[PGT] St. Louis Blues at Vancouver Canucks | Jan. 27, 2020

[D-Money]

3 hours ago, shayster007 said:

My first ever win tonight! 4 games in my 30 years, and finally a great win. My Dad's 7th game, and his first win as well! 

 

Crowd was great tonight, Canucks were flying, but the churro was just alright.

 

GO CANUCKS GO

[LowerMainLander18]

By the way, Beagle had a great game. 

He was throwing his body in front  of those shots. I remember one occasion where he blocked one with the back side of his torso, got stung, stayed in, blocked another right on the same shift.

 

PK was on point, too. One of the best PK performance Ive seen in awhile.

 

He earned those NHL minutes. And I rather have him do his thing out there than have our young star forwards blocking shots out there. 

 

Also with our current roster log jam in the bottom 6, I think Beagle did the absolute noble thing sacrificing his body like that knowing there are players that could jump in, should he ever get injured. 

Both his action and his attitude were admirable. True veteran leadership and he set a pretty good example out there. 

 

He was well rested during the ASG break and I think Green was smart to deploy him the minutes he ended up getting.

[xereau]

 

[Rounoush]

4 hours ago, Trebreh said:

1st star goes to the woman in green behind the Blues bench for distracting the opposition. 

 

[Kanukfanatic]

7 hours ago, Rindiculous said:

I think that might be the worst effort of the season.  Good on Demko to steal one

What??  

 

The Canucks played a good game......weird take imo.

[Duodenum]

6 hours ago, oldnews said:

Beagle is 19th on the team in ice time/game.

 

You're dwelling absurdly on a one game sample - where the team was defending a lead against the SCC.

 

Everyone else is enjoying the win - while you're whiffing on why Green would opt to lean on Beagle under the circumstances.

 

Everything, including deployment, is fair game to critique regardless of whether the Canucks win or not. There's been plenty of games the Canucks lost but I was happy with their play. 

I wouldn't say I'm dwelling, just had to get back to a lot of responses.

[Jester13]

5 hours ago, Pete M said:

you should have been at the game...that line got hemmed in and were scrambling on most of their shifts....or can pretend not to notice.

 

Can really see this team's strengths and their limitations (weakness)...Beagle needs to improve his play, or this team will get burned.

I agree. If this team has a weakness it's the 4th line above anything else.

[Silent Man]

7 hours ago, Setyoureyesontheprize said:

Sure STB had some sustained zone time but the boys didn’t lose their assignments and battled hard to get in front of pucks with their bodies and sticks. Didn’t force plays, stayed patient and won the game. Would still like to see us play a bit more confrontational but all together good game following a long break .

Exactly. I think it was not a very good time for Canucks to play SL.  

[Knucklehd]

7 hours ago, JamesB said:

 

 

 

As Tystick and many others point out, this was a big win (and 9 in a row at home). Here are some comments.

 

1. Demko obviously had an excellent game and was deservedly named the first star. However, I would not call this game a steal. The Canucks actually played a good game. St. Louis outshot the Canucks, but Natural Stat Trick gives the Canucks a slight edge in High Danger Chances (14 to 13). That is how I saw it as well -- a pretty even game that could have gone either way. Great play by Demko tipped the balance in our favour. 

 

2. Considering that the Canucks were up against the defending Cup champions and the best team in the Conference, this was an impressive performance. 

 

3. One interesting change from before the break is that Green did not go with an extreme matchup game tonight. The Horvat line still had more time against the O'Reilly line  than any other line by a significant margin, but the Beagle line and the Pettersson line also played against the o'Reilly line quite a lot. At even strength Horvat had 6:31 against O'Reilly, EP had 4:25, Beagle had 3:04, and Gaudette had almost nothing (46 seconds). 

 

4. One issue is that St. Louis has a relatively balanced team with a lot of threats. Still, the Horvat line had by far the toughest minutes overall and they still won the Corsi battle while keeping their opponents off the scoresheet. I was watching Loui quite a lot tonight and was impressed by a lot of the defensive plays he made. And of course Horvat and Pearson were very good again. Horvat came up very big in the faceoff circle (again) going 10 and 5. Those guys continue to be an outstanding shutdown line and I was glad to see them get the empty net goal at the end (again) as they deserved to get on the board. 

 

5. Lots of people have mentioned Virtanen and Miller, who were excellent, but EP was also good. They had fairly tough minutes and did well in Corsi -- closed to 50-50. But, they dominated in high danger chances (6 to 3 in favour) and of course came up with two big goals on excellent plays.

 

 6. Virtanen looks great with Miller and EP. As I noted after the last game, if you did not know the history and just watched tonight's game, you would think that Virtanen was a better player than Boeser. He certainly looked better tonight. He speed, his physical game, his passing and even his defensive play all look good. 

 

7. Speaking of Boeser, he did not have a good night. He was crushed in on-ice Corsi (3 shot attempts for, 15 against) and did not generate anything close to a good scoring chance at even strength. I saw him miss a couple of passes that a faster player would have gotten to. And he has now gone 5 games without getting on the scoresheet-- the longest drought of his career. I wonder if he is injured. Anyway, I hope he comes around soon.  The Gaudette line overall had the easiest minutes and the worst performance as measured by Corsi or scoring chances. 

 

8. The Beagle line had tougher minutes than they have had recently and their Corsi numbers suffered accordingly, but they held their own from a defensive point of view. 

 

9. As for the D, obviously Hughes made a bad play on the St. Louis goal when he tried a risky play in his own end, trying to beat two guys trying to check him. I also thought he was shooting a bit too much on the PP. I can appreciate that his confidence is riding high after making the all-star team and them coming up with an excellent performance and after all the accolades he has been getting (including from Gretzky). But it is possible to be too confident. A lot of people say it is good if players are a bit cocky, but Hughes might be getting close to the line. He did have a good game overall, though. 

 

10. The time-on-ice for the D was very even tonight. The guy who impressed me was Fantenberg. In the GDT thread some people were complaining about Fantenberg playing instead of Benn. Fanty has actually been much better than Benn this year. He deserves to be playing. 

 

11. No one wants to get ahead of themselves and look too far ahead. But I get the feeling that the players think the team could have something special this year and if they get to the playoffs, who knows. 

Thanks JamesB, as always, well said.  I hope the players are able to stay somewhat grounded too though.  I like swagger and cocky, but too much starts to hurt more than benefit.

 

Also, I love Virt on the first line, but wonder if it might be better to switch them back, or move others around.  That 3rd line is not as dangerous as with Virt on it.  Boeser just doesn't seem to be driving that line like I thought he would.

[BMorrison 7]

I am so proud of this team right now, we are playing like team we should be.  Doing everything and anything to win.

 

[Duodenum]

Shameless reposts from the Canucks subreddit:

 

[Hogs & Podz]

8 hours ago, Trebreh said:

1st star goes to the woman in green behind the Blues bench for distracting the opposition. 

 

Did anyone get a picture?... The game within the game lol!

[Phat Fingers]

Just managed to catch the highlights this morning.... that was awesome.  

 

Can't wait to watch the whole game, but from what I saw, statement game.  This another game that the fans could have given then a mulligan due to the ling break.  

 

Instead they, in what I saw, held their own and more vs the cup champs.  You could tell they wanted it, cause after the Hughes give away, due to some really good forechecking, the team could have mailed it in.  Especially with the Miller pass up the middle... Demko made the saves he had to make, and then the team really seemed committed.  Horvat is getting so many good chances... So is Eriksson.  Petey and Jake and Miller.... sorry Brock, but Jake looks better with Petey than you do atm.  

 

Jake is making some smart plays after a sneaky shot and a low percentage shot early.  That is turning over pucks, getting the puck to the best shot atm, could be Jake, Miller or Petey.  The play is not dying on Jake's stick....

Jake Virtanen is currently a top 3 player on an NHL team.  

 

That is special and I am so glad that he got there as a Canuck.  

 

I saw a committed game, like when Petey dove on the puck to seal it after that brilliant save by Demko.  When your leading scorer, all star player is diving on pucks in the crease, that just shows a commitment that is truly an All Star Level.  

 

Statement game by a damn &^@#ing good team.  I love the way this is playing, rivals the 94 team in skill, type of depth and compete. 

 

I can honestly say that this is my favorite core of players I have ever seen play for the nucks going back to the 82 team.  

 

 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[EP Phone Home]

10 minutes ago, Duodenum said:

Shameless reposts from the Canucks subreddit:

 

Always love going to CDC and Canucks subreddit for the memes and giggles. Thanks for sharing.

 

Great gutsy win by our young and maturing team. We have two studs in net and I would rather be thankful for having such a duo then to be worried about losing it. Whatever happens with the ED will happen but can we just enjoy this season for what it is? A team that’s on it’s way to becoming relevant and a mainstay playoff team. Not there yet but with wins like these, we aren’t too far off. 
 

3 point lead for the division is a great way to wake up in the morning.

[73 Percent]

7 hours ago, Sean Monahan said:

Just read through it and it’s definitely heavy on the salt. Rigged officiating (didn’t STL have more PP’s?), fluke goaltending performance by Demko, the weird skinny alien kid is overrated and Binnington should’ve got the Calder, etc. 
 

They’re also claiming the Schwartz high stick on petey (which saw Schenn go to the box) was on his elbow or shoulder, saying Petey should be fined for embellishment. Anyone got a replay of that?

The blues feed was kind of avoiding the replay. Hook or high stick it's still a penalty.

[JM_]

7 hours ago, JamesB said:

7. Speaking of Boeser, he did not have a good night. He was crushed in on-ice Corsi (3 shot attempts for, 15 against) and did not generate anything close to a good scoring chance at even strength. I saw him miss a couple of passes that a faster player would have gotten to. And he has now gone 5 games without getting on the scoresheet-- the longest drought of his career. I wonder if he is injured. Anyway, I hope he comes around soon.  The Gaudette line overall had the easiest minutes and the worst performance as measured by Corsi or scoring chances. 

imo its not Boeser, that line is just a poor fit of players. Brock's GF% is great away from that line, nearly 60% but drops like a stone to 33% with it (https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20192020&thruseason=20192020&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=VAN&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2019-10-02&td=2020-04-04&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8478874&p2=8478444&p3=8474849&p4=0&p5=0)

 

When Jake is s with Rous and AG that lines GF% shoots up to 54,5%. Jakes speed and ability to carry the puck out of trouble really helped that line. But with Boeser its unable to do that and they get hemmed in a lot.

 

The success Jake is having with Miller is great, but its coming at a price of having a pretty ineffective 3rd line. Brock hasnt got a point yet with that line according to Dobber. That pairing of Rous and AG wasn't much of a 5 on 5 producer anyway and this move has just made it worse.

 

If Green must have Boeser on the 3rd line I hope he switches Sutter and Rousel, maybe Sutters more of a fit given his style? he can certainly help that line defensively and maybe get it more chances out of our zone. 

[-DLC-]

That was a great game.  The Blues are a tough team and no pushover for sure, but the boys compete level was high.  They matched intensity and weren't afraid to battle to get this win.

 

Demko was amazing...so good to see him start to flourish and gain some valuable confidence.

 

I LOVE Bo's determination in how he's driving to the net.  He's full on captain material.

 

Tanev quietly gathering points.

 

Miller.  Stud.

 

Petey is a warrior...throwing hits and helping make sure Demko covers that puck (wow, what a save!).  I keep seeing how much of an unselfish, team player he is and he really will do whatever it takes to win.  Never floats.

 

Jake is really starting to show his stuff and I honestly feel that being around Petey, Quinn, etc. has helped him set the bar and he's really making an impact.

 

Everyone just got involved and the most noticeable thing was how we just weren't backing away/down.  We were "in there", fighting for the puck and that tic tac toe play was a thing of beauty to celebrate the win.

 

Fun night with good people...loving this season.  My friends graded my cowbelling at 8.5...missed the final game ending horn salute because I was dropping stuff all over the ground.

[Bertorama]

I’m so choked I missed this game. I thought it was tonight !! Woke up this am to the Double U. 
 

damn all star break screwing with my schedule chemistry lol. 
 

way to go Canucks that’s a character win !

 

Been a Fan of Jake all year love that he’s coming of age in his game! 
 

Miller this guy is a leader we can count on each game to step up and play.  
 

 

[Rob_Zepp]

Anyone arguing against having players like Sutter, Beagle, Roussel, Motte and Virtanen on the Canucks don't appreciate the different between regular season and playoff hockey.   JT Miller included for that matter.   When Sutter, Beagle are out of the lineup, for two examples, the Canucks play with a lead like it is live hand grenade.   EP40 and the other elite talented youngsters the Canucks have are key to winning and down the road will improve even more defensively but for now, their job is to get the team the lead and then watch how a lead is protected versus being out there playing hand grenades.