[PGT] Nashville at Vancouver - Game 5

[JamesB]

A lot of people, including me, are heavily invested in this year's playoffs, so this loss hurts. But there were some positives tonight. Here are my comments.

 

1. The Canucks came out strong and were easily the better team in the first period. High dangers chances were 7-0 for the Canucks in the first. They were unlucky not to score. A period like that in the first half of the season probably would have generated a couple of goals. But not tonight.

 

2. Nashville came back strong in the 2nd period and, overall, the game was very close with good goaltending at both ends and tight defence. At 5-on-5 the Canucks had a slight edge in expected goals.

 

3. The difference in the game was that Nashville got a PP goal and the Canucks did not. It was a messy ("greasy") goal that looked like goaltender interference. And the Canuck PP continues to be a disappointment.

 

4. Zadorov's goal was a great individual effort. He looks like a great pick-up. Hope the Canucks can keep him.

 

5. Petey is taking a lot of criticism (again) because, hey, he did not score. But I thought he played well. He had 3 shots on goal, had a couple of hits, and 5-on-5 scoring chances were 7-0 for the Canucks when he was on the ice. He made a nice pass to Mik early in the first who took a shot from in close that missed the open corner by a couple of feet.  I agree that Petey is not 100%. I heard today that it might be "lower body" as his skating does not look good -- lacking in acceleration. That is consistent the NHL edge data which has his top speed (in the playoffs) quite a bit below the league average--actually about the 25th percentile, which would put him in the "slow" category. Normally he is a "fast" skater.

 

6. Miller and Hughes were good again and tilted the ice in their favor, as usual. But Hughes only played just over 20 minutes. And there is no doubt that he is playing through a minor injury.

 

7. The NHL is a war of attrition and injuries are always a big story in the playoffs. Most of us thought that the Demko injury was the big story, but the back-up goaltenders (DeSmith and Silovs) have not hurt the Canucks at all. They have been very good. But nagging injuries for Hughes and Petey look like they are having an effect.

 

8. People want the Canucks to take more shots. Tonight's total at least hit 20, but that still seems low. However, the Canucks do not waste shots and have a very high ratio of high danger chances to shots. I would focus more on shot quality than shot quantity. We need a few more high quality chances but the biggest thing we needed tonight was a better PP and a bit more "puck-luck" . I guess we used up all the puck luck last game.

 

9. For the two games in Nashville it looked like Nashville was the "better" team, even though the Canucks won. Tonight the game was at least even and the Canucks might have had a slight overall edge. In fact, it would be possible to make the case that the "better" team in terms of play (and underlying stats) has lost every game of the series so far. Hockey is a weird game.

 

9. The next game will be another hard-fought game between two relatively even teams. It's probably about 50-50 and I hope the Canucks can pull it out.

 

 

[Canuckleheads Fan]

1 hour ago, Harrington81 said:

Why can't we get a coach like brindamor from the canes? He yells at the refs all the time when they make a bad call. We've to many coaches in the past that say nothing.

Because the refs are pussies who can't take criticism. After Myers rightfully criticized them earlier this year, they made sure to punish the Canucks against Minni 10-7. I suspect Petey was injured in that game, as his season went downhill after it. He sure looks to have suffered a long-term injury that will need surgery after the season, something like a sports hernia, something he can play with but cuts his ability in half.

[PistolPete13]

34 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Nope.   Sure didn't work for WNP, not sure why he'd work for us.   Another minus magnet postseason, one goal in four games.    Everyone was googlee eyes over Monahan and Toffoli, not me, two paper tigers i'd rather avoid.    What EP's line needs is someone with size and skilled enough to use it, and provide him with the space and security to know he's not going to get cross checked and have to deal with the abuse.   Since he's unwilling to use his stick himself to fight back. 

Joshua?

[Déjà Vu]

2 hours ago, Ricky Ravioli said:

Question.

 

 

WHERE THE FUCK IS PETTERSON?

 

That Is all.

 

Hes chilling now, hes got his money, soon he can buy more xbox fps games to play

[IBatch]

22 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

Joshua?

Yep we are missing one more of those in the top six.   I would have been happy with Marroon on the fourth line moved up as needed.   

[iceman1964]

1 hour ago, DeltaSwede said:

You gotta be halfway across the universe with writing Petey off as a mistake. Embarassing. Go outside. 

Yeah he's been playing awesome hasn't he??  The about to be the highest paid player on the team sucking, how is that not a mistake? Take off your rose coloured glasses and go outside in the season and come back in the playoffs where it counts and have another look if your missing it right now, tell me who is playing better Garland or Petey? 

 

 

[iceman1964]

29 minutes ago, Canuckleheads Fan said:

Because the refs are pussies who can't take criticism. After Myers rightfully criticized them earlier this year, they made sure to punish the Canucks against Minni 10-7. I suspect Petey was injured in that game, as his season went downhill after it. He sure looks to have suffered a long-term injury that will need surgery after the season, something like a sports hernia, something he can play with but cuts his ability in half.

What if 40 isn't injured, just isn't playing well?  If he was injured, why would you risk playing him? If he is injured, there's no way RT plays him...

 He just looks lost out there half the time, shoots when he should pass and passes when he should shoot, hits occasionally (that right there says something) if he's injured that's the last thing he'd be trying to do.

 He's simply broken upstairs, his confidence is out the window,.simple as that.  I hope.he gets it fixed and back to his old self or we're screwed for a long time! 

 

Edited May 1 by iceman1964

[Miss Korea]

As someone who only read up and watched the highlights....

 

We gotta ask Zady to stop scoring.  We lose when he scores.

 

We need to play Tolopilo.  It's his destiny.

 

We also need to stop playing defence and let him stop 50 shots.  We've stolen two games already so just "goalie" them again.  The spirit of bubble Demko lives on.

[Pianoman]

1 hour ago, wai_lai416 said:

best game in the series is not really saying much.. it's not like they were amazing offensively in any of the other game.. they played great defence in all the games.. offense is non existent.. at least in the other games we can say we had more shot attempts than nashville and they blocked everything.. we didnt even have as much attempts as any of the previous 4 games and was out attempted by nashville

Canucks had 13 high danger scoring chances, Nashville had 5. Shots and shot attempts don’t tell the whole story. We clearly outplayed them tonight. 

[Dats hockey]

I’d be willing to bet Petey is dealing with a knee problem I don’t see him stride hard much or move laterally like normal, nor is he stepping into his shots at all. Wouldn’t be surprised when playoff over we hear something about ACL MCL

[N4ZZY]

I believe in the Canucks. 

 

They'll come back. Tocchet did say that they would need Demko, so I'm banking on them winning on Friday after two days off/practice time. I hope they can pull it out. Do it for Demmers! 

 

The team didn't play bad, and Silovs played pretty well. I'm betting that Tocchet goes back to DeSmith for Friday's game. How does DeSmith respond? Hopefully with a win to close out the series. If not, the stakes are at its peak come Sunday. 

 

[N4ZZY]

2 minutes ago, Dats hockey said:

I’d be willing to bet Petey is dealing with a knee problem I don’t see him stride hard much or move laterally like normal, nor is he stepping into his shots at all. Wouldn’t be surprised when playoff over we hear something about ACL MCL

That would be really bad if they had an ACL/MCL. Doesn't that kind of knee issue take months to heal from? Mik had that no? 

 

[Integra250]

6 minutes ago, N4ZZY said:

That would be really bad if they had an ACL/MCL. Doesn't that kind of knee issue take months to heal from? Mik had that no? 

 

My guess is it’s groin-related, and possibly a wrist injury as well which is why he hasn’t been attempting one timers for a few months now.

[The Aquaman]

We Got This Boys.

[Pears]

I forgot how much working during the playoffs sucked

[Canuckleheads Fan]

1 hour ago, iceman1964 said:

What if 40 isn't injured, just isn't playing well?  If he was injured, why would you risk playing him? If he is injured, there's no way RT plays him...

 He just looks lost out there half the time, shoots when he should pass and passes when he should shoot, hits occasionally (that right there says something) if he's injured that's the last thing he'd be trying to do.

 He's simply broken upstairs, his confidence is out the window,.simple as that.  I hope.he gets it fixed and back to his old self or we're screwed for a long time! 

 

How do you explain the way he was playing before and after the Minni game? He was on a 100+ point clip, scoring at will, taking games over, then poof? Nobody loses their game overnight. There are injuries, even injuries that will require surgery that players play through. Petey played through a damaged wrist that robbed him of his shot a few hears ago. You can play through a sports hernia. Last year Mik was playing through a torn knee ligament until the team, knowing the playoffs were out of reach shut him down. Petey obviously cares, I'm sure he's doing his best, and Tocc knows he's doing his best or he would sit him like he has others who were not playing up to snuff Instead of playing him so much. There is now a lot of speculation among the media insiders that Petey has been playing hurt. I doubt its a wrist, because he's still taking faceoffs when he didnt do that the last time, it's more likely something that has robbed him of his shot but can be managed with painkillers. He would not be the first to play with something like a sports hernia. Unlike the haters around here, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, there is something physical there, nobody on the team, among the coaches, or in management is calling him out as you would expect if it was lack of effort, he's hurt. I doubt it's mental, because this kid has never before wanted for confidence and has always believed in his talent. 

[spook007]

4 hours ago, -dlc- said:

A lot of people pack it in after every loss.

 

The team's put themselves in a position where they have some breathing room.

 

Have some faith.

Thank you... after reading the first page its like we are facing elimination...

Wonder how much stick Mashville players got after losing the last game 4-3?

 

Give the boys a bit of breating space. They've earned it. 

[Breadnbutta]

2 hours ago, Pears said:

Kinda scary how exact this is mirroring the 2011 series 

Well hopefully Miller goes Kes Beast mode and ends it in Nashville.

 

It's been too long my nerves aren't playoff seasoned lol. I don't think I can handle a game 7 lol

[PeteyBoeser]

We shouldn’t have scored until late third. We stopped playing after Zads goal 

[The Aquaman]

Guys…where’s EP? Lol

[OldFaithfulcap]

"If we need to win in six games, you win in six games. If we win in seven games, we win in seven games. We just need to win the series. That's all that matters. We win this series, we move on and then we've got to win the next series. Like, that's all that matters. Whether we do that here, whether we do it Nashville, whether we do that in five games or six games or seven games, it doesn’t matter. Just win the series" Ian Cole

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/canucks-lose-the-hard-way-in-game-5-as-series-shifts-back-to-nashville/

[MikeyD]

4 hours ago, Rip The Mesh said:

Bull! run it frame by frame, in particular, the early part..

I'm being extremely facetious. I honestly don't know how the call wouldn't have been overturned, but in the gdt a few people were saying there was zero chance it would get called back. I disagree wholeheartedly. I think had they not overturned it many hockey analysts would have been irate.

[Odd.]

Hronek has 2 goals and 18 points in his last 57 games (including playoffs). He has been dreadful and is exactly why I made that Do we really need Hronek thread on the previous forum.

 

He gets beaten and abused infront of the net, he makes these extremely boneheaded  Hail Mary passes when under pressure as he’s trying to get rid of the puck as quick as he can to avoid contact. He handcuffs Hughes a lot because of this. His gap control, his positioning, his board battling, and his tracking of his guy are all extremely poor and has been for quite awhile. Petey has been bad, but Hronek to me has been glaringly more inconsistent and lacklustre over the course of the season. He’s feisty post whistle sure, but he’s not physically imposing on anyone and him literally getting abused infront of the net all the time is irritating to say the least. Stecher who was a smaller guy didn’t have nearly as much trouble as Hronek does in this regard.

 

His PPG start at the start of the season was a hot streak and isn’t indicative of the actual type of defenseman he is. 
 

Re signing him to anything above $6.5M would be a mistake. I personally wouldn’t even re sign him, I’d use him as a trade piece and sell high on the “26 year old RHD RFA 50 points” while knowing deep down he is NOT that type of defenseman.

 

This years UFA pool for defenseman is strong. Tanev, DeMelo, Pesce, Roy, Chatfield, Walker are all solid RHD options. There’s also Dillon, Skjei, Hakanpaa, Stecher etc.

Edited May 1 by Odd.

[KoreanHockeyFan]

Tocchet should just put Lindholm with Petey. 

 

Mikheyev is deadweight for Petey. Bump him down to the fourth line (or replace with Podz) and reunite Blueger with Garland and Joshua. 

[IBatch]

3 hours ago, JamesB said:

A lot of people, including me, are heavily invested in this year's playoffs, so this loss hurts. But there were some positives tonight. Here are my comments.

 

1. The Canucks came out strong and were easily the better team in the first period. High dangers chances were 7-0 for the Canucks in the first. They were unlucky not to score. A period like that in the first half of the season probably would have generated a couple of goals. But not tonight.

 

2. Nashville came back strong in the 2nd period and, overall, the game was very close with good goaltending at both ends and tight defence. At 5-on-5 the Canucks had a slight edge in expected goals.

 

3. The difference in the game was that Nashville got a PP goal and the Canucks did not. It was a messy ("greasy") goal that looked like goaltender interference. And the Canuck PP continues to be a disappointment.

 

4. Zadorov's goal was a great individual effort. He looks like a great pick-up. Hope the Canucks can keep him.

 

5. Petey is taking a lot of criticism (again) because, hey, he did not score. But I thought he played well. He had 3 shots on goal, had a couple of hits, and 5-on-5 scoring chances were 7-0 for the Canucks when he was on the ice. He made a nice pass to Mik early in the first who took a shot from in close that missed the open corner by a couple of feet.  I agree that Petey is not 100%. I heard today that it might be "lower body" as his skating does not look good -- lacking in acceleration. That is consistent the NHL edge data which has his top speed (in the playoffs) quite a bit below the league average--actually about the 25th percentile, which would put him in the "slow" category. Normally he is a "fast" skater.

 

6. Miller and Hughes were good again and tilted the ice in their favor, as usual. But Hughes only played just over 20 minutes. And there is no doubt that he is playing through a minor injury.

 

7. The NHL is a war of attrition and injuries are always a big story in the playoffs. Most of us thought that the Demko injury was the big story, but the back-up goaltenders (DeSmith and Silovs) have not hurt the Canucks at all. They have been very good. But nagging injuries for Hughes and Petey look like they are having an effect.

 

8. People want the Canucks to take more shots. Tonight's total at least hit 20, but that still seems low. However, the Canucks do not waste shots and have a very high ratio of high danger chances to shots. I would focus more on shot quality than shot quantity. We need a few more high quality chances but the biggest thing we needed tonight was a better PP and a bit more "puck-luck" . I guess we used up all the puck luck last game.

 

9. For the two games in Nashville it looked like Nashville was the "better" team, even though the Canucks won. Tonight the game was at least even and the Canucks might have had a slight overall edge. In fact, it would be possible to make the case that the "better" team in terms of play (and underlying stats) has lost every game of the series so far. Hockey is a weird game.

 

9. The next game will be another hard-fought game between two relatively even teams. It's probably about 50-50 and I hope the Canucks can pull it out.

 

 

Number 8.  Aside from Game 1,  think this is a valid statement (and that was pretty even)   Game 3 first two periods were pretty even, then sat on a lead and the 3rd period was reminiscent of the Vegas bubble series.   Game four was amazing for us.   Game 2 we outplayed them and lost.    Game 5 well maybe that made up for Game 4.

 

Overall the series wouldn't look odd if we were down 3-2 instead of up.    Hopefully these guys play the next one like it's an elimination game.    

 

Teams going to need depth in the second round.    Pretty sure that the two most physically active teams right now, in the playoffs, are the Canucks and NSH.    In terms of how they are playing each other.     Glad to see that we can stand up to it.    No way would the team we had in the bubble manage this.    Zadorov is a beauty.    Wouldn't be opposed to putting him on EPs line and bringing up Juulsen.