[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at New Jersey Devils | Feb. 28, 2022

[Guest]

We obviously aren't going to be winning any games where Halak is letting in every second shot, so that's the whole game recap for me.  

 

My issue this entire season has been the play of Horvat and Boeser. Both of them constantly look deflated and invisible for what seems an entire week, only to come back and score the odd goal. They have been gifted PP1 on a silver platter and tons of minutes with good linemates. 

 

I'm not suggesting that we trade both, but if either one brings back a dman and a few high picks then there's your retool and cap flexibility all done in one move. 

[Gurn]

10 minutes ago, Borderline Canuck said:

Demko s play has been hiding the fact that our defence is not good enough.  That has to be addressed.  Also it's time to sit Hogs.  He doesn't show any resemblance to the player he was last yr.  Give somebody else a chance.

A true sophomore slump for Hogs.

Might be time to send him down to Abbottsford for a game or two-give him a ton of ice time and get back to playing his best.

[CanucksJay]

4 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

 

If that's you way guys see it that's fine/reasonable(?). I guess Halak just lost the game for us then and we have no other concerns and shouldn't address any issues or hold any of the players responsible in any way. Not a big deal at all really.

 

I will see you guys in round 1 of the playoffs. Go  Go! 

LOL

I totally hope we make the playoffs

I do agree with you and also hold the players accountable. They are too satisifed with being ok. They lack the desire or the effort required to go to the next level.

To me, it was very refreshing to hear BB being super frustrated last night and talking about all of the preperations that went in place for the game yesterday only to see them not ready to play.

I dont think that's BB throwing the players under the bus.

I think it's holding them accountable.  I think that's been my biggest issue with TG

zero accountability and that's why I place a lot of the culture issues we have on this team on him. 

I dunno if the damage is so great that we have to ship some bodies out and shake up the team to help everyone understand that coming to the rink not ready to play means you are gettign traded.

We've seen them not ready against NYI, Ana and now NJ under BB's coaching in his 30 games

It used to happen far more frequently under TG in less games coached (25 games)  (Flyers, Red Wings, Sabres, Hawks, Ducks x2, Avs) so in that sense, maybe team is getting better but still not there yet.

 

 

 

[CanucksJay]

6 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

We obviously aren't going to be winning any games where Halak is letting in every second shot, so that's the whole game recap for me.  

 

My issue this entire season has been the play of Horvat and Boeser. Both of them constantly look deflated and invisible for what seems an entire week, only to come back and score the odd goal. They have been gifted PP1 on a silver platter and tons of minutes with good linemates. 

 

I'm not suggesting that we trade both, but if either one brings back a dman and a few high picks then there's your retool and cap flexibility all done in one move. 

Yes

 

I am dissapointed in the play of Horvat and Boeser for sure.

We need more from those guys. They should be leaders on this team not passengers

[Gawdzukes]

4 minutes ago, gurn said:

4rth liners are fourth liners because they aren't good enough to be on a higher line. Either not as skilled, or consistent, or more prone to mistakes.

Halak has been ok this year- except for his last two starts.-where he has been brutal- and the team sucked- not likely to win.

Bad play results in being benched- players sit and goalies get pulled.

A player not being on the top of his game can result in reduced minutes in that game as well. Pearson played 15:13 and Horvat got 17:28

A couple of the D had brutal games  OEL and Meyers finished -3- so if those guys didn't play, would the team have only been down by 2 goals?

Obviously Halak wasn't good, thus he got pulled.

 

Bad starts have been and are continuing to kill this team, and the back up isn't good enough to keep a poor starting team in the game until/maybe the team wakes up.

Heck even Demko ,a Vezina caliber goalie hasn't managed to keep the team in every game they started poorly.

 

One other thing I'll mention is that there isn't much anyone can do about a backup goalie. He's the backup. Even with Ian Clark he can't just make him Demko. So when he starts you know what you're going to get. He's as good as he is. That's out of your control. What you can control as an everyday NHLer is what you do on the ice to help your backup goaltender and safeguard your team knowing you're not getting the same quality back there.

 

That didn't happen yesterday unfortunately so if you're looking at the game next day trying to fix stuff at practice you're better off addressing the things you can like focus and decision making. I know Halak played bad but that's my take from a team point of view. It doesn't do much good $&!#ting on your backup for the next two days/month.

[Nucker 67]

Rutherford himself could've slapped on a couple of phone books for pads and played better than Halak.

[Harold Drunken]

This team struggles mightily when the other team scores first, it takes the wind out right of their sails. We are a great team when we score first and get a bit if momentum, but when the other team scores first is seems to completely deflate them and it snowballs to 3-0, 4-0. Under BB, they are 14-4 when they score first but they are 4-8 when the other team scores first. There has to be better pushback and determination to win when they are behind. As Jeff Patterson said, the game can't be over at 1-0, they need to find a way to push back and press when down a couple goals.  A couple impressive wins against the Flames and Rangers but this team is either playing very well or terribly, there doesn't seem to be any in-between with them which must frustrate management when assessing the team and deadline possibilities. 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Harold Drunken

[wai_lai416]

1 hour ago, CanucksJay said:

No

I only really blame him for the last 2 starts where his save percentage was in the 50s.

 

What sucks is that they were against teams we should beat on paper while we are in a fight to make the playoffs. 

Thats potentially 4 pts blown which could be the reason we miss the playoffs. 

 

Sure the team also sucked in front of him but not. 571 save percentage bad... 

 

I get it, team is used to bailouts from Demko before they start moving their feet which is a problem. But at the same time, Halak's recent play does not instill any confidence for the players. He plays small and deep in the net...  

 

First goal by Hughes should have been a save. Halak loooked frustrated when it went in. Canucks are then already behind rhe 8 ball. 

2nd goal was ridiculous. I hang it on the forwards who left the zone early. 

Would have been a tough save even for Demko. 

3rd goal, Halak was already swimming before the pass across. He was literally facing the initial shooter on his knees... 

 

 

BB nailed it when he said that the 4th goal was the back breaker. 

Again deep in his net... In fact, inside his net. Should have been a save. 

 

I think up until the 4th goal, Halak made 1 save that was a good scoring chance. The remainder all went in. 

 

Anyway, you can't win in this league when spotting the opposition 3 goals. 

What happens is, the playera then start cheating to create offense and then get burned... 

 

I absolutely put this loss on Halak. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I said he was bad last night 

 

1st goal like it or not it was a 2 on 1 with the other teams best player.

 

2nd goal oel with a bad pass to myer who was put in a bad spot and he blind pass up the board

 

3rd goal yes he was sliding all over the place he went to his right scrambled back to his left have to scramble back to his right again.. but during that entire sequence there was no canucks player in the frame other than the guy that tried to tie up the goal scorer and failed epicly at it. So where was the other 3 player on the play.

 

4th goal he was bad too deep in his net

 

5th was the the schenn goal? 

 

6th I dont even remember I think he already given up at that point.

 

But what was consistent with all the goals he gave up? A bad play or turnover or a bounce off his defense.

 

Would have been nice if he save a couple of those. He was bad no denying it, but it was all results of bad play/turnover wasn't like devil casually skating into the zone throwing it on net and he whiffing on it. He was put in a tough situation by the player on the ice and he did not raise to the occasion.

[Hairy Kneel]

30 minutes ago, Borderline Canuck said:

Demko s play has been hiding the fact that our defence is not good enough.  That has to be addressed.  Also it's time to sit Hogs.  He doesn't show any resemblance to the player he was last yr.  Give somebody else a chance.

Man I googled their D bunch a big guys over there. New TB? 

[Harold Drunken]

1 hour ago, lmm said:

If you look at the last 3 games

Calgary - all the big boys come out to play

NYR - Horvat -2 no Garland or Boeser, but a mix of stars and secondary scoring

NJD - the defense came out bad, OEL gift on the first with Myers not playing the 2 or 1 well

Myers gift on the second,

Canucks outshot the Devils but no traffic in front of the 6th string goalie

Schenn takes a penalty and Hughes get beat on the goal

Schenn -3

but on a positive note, the much maligned Brad Hunt and Hamonic + Pearson are +1

Still no Beoser, Garland, PP had one chance to make a difference and failed

And I agree, Halak should have either not started or been pulled after the 4th goal

 

Halak and Hoglander should take a trip to Abbotsford

To be honest Quinn had a terrible game, he was a -3 and was clearly beat on multiple occasions. I'm not panicking as Quinn is usually great but he laid a big coiler last night too. 

[Nucker 67]

Just now, Harold Drunken said:

To be honest Quinn had a terrible game, he was a -3 and was clearly beat on multiple occasions. I'm not panicking as Quinn is usually great but he laid a big coiler last night too. 

Another year of bragging rights for Jack. 

 

I was watching Miller and Garland in both games, really hoping they'd shine and impress. It was the opposite IMO. Sure Miller got 3 apples over the two games, but so what? He and Garland we're pretty bad by their standards.  Devils and Rangers fans probably find it laughable what VAN is expecting in return for these players. I can almost hear Miller and Garland's value starting to decrease....

[spook007]

1 hour ago, CanucksJay said:

If you listen to BB's postgame, I have way more respect for him than TG. 

BB was direct. He went through morning meeting, evening meeting talking about what was at stake, full pre game coverage and still guys looked not ready to go and BB was clearly frustrated. I never got that sense from TG. He gave the other team credit. TG might be such a player's coach that he might have done all those things BB mentioned but didnt say it post game and shielded the team. Instead of responding for their coach, they continued to not put forth their best effort and now its become a habit. 

Itll be interesting to see what happens at the TDL. 

I believe the skill level is there but I question the character of many players on this team. 

I want a BB style team. 

No woe is me. 

Frustrated when losing game

 

Too many of our players have TG attitude "thats a good team over there" 

 

Its time they expect more from themselves. 

If they don't have that hunger to win, ship them out and get more BB guys. 

 

BB just wants a team that turns up every game... If they doo that, losing can be accepted, but this team just take the night off now and again.

Think Brock will be a high profile casualty, but may not be the only one...

[Harold Drunken]

1 minute ago, NUCKER67 said:

Another year of bragging rights for Jack. 

 

I was watching Miller and Garland in both games, really hoping they'd shine and impress. It was the opposite IMO. Sure Miller got 3 apples over the two games, but so what? He and Garland we're pretty bad by their standards.  Devils and Rangers fans probably find it laughable what VAN is expecting in return for these players. I can almost hear Miller and Garland's value starting to decrease....

BB was shocked at the lack of effort last night, to me the most frustrating thing about watching this team is how Jekyll and Hyde they are. You never know what team is going to show up?

[CanucksJay]

35 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

I tell you if I was playing in this playoff race knowing Halak had a couple previous rough starts my whole focus 110% would be about getting the puck out of the zone and making sure Halak saw zero to few good shots during the game. I would approach it like I was fighting in a war. But no the OEL and Myers giveaways for goals were atrocious and inexcusable for a team that apparently had to win that game.

Similar to how you see the loss as a team loss and not just on Halak, I think the Myers turnover goal was also on the team.

While the forechecker is in on Myers, the oposite side forward is cheating so far towards the goalline to take away the reverse pass. 

The 3rd Devil is at the hashmarks along the boards where Hogz should be (or as is taught in hockey at an early age)

If you watch the replay, Myers has the puck in the corner.  WHere are the forwards???? Myers first wants to reverse it to OEL but sees that he is covered.  Whats the next move? It's obviously up the boards.  WHere the hell is Hoglander though?

The play is suppsoed to be up the boards to Hogz at the sidewall, who then gives it to Miller coming off the button hook

 Anyway, I dont think its fair to dump Myers on this one.  He literally had no options.  You are never suppose to pass it from your own corner to the centre doing the buttom hook as a turnver there leads to a high danger scoring chance. If Myers doesnt reverse it, he needs to put it up the wall but Hogz wasnt there.  Who knows, maybe the Devils player called for it but watching this replay, Myers would literally need to have eyes on the back of his head to know to eat the puck as there was zero options.

 

 

 

[spook007]

51 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

I tell you if I was playing in this playoff race knowing Halak had a couple previous rough starts my whole focus 110% would be about getting the puck out of the zone and making sure Halak saw zero to few good shots during the game. I would approach it like I was fighting in a war. But no the OEL and Myers giveaways for goals were atrocious and inexcusable for a team that apparently had to win that game.

Bingo.... we have a winner +1

[DeNiro]

8 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said:

Another year of bragging rights for Jack. 

 

I was watching Miller and Garland in both games, really hoping they'd shine and impress. It was the opposite IMO. Sure Miller got 3 apples over the two games, but so what? He and Garland we're pretty bad by their standards.  Devils and Rangers fans probably find it laughable what VAN is expecting in return for these players. I can almost hear Miller and Garland's value starting to decrease....

We get them again in two weeks.

 

This time they don’t get a tired Canucks team and they’ll have to face Demko. Time to put an end to that stupid streak!

[KFan]

Yeah, Halak was a disaster, but so was the rest of the team. When Pearson may have been the best player on the ice, that's a bad performance by the entire team. Hoglander is so bad right now, as is Boeser, and I hate to say it, but so is Horvat. Our defense was pathetic, including Hughes, but forwards are also supposed to be part of the defense, and last night, they did not show up. I wish Halak would acknowledge how bad he's been and just walk away. He should be embarrassed. I wish Horvat would just give up the captaincy. I think he'd be a better player cause I think the pressure is too much for him. As much as Miller ticks me sometimes with his pouting and outbursts, at least he plays with passion and if he were captain, I believe some of that would rub off on other players who so badly need passion in their game. They exhibited so little passion with their turnovers and lack of board effort and quality shots, they couldn't be expected to win. Definitely one of the most frustrating games of the season.

 

On another note, that other Hughes kid ain't bad...and next year Luke will join NJ on defense. Mom sure taught those boys how to skate.

[Gawdzukes]

6 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

LOL

I totally hope we make the playoffs

I do agree with you and also hold the players accountable. They are too satisifed with being ok. They lack the desire or the effort required to go to the next level.

To me, it was very refreshing to hear BB being super frustrated last night and talking about all of the preperations that went in place for the game yesterday only to see them not ready to play.

I dont think that's BB throwing the players under the bus.

I think it's holding them accountable.  I think that's been my biggest issue with TG

zero accountability and that's why I place a lot of the culture issues we have on this team on him. 

I dunno if the damage is so great that we have to ship some bodies out and shake up the team to help everyone understand that coming to the rink not ready to play means you are gettign traded.

We've seen them not ready against NYI, Ana and now NJ under BB's coaching in his 30 games

It used to happen far more frequently under TG in less games coached (25 games)  (Flyers, Red Wings, Sabres, Hawks, Ducks x2, Avs) so in that sense, maybe team is getting better but still not there yet.

 

 

 

Yeah I agree 100% on Boudreau. He's been terrific and he was very honest and refreshing yesterday ... again. I think it will really inspire the team just seeing how he was almost speechless. I won't comment too much on Green because I don't know what went on in the room but I will admit he must share some of the blame but these are also some of the best hockey players on the planet so that only goes so far. They have to share at least some of the responsibility. I do agree as well Green was absolute horsesh!t in his post games.

 

Having said that and to be honest I think it's mostly due to the set up of the team. A bulk of the guys driving the bus Petterson, Boeser, Hughes, Demko, Bo, Hoglander, Podkolzin, Highmore, Lammikko ... are so very young. Miller leads with good play but he's not exactly a Linden, Lidstrom, or Chelios I don't think. We mock these guys a lot on cdc but Beagle, Roussel, and even LE at least provided veteran leadership. Right now we have all the kids running around with no one to listen to doing whatever they want. Miller does whatever he wants to. Like he can't just tell players not to make dumb passes in their own end because he does it all the time. Pearson is probably a strong leader. There are guys like OEL, Schenn, and Hamonic around but it just hasn't been enough.

 

Imagine having a player like Scott Walker, Corey Perry, or Giordano, on the bench telling guys like Petterson, and Hughes, stuff they can get away with or not on the ice. How to approach games, what to do in certain situations. Right now they're listening to themselves. I think it's a big factor.

[CanucksJay]

15 minutes ago, spook007 said:

BB just wants a team that turns up every game... If they doo that, losing can be accepted, but this team just take the night off now and again.

Think Brock will be a high profile casualty, but may not be the only one...

I agree

I have no qualms when they lose while going down fighting.

The loss in Tampa and that loss against Florida at home are great examples of that. I was proud of the team despite the loss.

I'm glad we got a veteran coach in BB and a hall of famer exec in JR.

They both know what it takes game in and game out and I'm sure they see the issues with this team.

There is too much complaceny on this roster. 

I would be hesitant to trade Miller.

We need more competitors on this team like him.

Horvat at this point looks like a Philip Danault except Danault is better defensively and was free as a UFA and only makes 5.5 for the next 6 years whe Horvat is making 5.5 and due for a raise.

I am a Horvat and Boeser fan but maybe this team needs a new identity

I would continue the course until TDL.  Any more of these letdown games would be a clear indication that we need a shakeup.

I would be ok keeping Miller and trading Horvat while getting some great prospects and then signing a 3c  like Danault.

I would also trade Boeser as well

 

 

 

 

[spook007]

2 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

I agree

I have no qualms when they lose while going down fighting.

The loss in Tampa and that loss against Florida at home are great examples of that. I was proud of the team despite the loss.

I'm glad we got a veteran coach in BB and a hall of famer exec in JR.

They both know what it takes game in and game out and I'm sure they see the issues with this team.

There is too much complaceny on this roster. 

I would be hesitant to trade Miller.

We need more competitors on this team like him.

Horvat at this point looks like a Philip Danault except Danault is better defensively and was free as a UFA and only makes 5.5 for the next 6 years whe Horvat is making 5.5 and due for a raise.

I am a Horvat and Boeser fan but maybe this team needs a new identity

I would continue the course until TDL.  Any more of these letdown games would be a clear indication that we need a shakeup.

I would be ok keeping Miller and trading Horvat while getting some great prospects and then signing a 3c  like Danault.

I would also trade Boeser as well

 

 

 

 

agree 100%