[PGT] San Jose Sharks at Vancouver Canucks // December 23, 2023

[Hairy Kneel]

4 hours ago, Pure961089 said:

I hope Kuzy uses this free time for conditioning just to get him up to par.  It's evident the fans love him, i hope h uses this time off to reset and make a real effort to buy into Tocchet's system 

I think if he hits the weight room it would be good. He could do more in the slot, the dirty areas. Hogs seems to have added that to his game.

[Gurn]

5 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

Er um Tocchet stripped Kuzmenko of his confidence and then the bum only potted two goals tonight. Was the trip to the dog house really worth it???

 

I would not be surprised to see Kuze sit out the next game.

Some people are quick learners, some are slow, and some never do.

Imo the first category is out of Kuze's reach.

Hope he, or the team figure out if he's in the second category before the league figures out he in 'never do' group. 

He still has trade value, be a shame to see him lose that, before a decision is made.

 

 

[Gurn]

Petey is beginning to worry me.

Couple years back I was wondering if he was superstar level or 'merely' a star.

He picked up his game, and  I was pretty much convinced he was a superstar player.

Recently, I'm starting to wonder, again.

 

Without checking his game by game stats, first,- can anyone remember the last time Petey dominated a game?

 

edit to add- one positive about his lower level of play is it will result in a lower level of contract, making him more affordable, and helping keep the team stronger overall.

Edited December 24, 2023 by Gurn

[Boudrias]

Great that Kuz potted a couple but his line had d-zone issues again. Close to X-Mass and the boys have played a lot of hockey so they get a pass IMHO. SJ had lots of looks and at the other end the puck was not bouncing for the Canucks like it usually does. 

 

What I noticed was how much the d-core was being activated last night. We expect it from Hughes and Hronek but Meyers, Cole and Juulson were pinching and even diving into the corners a bit.  Zad not so much. There were enough plays that I had to conclude it was designed by the coaches. Do they consider their high forwards reliable enough to cover? 

 

Back to my regular tire pumping on Juulson. He outplayed Meyers last night. In the above mentioned forays into the ozone he was solid without risking to much. His hit in the 3rd (?) was a cruncher. His puck recovery in the d-zone was solid and exit passing good. Meyers on the otherhand was leaning towards his traditional play. He went for a ozone skate in the 3rd when the game was still not locked down. Now if that is what the coaches are asking from him then it isn't on him. He did have a number of solid looks in the ozone. But his skate in the 3rd was out of line especially is + 3 minute shift. He failed on a zone clear in the 4th SJ goal and the resulting FO led to the goal. Border line panic on a few plays. The type of play can build on itself. All this said Meyers is a beautiful skater and covers ice very quickly. I'd love to talk to Gonchar about Meyers. 

[Bob Long]

8 hours ago, HKSR said:

So I guess we're not getting that Macklin Celebrini kid eh?

 

Poor kid is going to be a shark. 

[Boudrias]

14 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Petey is beginning to worry me.

Couple years back I was wondering if he was superstar level or 'merely' a star.

He picked up his game, and  I was pretty much convinced he was a superstar player.

Recently, I'm starting to wonder, again.

 

Without checking his game by game stats, first,- can anyone remember the last time Petey dominated a game?

 

edit to add- one positive about his lower level of play is it will result in a lower level of contract, making him more affordable, and helping keep the team stronger overall.

I get your concern. Being on the ice for 3 goals against when he is usually d-zone eliable is concerning. In the ozone he had 7 shots and could easily of scored 2 goals. He is #9 in NHL scoring. It appears to me that it is Petey-Miller-Hughes who have the mental toughness to drive this team to CUP play. Not an excuse but I more question whether Mik and Kuz are top 6 players. RT has put Lafferty and Suter on that line with mixed results. The 3rd line has been playing so well where would you put Mik if you dropped him down? What ppg should you expect from Petey line mates?  

[Bob Long]

3 hours ago, Alflives said:

Yup post game guys critical of Demki’s game again. Two single bubble games now. Need Double Bubble Boy back. Where did he go? 

 

He's in there. Imo he could still be nursing some lingering soreness from his injury. Thankfully he can be properly time managed this year.

[Gurn]

7 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

I get your concern. Being on the ice for 3 goals against when he is usually d-zone eliable is concerning. In the ozone he had 7 shots and could easily of scored 2 goals. He is #9 in NHL scoring. It appears to me that it is Petey-Miller-Hughes who have the mental toughness to drive this team to CUP play. Not an excuse but I more question whether Mik and Kuz are top 6 players. RT has put Lafferty and Suter on that line with mixed results. The 3rd line has been playing so well where would you put Mik if you dropped him down? What ppg should you expect from Petey line mates?  

For Mik- if he gets a different line I wonder if having him with Garland and Joshua would make that pairing even better?- but I'm also not sure I'd want to try, as it might 'ruin' the 3rd line chemistry.

I'd say  a 120 point Petey should have line mates at a point a game, and a 100 point E.P would have line mates getting 55-70 points.

Maybe Elias is still bothered by what most of us figured as a nagging injury, hopefully after a break he bounces back.

Funny part, even as poor as his recent play has been he is, as you said, 9th overall.

[tas]

39 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Petey is beginning to worry me.

Couple years back I was wondering if he was superstar level or 'merely' a star.

He picked up his game, and  I was pretty much convinced he was a superstar player.

Recently, I'm starting to wonder, again.

 

Without checking his game by game stats, first,- can anyone remember the last time Petey dominated a game?

 

edit to add- one positive about his lower level of play is it will result in a lower level of contract, making him more affordable, and helping keep the team stronger overall.

worry when the team is losing. 

 

wins are all that matters. 

[CanucksJay]

12 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

I get your concern. Being on the ice for 3 goals against when he is usually d-zone eliable is concerning. In the ozone he had 7 shots and could easily of scored 2 goals. He is #9 in NHL scoring. It appears to me that it is Petey-Miller-Hughes who have the mental toughness to drive this team to CUP play. Not an excuse but I more question whether Mik and Kuz are top 6 players. RT has put Lafferty and Suter on that line with mixed results. The 3rd line has been playing so well where would you put Mik if you dropped him down? What ppg should you expect from Petey line mates?  

 

Fair point but when I see Miller, he's playing with Hogz (who was an RT whipping boy and was in and out of the lineup as a 4th liner earlier this season). His other linemate is Brock who (to his credit looks really good this year but we couldn't trade him last year because no one wanted him) 

On paper, Petey is playing with the faster more skilled players who also coincidentally make more. His linemates make 12m while Miller's makes a combined 8m. 

We could try just for funsies to swap Miller and Petey while keeping the rest of the linemates the same and see what happens but what is your first thought of a Petey, Hog, Boeser line? 

No dependable guy in our own zone like Mik. Undersized guy in Hogz. I'd be scared Petey's line might get lit up if he plays with Hogz and Boeser. 

 

On the other hand, Miller with Mik and Kuz? They'd be fine. 

 

That's precisely why Petey shouldn't make 10.5m+

 

He is not even the 1C on this team. He may be eventually but right now he is not. 

 

The fact we can't just plug him in wherever and know he'll be ok is the problem. 

[Gurn]

9 minutes ago, tas said:

worry when the team is losing. 

 

wins are all that matters. 

you do it your way, I'll do it my way.

Merry Christmas.

[Rekker]

7 hours ago, RinkonRenfrew said:

Ugly game. No one really deserves to be called out though. Seems like they knew they were playing SJ. I don’t like that and expect/hope they would play a more serious game. That said, that’s the right team to coast against.

 

We’re number 1 if we ignore pts% and greatly outperforming our off-season expectations. Thank you to our team. Plenty of time to nitpick at what we can improve on later.  i’m going to bed happy tonight.

Exactly, weak opponent, Christmas with family in town, and a successful start to the season in the back pocket. I can't blame the players for being a little off at times this game. They amped it up when needed and sometimes that's all a good team needs to do to win. Good times and lots to be smiling about going into Christmas. 

[Bob Long]

1 minute ago, Rekker said:

Exactly, weak opponent, Christmas with family in town, and a successful start to the season in the back pocket. I can't blame the players for being a little off at times this game. They amped it up when needed and sometimes that's all a good team needs to do to win. Good times and lots to be smiling about going into Christmas. 

 

SJ also played chippy. We shamed them.

[Barnstorm]

Re defensive lapses last night;  

As long as I can remember the team has played poorly first game back on home ice after an extended eastward trip.

For how many years would last night have been assumed a loss before the puck even dropped? 
 

It wasn’t their best game however they dominated much of the game and got the two points. I’ll happily move on from this game knowing the entire league is below us , particularly Edmonton at a whopping 18 points. 

 

[tas]

27 minutes ago, Gurn said:

you do it your way, I'll do it my way.

Merry Christmas.

my way includes skewering the naysayers. 

[spook007]

8 hours ago, BIGGESTCANUCKSFANEVER said:

 

Brilliant... just magic 

[OldFaithfulcap]

Was an ugly win, but a win.

 

This team still has a lot more gears. If pettey can get back to his form and kuz too, and miller-boeser keep rolling, plus soucy and hughes, hronek and demko back to full form that's a hell of a team. 

[John.Tallhouse]

 

[Pickly]

I wonder what your odds would have been at the start of the year having the Canucks tied for 1st in the league in points at Christmas. 

Edited December 24, 2023 by Pickly

[grumpyone]

I may be wrong but Petey is playing more like a $9 million a year player than a $12 million contract.

This may be the best thing for the team as we can sign other players to raises without breaking the bank. 

[spook007]

7 hours ago, JamesB said:

Lots of things happening tonight.

 

1. First, great to get the win and go into the Christmas break in first place alone on top of the NHL standings.

 

2. The continuing headline is the Garland-Joshua-Blueger line. They were great again and, for the second night in a row, were the top 3 Canucks in the "statcards" advanced stats. They also looked good in the advanced stats in Natural Stat Trick. And they were each +2 and picked up 5 points between them. And Joshua led the team in hits again with 4. Blueger and Joshua are also important on the PK.

 

3. The next headline is Kuzy, who scored the first two Canucks goals on very nice plays and was named first star. But, he did not actually play very well after those two early goals. On the the first San Jose goal he got trapped in the San Jose end after what looked like a weak forechecking effort, resulting in an odd man rush the other way.  He was on the ice for the second goal but probably was not doing anything wrong. On the third goal he was unable to make a check in the neutral zone then had a slow change. He was on the bench by the time the goal was scored so did not get a "minus". Tocchet cannot be happy with that play. On the 4th goal, Kuzy's assignment was probably to take away the back door play, so that was a mistake. With Suter on that line there is good chance that San Jose does not get the first, third, or fourth goals. Kuzy finished the night at a well-deserved minus 2. But he was trying hard and obviously he has a lot of skill. Also, his mistakes are correctable. He is still a big question mark.

 

4. On the third goal the cross-ice pass that led to the goal went right through Hoglander. In the offensive zone he really focuses and gets his puck on his stick. He needs to focus just as hard in the D-zone. I was not surprised to see Suter replace him on Miller's line late in the game. Hogs has made a lot of progress but he still has a lot of work to do on his defensive game. Overall the top two lines were okay (and Miller and Petey had two points each) but they had ups and downs. 

 

5. The 4th line deserves a separate point as Suter, Aman, and Lafferty all scored tonight (although not while playing together as a line). And Suter and Aman were good on the PK.

 

5. On D, Hughes had another big game. But I was interested in Tocchet's post-game comments on Juulsen. He emphasized how much Juulsen has improved (which he obviously has) and gave a lot of credit to Foote and Gonchar as well as the Juulsen. It seems like Juulsen has benefited a lot from coaching. Anyway, tonight he actually led the Canucks in expected goal differential at 5-on-5, which has to be a first. And he played over 16 minutes again, almost as much as Z. He was very good on the PK. He logged significantly more time on the PK and Hronek and had a lower xGA (expected goals against). He has really helped the PK. Some guys are more coachable than others and the Canucks finally have coaches who can work effectively on development. Myers had some of his usual chaotic moments but I won't add anything. He and Zadorov struggled tonight and were at the bottom of many of the advanced stats categories.

 

6. Four goals on 25 shots is not a good stat line for Demmer and, on a good night, he probably stops at least one of the shots that got by him, but he made some big saves and there were too many defensive breakdowns around him.

 

7. It was a sloppy win against a weak team. Obviously Tocchett would like a much tighter game. But he was not too critical in his post-game comments and emphasized that everyone was tired and could really use a break. And they have had a great first three months. The players have a lot of reasons to feel good about themselves going into the break, including being in first place, which is amazing.

 

 

 

Best wishes for the holidays!

On point as usual James.

 

Merry Christmas to you and yours as well

 

[TheGuardian]

The team got Demko a win instead of Demko having to stand on his head and steal one.

 

I thought I saw something on one of Demko's moves, probably nothing but kind of reminds of his last injury. 

Goals through the wicket, didn't get across all the way.

Last time it was the right leg, this time the left. I hope it was just my imagination.

 

Zadorov had his worst game since being a Canuck.

 

Myers skates great and can he fly, Zarorov pretty quick too but he just doesn't look as fast but neither were outskated.

 

What a great shot by Kuzmenko, a laser. Good tip in, that's tough to do. He passed up a couple of good scoring opportunities setting up Boeser.

 

First place in points, a great accomplishment and Xmas present for the fans

[Silent Man]

1 hour ago, Rekker said:

Exactly, weak opponent, Christmas with family in town, and a successful start to the season in the back pocket. I can't blame the players for being a little off at times this game. They amped it up when needed and sometimes that's all a good team needs to do to win. Good times and lots to be smiling about going into Christmas. 

5 games in 8 nights with travel, first game back after long travel, Christmas, families, girlfriends, etc. The bottom line is- the team got 2 points and spent minimum energy doing that, nobody got injured. 

Merry Christmas, all the best!

GCG!

 

[Mikeyman109]

10 minutes ago, Silent Man said:

5 games in 8 nights with travel, first game back after long travel, Christmas, families, girlfriends, etc. The bottom line is- the team got 2 points and spent minimum energy doing that, nobody got injured. 

Merry Christmas, all the best!

GCG!

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Often teams play down to the level of their opposition. We gave up way too many good chances to the Sharks. We had played a lot of games in short succession and every distraction there could be was there. "2 points" is what Frank Griffiths used to say. I like "just win baby" as well. 

 

Merry Christmas all Canucks fans from an original 1970 fan. All the best and lets keep this ride going into the playoffs.

[Slegr]

2 hours ago, Gurn said:

edit to add- one positive about (Petey’s) lower level of play is it will result in a lower level of contract, making him more affordable, and helping keep the team stronger overall.

Maybe that’s intentional, and his Christmas gift to us?