[PGT] Canucks at Capitals - 02/11/24

[spook007]

What a game... actually what a great couple of games over the weekend.

 

It has been clear as day light, that the team was tired and off their game, and yet in b2b morning games incl. travel they managed to come away with 3 points.

Talk about grinding it out despite being on your heels... 2 years ago this would have been a certain loss.

 

Its easy to find things to criticise, when its not going well, but they must be doing something right, since they are still sitting a top of the NHL clear by 3 points.

 

Today Garland again stepped up to the plate, but so did Hoglander, who is definitely growing as a player.

Didn´t see too much of Miller, but when the chance presented itself, he hammered the puck in the net...

Top marks though to Demko, who played like a top goalie in the league. Some his saves were outstanding...

 

Finally, this team has just broken the all time Canucks points total after 52 games of the season... I think a few fan ought to calm down a little with their criticism as compared to, what we have witnessed over the last decade, this is just amazing.

 

 

 

Edited February 11 by spook007

[Artemus]

2 hours ago, Canuck You said:

Man, Debs gonna love this when she gets back from the funeral and watches it, Something to make every Nuck fan smile!

 

In the GDT she correctly called the score (3-2) and that Miller would get the GWG.

 

It's like she had a crystal ball.

 

Now let's see how she does with her 49'er prediction.!

 

[Barn Burner]

34 minutes ago, canuck73_3 said:

The same experts that said we’d fall back down to a bubble team after the “easy” part of schedule. 

And... the same experts who have the Avalanche and Oinkers tied as favorites! 

 

Colorado, maybe. But... 

[Mc1laren]

5 minutes ago, Canuckfanforlife82 said:

Just your opinion. That’s ok. If he commented ok the positive things I have said that would make sense but to pick and choose really isn’t my issue.

Its not that youre 100% negative all the time but your negativity overwhelmingly outweighs the positivity. So when things are going right, many posters are gonna revert back to some of your comments which in my opinion are sometimes shortsighted and too quick to judge despite the teams success this year. 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Barn Burner said:

And... the same experts who have the Avalanche and Oinkers tied as favorites! 

 

Colorado, maybe. But... 

avs have been really bad defensively especially Makar. Mac has been great though. 

[Cuzzizzle]

We need to get boeser off the first line, the only problem is we can’t put him anywhere else because without miller, petterson, lindholm or whoever else he plays with he does absolutely nothing. I really do wish we traded him instead of kuzmenko, would have gotten a much bigger return and if you kuzmenko got the ice time/opportunity boeser does he would succeed too. He’s a much more skilled/smart player. Boeser is slow slow slow and the ultimate passenger on any line he’s on. He literally creates zero offence on his own. 

[Rocket-68]

1 minute ago, Mc1laren said:

Its not that youre 100% negative all the time but your negativity overwhelmingly outweighs the positivity. So when things are going right, many posters are gonna revert back to some of your comments which in my opinion are sometimes shortsighted and too quick to judge despite the teams success this year. 

 

All Posts Reviewed and Summarized:

 

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, Cuzzizzle said:

We need to get boeser off the first line, the only problem is we can’t put him anywhere else because without miller, petterson, lindholm or whoever else he plays with he does absolutely nothing. I really do wish we traded him instead of kuzmenko, would have gotten a much bigger return and if you kuzmenko got the ice time/opportunity boeser does he would succeed too. He’s a much more skilled/smart player. Boeser is slow slow slow and the ultimate passenger on any line he’s on. He literally creates zero offence on his own. 

I think we are now three points clear in the overall league standings, right? Seems to me the coaches know what they’re doing. So Borser, our top goal scorer and solid defensive player who is heavy on pucks, just might be a lot better a contributor to winning than you actually understand. 

[HKSR]

Juulsen is looking fantastic these days.  Bordering on a consistent top 4 RHD IMO.  We gotta remember, he's only 26 years old and was a former 1st round pick, so the talent and pedigree is there.  Perhaps Foote and Gonchar are now getting the most out of a Juulsen that is about to hit his prime years?  

[Silent Man]

45 minutes ago, JamesB said:

Nice to get the win. With 5 pts on the road trip so far the Canucks will be at least 50% and have a good shot at a really good road trip as they will be favored against Chicago.

 

Things that stood out for me:

 

1. Another sleepy start. This time it was Cole who looked surprised and slow on the first goal. He did not take the shooter or get in position to deflect the pass. Not as bad as Myers' gaffe yesterday but not good.

 

2. But the Canucks came  back and played pretty well in a game where most players were tired. The game was very even on the scoreboard and close to even in the underlying stats (with a slight edge for Washington). The Canucks benefited from a lucky break with a terrible giveaway by Washington late in OT that led to Miller's game-winning goal. Still a good play by Miller --good anticipation and a great shot.

 

3. Once again, the third line looked like the best line by the eye test and by the stats. In fairness, they usually play against the other teams' bottom 6 and third pairing, so they have weaker opponent quality, but they still played well. Nice to see Garland finally get another goal.

 

4. Interesting to see how Friedman did. He had protected minutes -- only 11 minutes, no PK time, and not much time against Washington's top players. But he did pretty well. Hughes played a lot with over 29 minutes--not surprising with Z. out, with OT, and with a close game. The Canucks will need to look for opportunities to rest him as much as possible.

 

5. I have generally been fairly positive about Mikheyev despite his lack of scoring but I think he is becoming a concern. He always plays responsible defence but today he was caught from behind by Wilson on what could have been a clean break and he just isn't generating much offensively. Good chance his knee is still not 100%. Hope we see an uptick in his game by the time the playoffs start.

 

6. Yesterday I was a bit critical of Hoggy. He scored a goal against Detroit but poor plays (bad penalty and bad defence) probably cost the team two goals in Detroit. Today he was better with a really nice goal and no obvious defensive mistakes that I saw. He has skill, speed, and energy. He just need to combine that with good defensive habits. Too bad we can't combine the positive aspects of Hoggy and Mik in one player.

 

7. Demmer was very good. The biggest difference between today and yesterday was probably goaltending. As the old adage goes, the team with the better goalie usually wins and that happened both yesterday and today.

 

Worth remembering that the Canucks are still in first place in the NHL overall standings with this final tough road trip almost behind them.

Thank you, James, as always, great summary

[Rocket-68]

Just now, HKSR said:

Juulsen is looking fantastic these days.  Bordering on a consistent top 4 RHD IMO.  We gotta remember, he's only 26 years old and was a former 1st round pick, so the talent and pedigree is there.  Perhaps Foote and Gonchar are now getting the most out of a Juulsen that is about to hit his prime years?  

 

Every drop of effectiveness is being squeezed by Foote and Gonchar but it takes a player that listens, adjusts and most importantly puts in the work - Donkey is doing that I am sure which is why Tocchet is high on Donkey's prospects as a permanent Canucks D. I for one love what he brings and hope he keeps the trajectory going upwards. 

[Darius]

Just now, HKSR said:

Juulsen is looking fantastic these days.  Bordering on a consistent top 4 RHD IMO.  We gotta remember, he's only 26 years old and was a former 1st round pick, so the talent and pedigree is there.  Perhaps Foote and Gonchar are now getting the most out of a Juulsen that is about to hit his prime years?  

Hes been excellent.  When Zadorov and Soucy get back they have the luxury of giving ('old guy') Cole a few maintenance days down the stretch  because Juulsen can be trusted and has been solid.

[TUSK v2.0]

4 minutes ago, Cuzzizzle said:

We need to get boeser off the first line, the only problem is we can’t put him anywhere else because without miller, petterson, lindholm or whoever else he plays with he does absolutely nothing. I really do wish we traded him instead of kuzmenko, would have gotten a much bigger return and if you kuzmenko got the ice time/opportunity boeser does he would succeed too. He’s a much more skilled/smart player. Boeser is slow slow slow and the ultimate passenger on any line he’s on. He literally creates zero offence on his own. 

I think you have limited vision of what that line is actually doing during the games. They take the top lines and shut them down, and actually gain offence

For all canucks forwards, BB06 has the second best +/-

He can adapt to any other winger being added, we have seen PDG, Hogs, suter, Laffey, and even Petey go with JTM and BB06 and kill it.

[Canuckfanforlife82]

16 minutes ago, Mc1laren said:

Its not that youre 100% negative all the time but your negativity overwhelmingly outweighs the positivity. So when things are going right, many posters are gonna revert back to some of your comments which in my opinion are sometimes shortsighted and too quick to judge despite the teams success this year. 

Well like I said I can’t really control them reverting back to old comments so I am not going to worry about that. Anyways…let’s forget about it and move on.

Edited February 12 by Canuckfanforlife82

[TUSK v2.0]

2 minutes ago, Canuckfanforlife82 said:

Well like I said I can’t really control them reverting back so I am not going to worry about that. Anyways…let’s forget about it and move on.

Get a room

[Alflives]

5 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Juulsen is looking fantastic these days.  Bordering on a consistent top 4 RHD IMO.  We gotta remember, he's only 26 years old and was a former 1st round pick, so the talent and pedigree is there.  Perhaps Foote and Gonchar are now getting the most out of a Juulsen that is about to hit his prime years?  

To be honest Alf didn’t realize just how much good coaches could helpnpkk on sayers be their best. But going from WD to TG to BB to the current group sure taught Alf a significant lesson. There is a huge difference between bad and good coaches 

@stawns has been saying this for a while. Good job by him. 

[Kevin Biestra]

22 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Miller could be our best forward. (Bure was our most exciting for sure) linden was special, and had a lot of Miller’s skills but Miller has more elite passing skills. 
IMHAO our best player ever is the Huggable One. Miller is great, but Huggy Bear is a generational talent and closest to Orr we’ve seen in the league.,

Pretty much we have Demko, Hughes, Hronek, Petey, Miller, and (now) Lindholm as our core. IMHAO that’s the best group of core players in the league. And JR/PA will keep these guys and retool each year around them. 

 

Hughes is the closest to Orr we have ever seen in Vancouver for sure.  Doubt he'll ever get as close to Orr as Paul Coffey was or even within a stone's throw really.

 

As far as Canucks go, it's also pretty easy to forget and underrate Paul Reinhart after 35 years as well.

 

 

Edited February 12 by Kevin Biestra

[Canuckfanforlife82]

2 minutes ago, VintageActualCanuckfan said:

Get a room

[Canuckfanforlife82]

11 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Juulsen is looking fantastic these days.  Bordering on a consistent top 4 RHD IMO.  We gotta remember, he's only 26 years old and was a former 1st round pick, so the talent and pedigree is there.  Perhaps Foote and Gonchar are now getting the most out of a Juulsen that is about to hit his prime years?  

Yes he’s been a great find. I think all he needed was time to figure out the nhl game. He looks great this year!

[Chon derry]

They need an aggressive fore checking forward. The exact opposite of whatever mikehyevs bringing. He’s a liability on whatever line he’s been tried on. If he’s playing hurt replace him. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

11 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Juulsen is looking fantastic these days.  Bordering on a consistent top 4 RHD IMO.  We gotta remember, he's only 26 years old and was a former 1st round pick, so the talent and pedigree is there.  Perhaps Foote and Gonchar are now getting the most out of a Juulsen that is about to hit his prime years?  

I'll have to eat crow on this.  I thought Juulsen was dog****.  As usual, I was proven incorrect.

[-dlc-]

WOOOOOHOOOOO JT FREAKIN MILLER

[HKSR]

1 minute ago, -dlc- said:

WOOOOOHOOOOO JT FREAKIN MILLER

Welcome home!

[cripplereh]

19 minutes ago, Cuzzizzle said:

We need to get boeser off the first line, the only problem is we can’t put him anywhere else because without miller, petterson, lindholm or whoever else he plays with he does absolutely nothing. I really do wish we traded him instead of kuzmenko, would have gotten a much bigger return and if you kuzmenko got the ice time/opportunity boeser does he would succeed too. He’s a much more skilled/smart player. Boeser is slow slow slow and the ultimate passenger on any line he’s on. He literally creates zero offence on his own. 

My thoughts are he has finally put his game together.He is scoring like he should.I said before the season didn't think he would and since three times now four think he is playing to his potential.

 

Saying that we need to see him in the playoffs.But he might be one shipped this summer to get others signed.Or might stick up to management.

[bishopshodan]

14 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Juulsen is looking fantastic these days.  Bordering on a consistent top 4 RHD IMO.  We gotta remember, he's only 26 years old and was a former 1st round pick, so the talent and pedigree is there.  Perhaps Foote and Gonchar are now getting the most out of a Juulsen that is about to hit his prime years?  

He should get the dark horse of the year award.

 

It's like the more ice time he receives, the better he gets.

 

Love that he plays the body and keeps things plain and simple.