing with more confidence. It is a cliche in hockey to say that good offence starts with good defence. Personally I don't believe the causality necessarily runs in that direction. It can just as easily run the other way. Virtanen has been playing better defence since stepping up his offence. 

 

6. On a negative note, the Beagle line struggled. I know Green likes Beagle, Motte and Scaller, but they were crushed in Corsi numbers again tonight. Beagle himself had 5 Corsi attempts for and 15 against. And they gave up the only 5-on-5 goal.  And they had the LEAST time against the Monahan line of the 4 Canucks lines. They did not face particularly tough quality of competition. I was watching Schaller quite closely tonight. It seems to me that the rarely handles the puck cleanly. Green likes their physical game and their intensity. Beagle and Motte both play a hard physical game but I am beginning to have doubts about Schaller. 

 

7. Tonight's win was huge, moving the Canucks into second place in the Division, beating and leapfrogging a good team (Calgary) that has been ahead of them in the standings for a while. And it was a quality win, not a steal by the goalie (although Demko did play well). Great way to finish out 2019.   

Nice summary. Totally agree with #3 as Pearson-Bo-Ericksson had a solid outing. Both Pearson and Virtanen are producing secondary scoring that really counts. Pearson is a player you have to really watch to appreciate what he does. Jake must have one of the heaviest shots on the team.

 

Salute to the centers for their FO dominance. Puck possession really helps particularly in the d-zone. Edler comes back in and the d-zone improves a lot. Solid ozone pressure most of the game. Nice team speed. That alone warrants the win even if the Canucks were getting some 'puck luck' for a change. How that 2nd Meyers goal ever went in is a head scratcher.   

[Phat Fingers]

13 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

Nice summary. Totally agree with #3 as Pearson-Bo-Ericksson had a solid outing. Both Pearson and Virtanen are producing secondary scoring that really counts. Pearson is a player you have to really watch to appreciate what he does. Jake must have one of the heaviest shots on the team.

 

Salute to the centers for their FO dominance. Puck possession really helps particularly in the d-zone. Edler comes back in and the d-zone improves a lot. Solid ozone pressure most of the game. Nice team speed. That alone warrants the win even if the Canucks were getting some 'puck luck' for a change. How that 2nd Meyers goal ever went in is a head scratcher.   

A bit of a knuckle puck.  Rittich looked down before the puck got there.  Should have been an easy save.  

 

Still it wasn't from the old redline.  

[Gaudette Celly]

5 hours ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

Calgary played the worst game I have seen from a so-called NHL team this year.

 

Their starting goalie was just horrible...  let in 3 goals on 7 shots, including two whiffs and one knuckler through the five hole.

 

And their forwards were equally bad... they shot wide on every gold plated opportunity they had.

 

Demko was good positionally when he had a chance to get set, made some nice saves.  But looked a little scrambly and got out of position when the action happened right in front of his net.  He looks a little weak on his legs... maybe the recovery from the concussion meant he couldn't train as hard?

 

Good to see Myers get the goals... he needed a confidence boost.  And so did the Horvat line.  Bo made a tremendous play to get Pearson in on the open net.

 

Wish someone would hand that PoS Lucic a beatdown... we need Tryamkin to thrash him.

So... we won because Calgary was so bad.

[Shift-4]

Best game in a long time

[Boudrias]

5 minutes ago, Gaudette Celly said:

So... we won because Calgary was so bad.

 

5 minutes ago, Gaudette Celly said:

So... we won because Calgary was so bad.

The Flame team from 3 years ago had a pretty solid d-core that sheltered their forwards to an extent. I didn’t see as much evidence of that last night. I never thought Johnny Hockey was as good for the long term as he was credited. Sam Bennet was rushed into the NHL the same way Virt was. Calgary was starved for talent the same as Van was. Green saved Virtanen ‘s career.

[theo5789]

18 minutes ago, Gaudette Celly said:

So... we won because Calgary was so bad.

Our PP only scores against bad teams (according to the fire Brown crowd). We scored 2 PP goals and therefore they're a bad team (according to the fire Green crowd). The fire Baumer crowd is silent for now. It's nice to see Virtanen on the uprise as Bennett is sinking (to go against the fire Benning crowd that trashed this pick for years). Still waiting for the fire Takahashi crowd though.

[EP Phone Home]

10 hours ago, Cluminati* said:

The only lousy thing about watching the game tonight, being stuck with Rick Ball and Cassie Campbell’s commentary. 
 

Even when the Flames were losing by 2 or 3, Campbell was all praise for them. Oh and it were those AHL refs standing in for the injured NHL refs that called bad penalties on the Flames. What a joke!

I do wonder if Mr. Rick Bald is still a proud endorser of Biothera. I remember his 1040 days on his mid day show always advocating this product. I am not saying it doesn’t work I’m just sayin...

 

 

Anyways back on track. Solid win against another divisional opponent and we are now in a great position to chase Vegas with a game in hand. Let’s keep this going into our playoff vision 2020

[-DLC-]

9 hours ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

Calgary played the worst game I have seen from a so-called NHL team this year.

 

Their starting goalie was just horrible...  let in 3 goals on 7 shots, including two whiffs and one knuckler through the five hole.

 

And their forwards were equally bad... they shot wide on every gold plated opportunity they had.

 

Demko was good positionally when he had a chance to get set, made some nice saves.  But looked a little scrambly and got out of position when the action happened right in front of his net.  He looks a little weak on his legs... maybe the recovery from the concussion meant he couldn't train as hard?

 

Good to see Myers get the goals... he needed a confidence boost.  And so did the Horvat line.  Bo made a tremendous play to get Pearson in on the open net.

 

Wish someone would hand that PoS Lucic a beatdown... we need Tryamkin to thrash him.

Sometimes when a team looks like they're playing the worst game ever, the other team has something to do with that.  Winning faceoffs/possession/battles on the boards.  Forechecking hard.  Forcing turnovers in the neutral zone with good stick work and poking the puck away.

 

Even shooting wide ... they were feeling pressured and letting the puck go too quickly without settling it/things.  Rushed.

 

Give credit where it's due.  Calgary wasn't responsible for our win...we were.

 

Calgary's used to using swagger and confidence to get it done and when someone crushes that, they're awful.  Canucks had all the swagger last night.  Loved seeing Tkachuk frazzled and gnawing on his mouthguard harder than he was playing.

[cuporbust]

7 hours ago, JamesB said:

 

 

Some late comments again.

 

1. Huge improvement over the LA game. This time the Canucks started strong and were the better team overall. 

 

2. The Canucks had the edge in the first period -- but not a 3-goal edge. The Canucks benefited from questionable goaltending by Rittich. The first goal was a solid goal -- a good shot on the PP from Myers at the point with traffic in front. But the second goal was soft. The third goal was a good play by the Canucks but a fortunate bounce. The second period was fairly close as both teams had some good looks and Calgary scored late. But the Canucks had an excellent third period and did a great job of shutting down Calgary. Natural Stat Trick credited Calgary with only 1 high danger chance in the 3rd period. I guess that was the Calgary goal. 

 

3. Have to give credit to the Horvat, Pearson, Eriksson line again. They had the primary shutdown duty against the Monahan line and did a great job against them --  and provided a lot of offence. I have been negative about Eriksson this season, but since Green put that line together it is has been very good, and that includes Eriksson. He still contributes nothing to the physical game but his defence is solid and he actually looks faster than he did earlier in the season (although obviously he is still not what you would call "fast"). He made a nice play on the first Pearson goal tonight. He was also good on the PK tonight. Having Edler and Eriksson available for the PK really helps. 

 

4. Have to say something about Myers. Obviously he had a big game with 2 goals and an assist, substantially increasing his point total for the year. He is looking more confident and he did make some nice plays. I think he was pretty fortunate to get 3 pts, but he did play a solid game -- much better than against LA.

 

5. Virtanen was good against LA and he was very good against Calgary. His goal but a bit lucky but it was a nice play, and it came right after he rocketed a shot off the post. Like Myers, he is playing with more confidence. It is a cliche in hockey to say that good offence starts with good defence. Personally I don't believe the causality necessarily runs in that direction. It can just as easily run the other way. Virtanen has been playing better defence since stepping up his offence. 

 

6. On a negative note, the Beagle line struggled. I know Green likes Beagle, Motte and Scaller, but they were crushed in Corsi numbers again tonight. Beagle himself had 5 Corsi attempts for and 15 against. And they gave up the only 5-on-5 goal.  And they had the LEAST time against the Monahan line of the 4 Canucks lines. They did not face particularly tough quality of competition. I was watching Schaller quite closely tonight. It seems to me that the rarely handles the puck cleanly. Green likes their physical game and their intensity. Beagle and Motte both play a hard physical game but I am beginning to have doubts about Schaller. 

 

7. Tonight's win was huge, moving the Canucks into second place in the Division, beating and leapfrogging a good team (Calgary) that has been ahead of them in the standings for a while. And it was a quality win, not a steal by the goalie (although Demko did play well). Great way to finish out 2019.   

Meyers has been great overall.  I don't get the hesitation to praise the guy. We are a much better team with him in the lineup.