PGT - Vancouver at Pittsburgh

[Bure10Kuzmenko96]

3 hours ago, Hairy Kneel said:

 

3 hours ago, spook007 said:

[NHL Tyranny]

8 hours ago, coolboarder said:

Tocchet is an old school like me but I am also evolving to the point that it doesn't make any sense for a guy that is losing position to use his hand to leverage or slow him down a tad to get an advantage and win the battles, that is interference penalty or even a holding.  Pens were desperate for an offensive possession because if he loses, the puck goes other way for a simple dump and retreat and start all over and exert his energy.  Time is an essential and every seconds count to get a comeback.     There is 30 seconds left in game-typing goal, 2-3 minutes before that, he wins the battle, typing goal wouldn't happen because it's 30 seconds too late.   It is cheating to buy some possession time trying for a goal.  Now, if a ref call a penalty like this, the Pens will have to earn their stipes if they could do that without cheating.   It is up to ref to catch a subtitle cheating if they are desperate and lose, that is a proper view of a honest day of work.  

 

Just like offside, do you ignore offside call just because ref choose to ignore that?  It is the same as interference penalty as an example, do you ignore that as well?  If you are using hands to gain advantage to get ahead to the puck first so that he doesn't tip it past the blueline and D get that puck because a winger interfered with a defensive pursuit to attempt get to the puck first but he was interference by the offensive zone so that his teammate get to the puck, it is similar to offside infraction to gain position to get a goal or a time possession.  That is how ref ought to notice that and say, he was not in position in the first place and could have gotten it to tip it over the D so that they have to reset in the neutral zone rather than offensive zone.  If D does that, the ref for sure call it but if it ls offensive zone situation, the ref let it go.  That is what I am trying to imply that it is not an old school officiating if the ref decide to let it go and then other different game, they call the very same infraction that they let it go before.

I think we agree that game management is alive and well. As is often the case, game management includes giving the home team more love to mount a come back. Last night was a classic example. While it should even out for every team, it seems to be a little more selective, which drives me crazy and makes me wonder if there isn't some larger Bettman, inner circle, conspiracy at play. I hope it's not the case but the officials actions are keeping the theory alive. 

 

GCG

[Hogs and Podz]

5 hours ago, JamesB said:

. The D was solid again. No weak spots. Some individual errors here and there but it is amazing how the D has quickly transformed from a weakness to a strength. Suddenly the Canucks have a D that, as a group, has excellent size and toughness, excellent skating ability, very good defensive habits in their own zone (like taking away the slot) and the D provides a lot of offense at the other end. So thanks to JR and PA for getting the right personnel and thanks to Gonchar and Foote for great coaching.

James, always really appreciate your perspective/thoughts.  

Love this point the most.  Our D is no longer our weakness.... Could it be improved?  Yes of course.  But it is no longer a glaring weakness.  That to me.... In just one year, to go from one of the bottom 5 defences in the league, to top 10 is nothing less than a small miracle.   Having Soucy back has really solidified the group.  Everyone seems to be in their correct role.  And a big catalyst for this 4 game winning streak.

[HorvatToBaertschi]

I'd like to take this moment to tell everyone that some fans on the Penguins' board legitimately think that we "got away with murder" all game and that the refs heavily favored us, and when that will stop, we won't be as good as we currently are. Apparently, there's a reason our star players have so much room, and it's because we play a dirty game... 

 

Idk about all of you, but being a top team dominating play and averaging 1 powerplay a game doesn't really reek of preferential treatment. I thought Pittsburgh played an incredibly dirty game as soon as they were down 3-0, and were constantly setting picks, holding, interfering, hooking etc... They learned that the refs weren't calling shit and the game started getting chippy. I told the people I was with that if it continued, things were going to get violent, and the very next shift Crosby attempted to injure Hughes with a late hit, they targetted Pettersson, and then they finally got whistled for the wild crosscheck on Garland.

 

THE REFS NEED TO STOP MAKING THE GAME ABOUT THEM AND CALL PENALTIES FAIRLY AND OBJECTIVELY.

 

 

[spook007]

28 minutes ago, Bure10Kuzmenko96 said:

 

Make it a threesome

[CanuckMan]

11 hours ago, Jaimito said:

 

 

 

Plot twist, security guys like who tf is that??? He only works there for the job and doesn’t actually watch or follow the Canucks. He’s wondering to himself, why is this girl talking to me, I just want to do my job and go home stfu.

[Silent Man]

5 hours ago, JamesB said:

More late comments.

 

1. At the start of the road trip I would have been happy for .500 (7 pts out of 14) and we already have 8 pts with with two games to go.

 

2. The most obvious point about tonight's game was the great performance by the Lotto line in the first period, putting 3 goals on the board and then Petey gets the OT winner. So that line was responsible for all 4 goals despite being hardmatched against the Crosbie line.

 

3. But, as Miller said post-game, the Crosbie line probably got the better of the lotto line in the 2nd and 3rd periods so their advanced stats are not all that great. That just shows how important quality of competition is in assessing advanced stats. The Suter line and the Aman line had better advanced stats in terms of expected goals and Corsi, but faced much weaker competition. Overall it was a great performance from the Lotto line: on the road, playing their 4th game in 6 nights, and matched up against one of the best lines in the league. 

 

4. It was a close game and could have gone either way but it was great to see the Canucks keep their perfect record intact (25 wins, no losses) when taking a lead into the 3rd period. Once again the Canucks won despite being outshot.

 

5. The Canucks have outscored their opponents (by a big margin) despite often being outshot. The reason is that the Canucks have a high shooting percentage, especially the Lotto line. That is why so many people have been reluctant to give the Canucks full credit, arguing that the shooting percentage has to regress and the Canuck performance will also regress.

 

6. But the Canucks deliberately play a "low shot" strategy. On Boeser's first goal, Petey could have shot from a pretty good shooting position. If he had shot his chance of scoring was probably about 10%. Instead he made cross-seam pass to Boeser for a backdoor tap-in. Once the puck gets to Boeser the chance of scoring is probably at least 80%. A couple of minutes earlier, Petey had passed to Hughes who made a very similar cross-seam pass but Boeser was checked and could not get a shot on goal. But that was a high danger chance, much better than Hughes shooting the puck from a wide angle with maybe a 5% chance of scoring. The point is that the Canucks are taking the strategy of going for the high danger chance to an extreme and it is working.

 

7. Demko was excellent, coming up with a lot of big saves. We kind of take him for granted but he was a big part of the win tonight.

 

8. Watching Kuzy closely again, really hoping for something to go right for him. He did not look good on Crosbie's first goal and generated very little offense. But his defensive play overall was good. And I was pleased to see Tocc put him on the ice in OT. I guess that was partly a reward for playing "the right way" and partly a way to give him some confidence.

 

9. The D was solid again. No weak spots. Some individual errors here and there but it is amazing how the D has quickly transformed from a weakness to a strength. Suddenly the Canucks have a D that, as a group, has excellent size and toughness, excellent skating ability, very good defensive habits in their own zone (like taking away the slot) and the D provides a lot of offense at the other end. So thanks to JR and PA for getting the right personnel and thanks to Gonchar and Foote for great coaching.

 

10. Hard to believe the Canucks keep winning. I keep expecting a letdown. I just hope it doesn't happen in Buffalo and the early start is kind of a red flag for west coast teams.

Thank you, James, much appreciated summary. I watched the game , but it always great to have your summary to double check my thoughts.

[Chon derry]

23 minutes ago, spook007 said:

Make it a threesome

[Grandmaster]

38 minutes ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

I'd like to take this moment to tell everyone that some fans on the Penguins' board legitimately think that we "got away with murder" all game and that the refs heavily favored us, and when that will stop, we won't be as good as we currently are. Apparently, there's a reason our star players have so much room, and it's because we play a dirty game... 

 

Idk about all of you, but being a top team dominating play and averaging 1 powerplay a game doesn't really reek of preferential treatment. I thought Pittsburgh played an incredibly dirty game as soon as they were down 3-0, and were constantly setting picks, holding, interfering, hooking etc... They learned that the refs weren't calling shit and the game started getting chippy. I told the people I was with that if it continued, things were going to get violent, and the very next shift Crosby attempted to injure Hughes with a late hit, they targetted Pettersson, and then they finally got whistled for the wild crosscheck on Garland.

 

THE REFS NEED TO STOP MAKING THE GAME ABOUT THEM AND CALL PENALTIES FAIRLY AND OBJECTIVELY.

 

 

Homer Pen fans are irrelevant to us, screw em. 

Objectively speaking, the media guys agree with you and I more so. The refs failed us a lot more than them.

 

Just becomes less an issue when we win. 
 

I just hope those clowns miss the playoffs. They’ve enjoyed enough success, time to suck and have their fans feel how we felt for the last dozen or so years. 

 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Grandmaster said:

Homer Pen fans are irrelevant to us, screw em. 

Objectively speaking, the media guys agree with you and I more so. The refs failed us a lot more than them.

 

Just becomes less an issue when we win. 
 

I just hope those clowns miss the playoffs. They’ve enjoyed enough success, time to suck and have their fans feel how we felt for the last dozen or so years. 

 

[HorvatToBaertschi]

9 minutes ago, Grandmaster said:

Homer Pen fans are irrelevant to us, screw em. 

Objectively speaking, the media guys agree with you and I more so. The refs failed us a lot more than them.

 

Just becomes less an issue when we win. 
 

I just hope those clowns miss the playoffs. They’ve enjoyed enough success, time to suck and have their fans feel how we felt for the last dozen or so years. 

 

I wholeheartedly agree. I was just curious after watching such an abysmally reffed game if their fans would even acknowledge it. Nope. They either didn't acknowledge that the refs handed them their comeback, or some were even on the opposite side of the spectrum saying that they defied the odds and got a point despite the refs. You can't make this shit up. 

 

Either way, we get the last laugh as our team is actually fun to watch and will be making a push. They'll be selling their players in no time. 

[Devron]

Summary: We are the best

 

[spook007]

22 minutes ago, Chon derry said:

[Devron]

3 minutes ago, spook007 said:

That one is just not fair 

[spook007]

7 hours ago, iinatcc said:

Not to sound like a debbie downer but are people here a bit concerned that, in the last 4 games, the team only scored 1 non empty net goal in the 3rd period?

 

Edit: 5 if you include the loss to the Blues

Nope.... good leads, play a great defensive game. 

[spook007]

Just now, Devron said:

That one is just not fair 

[WeneedLumme]

12 hours ago, Canuckfanforlife82 said:

Ok. This joke doesn’t need to be repeated after every win now does it? Haven’t heard this one before.

 

What a shame. The Canucks are hot and the Canucks fans are happy. But hang in there bud, eventually they will lose, and then you can start gloating again.

[Canuckleheads Fan]

3 hours ago, I.AM.THE.WALRUS said:

Didn’t know that JT was acquired to play with Petey 

Could we say that the Lotto line than the west coast express? 

The Lotto Line has more creativity, and I think JT has more in his toolbox than did Big Bert, and Petey is a better finisher and more creative than Morrison. Brock is a different kind of player than was Naslund. We will see if Tocc leaves them together to see if they can overcome other team's attempts to specifically defend them. The West Coast Express was great over time, but I think the Lotto Line has a higher ceiling.

[PhillipBlunt]

12 minutes ago, spook007 said:

[JayDangles]

9 hours ago, -AJ- said:

 

Haha yeah it's more for fun at this point, but I could see how it would annoy people.

Not at all. I really appreciate it. It gives me a sense of calm seeing how easy the road to the playoffs gets after every win!

 

[IBatch]

4 hours ago, Canuckleheads Fan said:

 

I completely agree with this. The Lotto Line is dominating. When they were apart, Petey was a point-per-game player, Brock's scoring had dried up, and they weren't getting much help from their winger of the week, I point to the STL game to make my point. It's not just that JT and Brock are giving Petey juice; it's that they all play at a stratospheric level that nobody else on the team can match, for example that goal JT scored when Brock ringed it and Petey put it on JT's tape in one move from behind the net for the one timer, it happened so fast that I doubt there is another player on the team who could have made or handled that pass. As the pass was ringed, Petey saw JT coming downhill, and JT saw that Petey was in position to make that pass. They all give each other juice. They all have high hockey IQ and are an ideal fit for each other. They are not just top-six forwards; they are an elite top-line. Petey is elite, he made Kuzy a 39-goal sniper last year, when he had never been a big scorer in the KHL. How he lost his juju in Bali, I have no idea. But EP's that much better with Brock and JT. Honestly, the Lotto Line is playing like Bossey-Trottier-Gillies; why would Tocc break them up? Let Suter settle in with Kuzy and Mik as L3; I'm seeing some vintage Kuzy out there; he tried that Hogs between-the-legs move and got a good shot against NYI; he's shooting more; they need more net-front presence, but the goals will start going in. Don't forget, JT was acquired to play with Petey.

JT Miller isn't the same hockey player as EP.  Saying "that much better ", they are both better in different ways.    
 

The last time the lotto line was doing its thing, but it wasn't doing well.   EP couldn't score, and was tripping falling down a lot more often,  Brock was snake bitten and couldn't score, and we were losing most of the games.    

 

Let's be real about this.   Yes EP has mad skills, but part of that is the other side of the package.   Miller showed both Brock, and EP, how to use the forecheck.  It was a pretty big deal at the time, the media picked up on it, and the Lotto Line was coined. 

 

Remember  why it was dismantled?  We couldn't win a game with it, and Green was forced to break it up.   EP was falling down and eventually later was  demoted to the third line with Hog and Podz.   Brock was also demoted later.   Something that's happened somewhat regularly the past couple seasons too.  Sheldon Dries - Brock...go out and score will you? 

 

The only guys that came to play right away upfront were Miller, Garland and Pearson.    Horvat also kind of blew.   Miller's single effort against Ottawa just before Green was fired was pretty epic.   Then Bruce came in and he went on a 125 point pace to finish things up.   The only linemate he had for 200 minutes or so was Brock.    A total blender.   A lot of the best lines in the league, play 450-500 plus minute together,  or pairs at least.   This year, so far, will be Millers and Brocks first year doing that, despite Miller often being "saddled" with Brock. 

 

My two cents?  Last time they were together, they blew, or at least weren't good enough to match up with the average first lines in the league.   And they also weren't very good the year before that either.  Sure maybe Covid had something to do about that, but more than anything, Brock and EP weren't ready for it.

 

   Big difference  now.  And you can bet Tochett has been thinking about doing this for awhile.    I remember a one line team we had in the early 2000's, WCE.   People made songs about it.   Garlands line past 20 games or so .: well he was pretty good then too.  You could see the skill anyways.  They've got the jam now to match it.   Same with the Sedin's line.   Which is awesome.  

 

Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.   Hope the Lotto Line kills it and we win a cup (we have a Demko too!).  I'm sure Miller would also make it work with what EP was getting too, not as many points, but doubt that would matter to him either.   Winning  seems to be the only thing he cares about, shoving Crosby.,, guys a gem.    Crosby did it most of his career, with guys that he made careers for,  EPs going to help us the same way.    Lotto Line is hot stuff right now, and think they can keep it up too. 

[spook007]

Just now, PhillipBlunt said:

[PhillipBlunt]

1 minute ago, spook007 said:

[Jester13]

[spook007]

7 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said: