[PGT] Nucks @ kangz

[Integra250]

Who cares if we get Vegas, Kings, or Preds in the first round. A true contender will find ways to beat any team in a best of 7 series, and I truly believe this team is capable of doing so with a healthy Demko.

[DrJockitch]

4 minutes ago, Northern_Nuck said:

 Yes I was looking at that earlier, our last 5 wins were against teams that are all picking in the draft in the top 10 overall(bottom 7-8 teams of the league). 
  And I know the fall back of those with the rose coloured glasses will talk about Demko coming back, but they fail to realize Demko can’t score goals. 
 

 

   I think the fact is, this team is too soft to playoff hockey and with the entire 20 teams who might play in the playoffs, they’ve been playing playoff hockey the last dozen games or so…. The Canucks are not. That’s why I think they’re losing… not built for playoffs. 
 

 GF argues with me and says trading away Kuzmenko broke their morale and chemistry… I could also see that. But one thing we agree on, is the Canucks are 4 and done come April 20th. 

I never said I thought we will go 0-4 and out.  I know I have a reputation of being negative but that is just having a balanced perspective on a team that has mostly been terrible for it’s existence. 
I have concerns but I don’t think it is that bad especially with Demko and Lindholm back in lineup by playoffs. 
I think Kuz was a good locker room guy but when not scoring his game isn’t NHL level.

It is concerning but not unusual to see good teams loose the script in the last few weeks of the season and pull it together for playoffs. 

We aren’t really that soft team anymore.  We have a few players that are soft as butter but that isn’t how the roster is built anymore. Our D is huge and pretty tough outside of the top pairing Zads, Juulsen are tough as nails, Myers has a lot of chaotic toughness (is an elbow to the head considered being tough) and Cole is no slouch.  Hoglander and Garland are little but they aren’t soft JTM, Josh, Blueger, Lafferty and Podz all have a lot of snarl in their game. Pettersson tries but can’t fight physics. 

[Northern_Nuck]

1 minute ago, DrJockitch said:

I never said I thought we will go 0-4 and out.  I know I have a reputation of being negative but that is just having a balanced perspective on a team that has mostly been terrible for it’s existence. 
I have concerns but I don’t think it is that bad especially with Demko and Lindholm back in lineup by playoffs. 
I think Kuz was a good locker room guy but when not scoring his game isn’t NHL level.

It is concerning but not unusual to see good teams loose the script in the last few weeks of the season and pull it together for playoffs. 

We aren’t really that soft team anymore.  We have a few players that are soft as butter but that isn’t how the roster is built anymore. Our D is huge and pretty tough outside of the top pairing Zads, Juulsen are tough as nails, Myers has a lot of chaotic toughness (is an elbow to the head considered being tough) and Cole is no slouch.  Hoglander and Garland are little but they aren’t soft JTM, Josh, Blueger, Lafferty and Podz all have a lot of snarl in their game. Pettersson tries but can’t fight physics. 

I think we’re the team everyone wants to play. I disagree on the toughness, you have to beat 1-3-1 hockey with toughness, you have to hit hard and put fear in the other team’s D. This team is not capable of that. Lindholm Won’t help that. Also it’s become too easy to play in front of the net. We have big D, but they’re not mean. 
  We also can’t seem to figure out how to beat the diamond PK. I wanna say it’ll get better when Demko gets back, unfortunately Demko can’t score goals. Maybe there’s 10 or so players that love the city enough that they’re tanking to get themselves cheaper contracts? 

[Hairy Kneel]

5 hours ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

 

A good, reasonable, and grounded take. I think Silovs is ready for a team like Vegas. Especially given his stellar experience at the Worlds. Next game would be good for him and the team. 

Yeah, no pressure.  

[Joe King]

6 hours ago, BornMello said:

Wow, didn’t have to be a prick about it. I just thought it was maybe something that wouldn’t show up in highlights like taunting or something. Sorry I asked..

I wouldn't be sorry. Some on here seem a little snarky tonight.

 

[Hairy Kneel]

4 hours ago, spook007 said:

I think you solved the equation.... 

 

It very much seems to be the case just now... maybe the ASG show went to their heads, and they just don't know how to properly stop the slide down the ladder....

They are learning on the job.... It may be a costly experience, but they'll hope fully be better for it, and better prepared next time around... This is the first major adversity this group has had since they started to be a good hockey team... now they need to learn, how to turn it around, when its not a bed of roses... Hopefully they can.

Boston learned that the hard way last year after winning the pres trophy then getting clunked out of the playoffs. 

Petie's struggling. We're over playing Huggy. Our 4th line is soft as butter. We need some push back. 

Our power play has sucked pretty badly. Juulsen is in the press box when AHLer's are in the line up.

Tocchet is usually very strong in leadership but not so much lately. 

PA has generally been very good but I question the EP contract and not finding a tenacious forechecker at the trade deadline. 

Everybody is learning this year. 

We got to hope we get lucky in the 1st round. 

And can't really say about refereeing, it's a pandora's box with that US bump. So who the fk knows about that. Like Barreta would say.

[kettlevalley]

As far as I am concerned it is Silovs or Demko.  I don't want to see Desmith again.  

[Hairy Kneel]

53 minutes ago, Northern_Nuck said:

 Yes I was looking at that earlier, our last 5 wins were against teams that are all picking in the draft in the top 10 overall(bottom 7-8 teams of the league). 
  And I know the fall back of those with the rose coloured glasses will talk about Demko coming back, but they fail to realize Demko can’t score goals. 
 

 

   I think the fact is, this team is too soft to playoff hockey and with the entire 20 teams who might play in the playoffs, they’ve been playing playoff hockey the last dozen games or so…. The Canucks are not. That’s why I think they’re losing… not built for playoffs. 
 

 GF argues with me and says trading away Kuzmenko broke their morale and chemistry… I could also see that. But one thing we agree on, is the Canucks are 4 and done come April 20th. 

Who scores first Demko or Mikayev?

[Toni Zamboni]

we may not see a fully healthy Demko until the second round
Preds are probs our best bet to make it through until then.

[steviewonder20]

7 hours ago, DeNiro said:

Yet they’re a trap team.

 

The most important thing isn’t winning the division it’s avoiding LA.

 

Let Edmonton have them for the third straight year.

Edmonton doesnt have the trouble beating LA that we do.

[iinatcc]

29 minutes ago, kettlevalley said:

As far as I am concerned it is Silovs or Demko.  I don't want to see Desmith again.  

 

So we don't like DeSmith now ? 

[steviewonder20]

All we need to do is have a better PP, a better PK, a better goalie, and score more goals. Simple, right? Otherwise, Oilers win the division and a first round exit for us, and going ‘all in’ (losing 1st and 2nd round picks) was a mistake.

[CanucksJay]

3 hours ago, Gawdzukes said:

 

lol, weren't you the guy proclaiming we had the division wrapped up?

 

 

You don't really get the league and math do you?

 

The math? 

 

They need to make up 4 pts in 6 games... 

 

The math is pretty simple

 

 

 

 

[stawns]

1 hour ago, DrJockitch said:

I never said I thought we will go 0-4 and out.  I know I have a reputation of being negative but that is just having a balanced perspective on a team that has mostly been terrible for it’s existence. 
I have concerns but I don’t think it is that bad especially with Demko and Lindholm back in lineup by playoffs. 
I think Kuz was a good locker room guy but when not scoring his game isn’t NHL level.

It is concerning but not unusual to see good teams loose the script in the last few weeks of the season and pull it together for playoffs. 

We aren’t really that soft team anymore.  We have a few players that are soft as butter but that isn’t how the roster is built anymore. Our D is huge and pretty tough outside of the top pairing Zads, Juulsen are tough as nails, Myers has a lot of chaotic toughness (is an elbow to the head considered being tough) and Cole is no slouch.  Hoglander and Garland are little but they aren’t soft JTM, Josh, Blueger, Lafferty and Podz all have a lot of snarl in their game. Pettersson tries but can’t fight physics. 

 

That isn't being negative, it's being realistic.  You can talk hockey with someone who is realistic, you can't with someone who can't accept reality

[Boudrias]

7 hours ago, JamesB said:

I will start this with an old hockey adage that I have used before but not much this year:

"The team with the better goalie usually wins." That happened tonight.

 

Here are some more comments.

 

1. Goaltending.  DeSmith had another bad night. None of the goals were "bad" goals, but they were all preventable. The first two goals were good shots, but unscreened and DeSmith was overplaying the short side and leaving too much space on the long side. The third goal was deflected but scored in the same area and would have been a save with better positioning. The Kings obviously figured out that DeSmith has a weakness high on the stick side. On the other goals he just did not look on top of his game. Yes, they were good chances, but good goalies stop most of those chances. The expected goals against number was 2.23 and the actual goals against was 6 for goals above expected of close to 4. This is not good. And DeSmith was bad in last start and not great before that. His save percentage on the season is 89.1%. Among goalies who have played at least 1000 minutes, that ranks 57th out of 67. 

 

2. Silovs has to start the next game. DeSmith was good when he played occasionally in carefully selected games. And did well for a few games after Demko went out. But he has broken down under pressure, much as Spencer Martin did last year. 

 

3. In the underlying stats the Canucks were the better team. Canucks led in all strength Corsi 76-45, in shots 41-29, in scoring chances 36-17, and in high danger chances 19-8. And it was not just a late surge. The Canucks dominated all three periods.

 

4. The Miller line had another good game, picking up a nice goal and being ahead 6-1 in scoring chances. Miller continues his push for 100 pts. Petey's line also had a good game and it is nice to Boeser get another goal bringing within one of 40. And Petey is still on pace for 90 pts. Nice individual milestones, although of course they care a lot more about winning than about personal stats.

 

5. Rinse and Repeat for the Blueger line (with Mik and Podz). Once again they had a good statistical game and once again they did not score, although Blueger got a shorthanded goal. Mikheyev may set a record for how many scoring chances you can get without scoring a goal. I still keep thinking he will start getting bounces, although obviously he is not a good finisher.

 

6. Hughes. It might be tempting to say that Hughes took a step back today. And he did get beaten on LA's shorthanded goal (although DeSmith could have played it better). But, once again, the ice was tilted when he was on the ice. The even strength Corsi was 25-9 when he was on the ice and he played over 25 minutes.

 

7. To respond to @Conscience, in my opinion the Canucks probably do win this game if Demko plays.

 

Bottom line: Disappointing loss, but it is not like the team played poorly (except for DeSmith), although Soucy did not play well. I would be tempted to put Juulsen in for Soucy for next game, along with Silovs for DeSmith.  And Lindholm would be a big upgrade on Aman but there is no point in rushing him.

 

I am expecting a bounceback against Vegas in the next game. At least I am hoping.

As usual you are so bang on. Soucy has been struggling a bit for a few games. His TOI is running about 15 so I am wondering if his injury is lingering. IMHO the lineup is missing Juulson's physicality. I liked the way the Canucks were moving the puck up ice but as per recent play they weren't converting their chances. As soon as LA goes up 2 goals it changes the complexion of the game. I liked how the team kept plugging away. BB and EP40 both had more jump in their game. 

 

Canucks should be less worried about who they play in the first round and more about execution. Get Demko and Lindholm back n the lineup and work towards playoffs. This team is very capable of better results. 

[stawns]

1 minute ago, Boudrias said:

As usual you are so bang on. Soucy has been struggling a bit for a few games. His TOI is running about 15 so I am wondering if his injury is lingering. IMHO the lineup is missing Juulson's physicality. I liked the way the Canucks were moving the puck up ice but as per recent play they weren't converting their chances. As soon as LA goes up 2 goals it changes the complexion of the game. I liked how the team kept plugging away. BB and EP40 both had more jump in their game. 

 

Canucks should be less worried about who they play in the first round and more about execution. Get Demko and Lindholm back n the lineup and work towards playoffs. This team is very capable of better results. 

 

For the life of me, I can't understand why Juuls is sitting in the press box.  Cole is a 7th man, at best.

[IBatch]

8 hours ago, farinush said:

- Desmith really hasn’t given us a chance to win the last couple games. We gave up 5 goals in the first 14 shots (iirc) against Vegas and 3 goals in the first 6 shots tonight. 
 

- special teams killed us. We were far too passive on the PK in the first period and our PP came up short

 

- whatever Dak said to the refs really ticked them off because we there were about a dozen penalties the refs could’ve called in the first half of the game but they let LA get away with a bunch of stuff

 

- if Petey can continue to gel with Podz and Hog, Lindy can be a ridiculously strong 3C between Garly and Dak

- the mistakes are concerning. If the team looked slow and shied away from contact you could argue it can be turned on for the playoffs. We are seeing defensive lapses and poor decision making. As a team, there are too many mistakes defensively and they need to clean things up in a hurry. These things are harder to correct. 

On a different thread, line combos' went with Hogs EP Podz last week.   They've tried pretty much everything else, plus a couple years ago when EP was in a funk and demoted to the third line for a half dozen or so games, that line played really well (albiet lesser minutes/competition), and now all 3 have matured (well for sure Hogs and Podz are better).     They scored, and the iced tilted North and didn't get scored against.    

 

This game was frustrating, sometimes the better team loses.    

Edited April 7 by IBatch

[NHL Tyranny]

Our defense was brutal. Bad reads on PK and too soft and slow at even strength. I don't know if this is fixable at this point but that combined with PP woes and it's a recipe for disaster--even with Demmer back. I'm hoping an upswing happens just before round 1. Man LA gets away with heaps of hooking, holding, and interference. Such stifling play. I think Hughes played them well by resetting and taking his time at the blue line, knowing they would not pressure. The queens adjusted that a bit in the third because of the score but the Nucks were able to get scoring chances. LA was able to finish on theirs and that was the difference. It's awesome to be thinking about play-offs again, despite the current team woes... GCG!

[Heretic]

In 4 games against the Kings, they outscored us 15-8.
We won 1, 2-1 in OT.

Yes, DeSmith was the last 2 losses, but we lost the 1st game 5-1 with Demko in the net.

[Mikeyman109]

That was an awful hockey game to watch in comparison to a lot of other games last night. LA may be a successful team but its sure boring hockey to watch.

i dont know how many more goals Demko saves in that game but it just felt like we couldnt get a save when we needed one. Like the Vegas game every time we scored they responded and we couldnt get a save.  Demko might not have made a difference but we will not know until he comes back.

 

Im hoping Lindholm can get back for a few games closer to the playoffs. Id like to see them reunite Petey Brock and Miller.see what they can do against good teams.

Get back to the lines when we were winning. The line blender the last couple weeks has been a disaster. Petey will have to get going with whomever he plays with but Joshua and Blueger and Garland should be the third line.

Miller and Brock need to be together, Id play Podkolzin with them. Or Di Giuseppe

Petey and Hoglander is a good pairing. add a Healthy LIndholm they might be good to go.

Until he contributes more offensively Mik stays in bottom 6, perhaps his speed against lesser line competition  helps him find the net.

 

Boeser, Miller, Podz/PDG

Hogs/Petey/Lindholm

Garland Blueger/ Joshua

PDG/Pods?/Aman/Mik

 

on D Juulsen should be in over Cole. I think we are overplaying Hughes and he is going to burn out before the second season even starts

Soucy looks gassed unless he is still injured. Zadorov looks fine but still makes a few mistakes. Myers is Myers hes not going to win us a Norris but if used less he seems to do better.

Hronek should be the point man on PP1, blocking point shots should be painful for the other team. Right now its just too easy to block our point shots

LA had an enormous amount of shot blocks last night. Make them earn it with a few bruises.

Petey Miller and Boeser on PP1

Garland Hogs and Podkolzin on PP 2 with Zadorov and Lindholm when healthy.

 

Our PK is brutal. No effort to block the shots its too passive at times and not enough speed to threaten the point. we dont retrieve the puck in the corners or on the boards and teams dont feel any pressure to make a decision or move the puck quickly. Something has to change here. Of course the goaltender is the best PK.

Love to see  some changes in the special teams going into the last couple weeks. Hopefully we can get TD back in a few games to get ready. we need all hands on deck for the playoffs stay healthy.

 

 

[Mikeyman109]

Just now, Heretic said:

In 4 games against the Kings, they outscored us 15-8.
We won 1, 2-1 in OT.

Yes, DeSmith was the last 2 losses, but we lost the 1st game 5-1 with Demko in the net.

and they scored first in every one of those games. We cant be chasing a trap team and expect to win the game

[CanucksJay]

2 hours ago, Integra250 said:

Who cares if we get Vegas, Kings, or Preds in the first round. A true contender will find ways to beat any team in a best of 7 series, and I truly believe this team is capable of doing so with a healthy Demko.

A healthy Demko and a healthy Lindholm will pull Aman and Decasey out of the line up. That's adding 2 all stars to this team replacing a career backup and an AHL tweener... 

All the chicken littles make me laugh. 

4 goals on 12 shots? Yeah not gonna win any games like that

 

[flat land fish]

1 hour ago, steviewonder20 said:

Edmonton doesnt have the trouble beating LA that we do.

Probably because the 1-3-1 doesn't bother McDavid, giving him that much room to wind up is a gift.  I thought the last 10 minutes of the 1st the Canucks were adjusting and becoming more patient regrouping on the rush if it wasn't there.  Then they came out in the 2nd stopped doing the things that made they successful.

 

[JayDangles]

8 hours ago, Aldergrove Canuck said:

lol delete your account man, you have horrible takes and are just on here to be a contrarian for the sake of it. Stop wasting peoples time with your know nothing opinions.

I'm just pointing out how silly it is to say things that no one knows.

If I said, if Lindholm was playing then we wouldn't have given up the first 2 goals because he's a good penalty killer then I'm sure someone on here would have said that's  ridiculous statement.

Not sure why this is so confusing.

Edited April 7 by JayDangles

[CanucksJay]

1 hour ago, steviewonder20 said:

Edmonton doesnt have the trouble beating LA that we do.

Luckily we don't seem to have trouble beating Edmonton