Nino Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 3rd line needs him back big time. He's looking like the glue that holds it together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magician Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 He's looking like the glue that holds it together. Him and Richardson were beasting. He forechecks so well. Need em back fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moustachio Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Earlier in the season it felt right to say that if Bo made the team, Matthias would be the odd one out... but watching the last two games when the team has (perhaps understandably) seemed a bit lifeless, I am happily surprised at how much the team misses him and how wrong I was. He's one of the few Canucks with the size, speed (and skill) to regularly skate the puck deep into the offensive zone, and if he's not doing that, he'll often he'll manufacture offensive zone time by hassling the puck carrier until he turns it over. A tired team constantly botching "cute" o-zone entries over the last couple of games really takes it's toll, because we can't arrest the other teams momentum. I think he'd have helped in that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyhee Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I'm wondering if Matthias is presently playing hurt, or if he hasn't gotten over the Robidas hit. His play has taken a serious downturn. Hopefully it's just part of the ebb and flow of the season, but his benching in the last half of the 3rd period against San Jose the other night got me wondering just how bad it had gotten. In 6 games since he's been back after the Robidas hit, he has 1 goal, 0 assists, 1 pt, is -1. It's actually worse than that, though. He hasn't had a hit credited to him in his past 4 games, nor a single shot credited to him in his last 2 games. Game by Game: TOI g a pt +/- shots hits BkSht GVA TKA CorsiFor% ZoneSt Dec 13 v NYR (loss 1-5) 14:06 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 71% 90% Dec 17 v Stars (L 2-0) 13:08 0 0 0 -1 2 3 0 0 0 21% 43% Dec 20 v Flames (W 3-2) 13:56 0 0 0 +1 3 0 0 0 0 56% 50% Dec 22 v Coyotes (W 7-1) 12:53 1 0 1 0 3 0 4 0 1 22% 0 !! Dec 28 v Ducks (L 2-1) 12:29 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 1 0 40% 25% Dec 30 v SJS (W 3-1) 9:33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 41% 80% !! where BKSht= blocked shot; GVA = giveaway; TKA= takeaway Source: for CorsiF% and ZoneSt hockeystats.ca; for all others official game boxscores from canucks.nhl.com. Corsi and ZoneSt are at 5 on 5. A word about the corsi-where the game is out of hand early the losing team tends to have far more shots than the leading team. Accordingly in the Rangers game where Canucks were down 3 goals before the 7 minute mark of the 1st period, Canucks Corsi was very high. Similarly, in the game against the Coyotes where the Canucks had an early blowout, Canucks Corsi was very low. The 3 forwards who were benched in the late going against San Jose happen to have been the worst for Corsi that game as well. Vey tied Matthias at 41%, ahead of only Horvat. But Matthias had a ridiculously high Zone start %-80%, which gives him an advantage. His Corsi was worse than the actual number indicated. (For that SJ game, Vey had a takeaway and won his 2 faceoffs, with no shots, no hits, no blocked shots. Horvat had 1 goal on 1 shot, was +1, had 1 hit, 1 giveaway and lost 9 of his 12 faceoffs.) Corsi stats for 1 game suffer from a similar problem as +/- in that the sample size is small. Still, the boxscores show no shots in 2 games, no hits in 4 games and 1 point in 6 games (a goal in a blowout 7-1 win) all suggesting Matthias hasn't been a factor on the ice, which is consistent with his benching the last half of the 3rd period against San Jose. Going to the front of the net without the puck is something that wouldn't be shown in any of these stats-has anyone noticed him being strong heading to the net on a regular basis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balderdash Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I'm wondering if Matthias is presently playing hurt, or if he hasn't gotten over the Robidas hit. His play has taken a serious downturn. Hopefully it's just part of the ebb and flow of the season, but his benching in the last half of the 3rd period against San Jose the other night got me wondering just how bad it had gotten. In 6 games since he's been back after the Robidas hit, he has 1 goal, 0 assists, 1 pt, is -1. It's actually worse than that, though. He hasn't had a hit credited to him in his past 4 games, nor a single shot credited to him in his last 2 games. Game by Game: TOI g a pt +/- shots hits BkSht GVA TKA CorsiFor% ZoneSt Dec 13 v NYR (loss 1-5) 14:06 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 71% 90% Dec 17 v Stars (L 2-0) 13:08 0 0 0 -1 2 3 0 0 0 21% 43% Dec 20 v Flames (W 3-2) 13:56 0 0 0 +1 3 0 0 0 0 56% 50% Dec 22 v Coyotes (W 7-1) 12:53 1 0 1 0 3 0 4 0 1 22% 0 !! Dec 28 v Ducks (L 2-1) 12:29 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 1 0 40% 25% Dec 30 v SJS (W 3-1) 9:33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 41% 80% !! where BKSht= blocked shot; GVA = giveaway; TKA= takeaway Source: for CorsiF% and ZoneSt hockeystats.ca; for all others official game boxscores from canucks.nhl.com. Corsi and ZoneSt are at 5 on 5. A word about the corsi-where the game is out of hand early the losing team tends to have far more shots than the leading team. Accordingly in the Rangers game where Canucks were down 3 goals before the 7 minute mark of the 1st period, Canucks Corsi was very high. Similarly, in the game against the Coyotes where the Canucks had an early blowout, Canucks Corsi was very low. The 3 forwards who were benched in the late going against San Jose happen to have been the worst for Corsi that game as well. Vey tied Matthias at 41%, ahead of only Horvat. But Matthias had a ridiculously high Zone start %-80%, which gives him an advantage. His Corsi was worse than the actual number indicated. (For that SJ game, Vey had a takeaway and won his 2 faceoffs, with no shots, no hits, no blocked shots. Horvat had 1 goal on 1 shot, was +1, had 1 hit, 1 giveaway and lost 9 of his 12 faceoffs.) Corsi stats for 1 game suffer from a similar problem as +/- in that the sample size is small. Still, the boxscores show no shots in 2 games, no hits in 4 games and 1 point in 6 games (a goal in a blowout 7-1 win) all suggesting Matthias hasn't been a factor on the ice, which is consistent with his benching the last half of the 3rd period against San Jose. Going to the front of the net without the puck is something that wouldn't be shown in any of these stats-has anyone noticed him being strong heading to the net on a regular basis? The reality is if Matthias isn't going then the third line isn't going. From a defensive standpoint Vey is the weak link on the line. I think the benching of Matthias in the third has to be looked at in terms of Willie not trusting Horvat as he moved Richardson down to play with Burrows and Dorset. Matthias ends up as odd man out because even he can't cover For Horvat and Vey's D zone shortcomings. The third line has had Vey and Sestito on in in recent games. Yes Matthias needs to step it up but would suggest so do his line mates. Of all four lines feel the third is the one that isn't quite right yet and if we weren't winning at the moment pretty sure Kassian would already be back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudrias Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I suspect Kassian or Sestito will be in tonight. I agree with the Vey comments but a finesse player like Vey can only get better with time and ice. This is his first full season. He was getting quicker with the puck and showing improvement but it is a 'process'. I would argue that it is Richardson who makes the 3rd line go not Matthias. 'tyhee' had good stats. Matthias was having a great stretch until the Robidas hit. Not so worried about PPG but liked his board work and puck control. Matthias might benefit from Kass returning as he does have a nice shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balderdash Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I suspect Kassian or Sestito will be in tonight. I agree with the Vey comments but a finesse player like Vey can only get better with time and ice. This is his first full season. He was getting quicker with the puck and showing improvement but it is a 'process'. I would argue that it is Richardson who makes the 3rd line go not Matthias. 'tyhee' had good stats. Matthias was having a great stretch until the Robidas hit. Not so worried about PPG but liked his board work and puck control. Matthias might benefit from Kass returning as he does have a nice shot. My argument against Richardson making the third line go even though his point totals are up this year is that I find he is losing a lot more of the important face offs this year. Also I find his work down low in the d zone suspect at times. Just not big or strong enough to help dig out the puck behind the d net and third line spends too much time in own zone because of. Also he really isn't quick enough to get up and lead the charge out of own zone so wingers have to rush making it easier for the d just to angle wingers off into boards. Interested to see how he does tonight against LA's big forwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudette Celly Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Time for some Kassian tonic to get them rejuvenated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiboynux4lifee******* Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 the beast has went to sleep lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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