[PGT]Round 2, Game 7 - Canucks vs Oilers - May 20th, 2024

[Silent Man]

Thank you for the great season, Canucks!

You gave us, fans, a hope for the bright future.

 

[KoreanHockeyFan]

Boys looked tired towards the end of the series. This playoff experience will help them learn how to manage the pain and effort you need to endure to elevate your game at a consistent level during the playoffs.

 

I think people are being a little too hard on Petey and Hronek - it was both of their first playoffs (yes I know Petey played in the bubble playoffs, but that doesn't really count). Next playoffs we'll see if Petey has learned anything.

 

I'm still open to re-signing Hronek, I can see him taking a cheap bridge deal. 

[Drakrami]

Well disappointing.. Game 6 and Game7...  Garland brought his game.  I'd say Miller was playing hurt.  Was dangerous all playoffs until like around game2 vs Oilers where he started to tail off and maintenance day on practice day, so it adds up. Everyone's hurt and banged up in the playoffs though and plays through it. 

[NHLer]

Would Miller's shot at the end have gone in if it hadn't hit Zadorov? One only wonders...

[spook007]

4 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

First thing Toch mentions post-game.

 

He's gotta move there, potentially a series-costing mistake having him in that spot if he's not willing to engage & do the netfront job. 

1 mistake doesn't cost the series... he has been one of the shining lights during the series....

[IBatch]

5 hours ago, JamesB said:

Sorry to see the season end. The Canucks did better this season than anyone predicted or expected but losing this series hurts.

 

1. The Canucks did pretty well on the injury front this season but karma was against them in the playoffs as their Vezina-short-listed goalie was injured in the first game and missed the rest of the playoffs and their top goal scorer could not play the 7th game of round 2. Would having Demmer and Boeser in the line-up today have made the difference? Maybe. The Canucks certainly could have used their best shooter tonight. 

 

2. The early shot totals suggest that the Oilers were dominating the game. The Oilers did outplay the Canucks early, which is a problem. But the shot totals are partially explained by strategy. The Oilers were throwing everything they could at Silovs while the Canucks were following Tocchet's strategy of "not wasting shots" and going for high danger chances. But the Canucks could not finish their high danger chances.

 

3. Probably the best chance for either team in the first was when Miller put Mik in all alone on Skinner and Mik, as usual, fumbled the puck. Cannot blame that on his injury. It was was the "hands of stone" problem that he has always had. Garland had two excellent chances but shot wide on both, just missing the corner both times. Petey and Miller both passed up good shot opportunities to go for cross-seam backdoor chances that did not work out. None of those chances counted as shots on goal and there were lots of other situations where the Canucks had a good chance but failed to record a shot on goal.  To make the point, the Canucks won the all-strength Corsi battle 61-46 but lost on the shot clock 17-29.

 

4. The Canucks PP was a big disappointment. They seem to be taking the "don't shoot" strategy too far.  For the playoffs as a whole they had 34.1 shots per 60 minutes on the PP. Edmonton had 82.2 shots per 60. That difference is crazy. I think the Canucks had 14 PPs in a row without scoring over the last few games.

 

5. The Canucks made a big push in the 3rd. The all-strength Corsi was 22-4 for the Canucks and the scoring chances were 11-1. Even the actual shots were 5-2 for the Canucks. So they made a big effort in the third period and scored two goals to make it close. Petey did not get an assist on Garland's goal but he deserved one as his check on McLeod is what allowed the puck to come free to Garland, who made a nice shot. Hronek finally decided get a shot on goal and scored. It was a nice play but that is the kind of shot the Canucks should have been taking earlier against Skinner.

 

6. Both the Lindholm-Joshua-Garland line and Petey and Miller with either Mik or PDG had very good underlying numbers and played well. Miller and Petey led the team in expected goal differential and both played well. I have to mention that Joshua was credited with 9 hits and Lindy was second with 5. Both those guys did everything they could.

 

7. As for the D, Hughes led in ice-time (as usual) with over 28 minutes. The ice was not tilted as strongly as it usually is when he is on the ice, but he still had a good game. He left everything out there. I don't think we could ask for much more. Zad also had a good game.

 

8. So what went wrong? I think the key factors are i) slow start, ii) ineffective PP, iii) taking the high-possession-low shot strategy too far, especially on the PP, and iv) the Canucks just missed on too many high quality chances (maybe due to lack of playoff experience). Losing Boeser was obviously a big loss as he is not really replaceable. And, while Silovs made some big saves and played well, not having Demmer in the net is a negative. Also, as Miller said, in the end the Canucks were just one bounce away.

 

The Canucks had a very good season and a good playoff. Now we can think about whether it is possible to actually improve the team for next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great synopsis as usual. 

 

To me the 4 minute power play was the turning point and they didn't know it yet.    Actually felt the first period was tactical, to let EDM come at us and then go for the KO later on, way too many dump ins with the puck on the stick and room to skate it in by skilled players (when EP's doing this, they had a reason for it), to come out of the first tied.   Which they did.   It was like they were playing with a lead they never had, maybe just to get the jitters out who knows.

 

In the end, the war of attrition hit us in an unsuspecting way at a bad time.   It happens though.    

 

Super proud of the team and what they did this year.    Tochett maybe learned something too.   Which is just fine.   

 

EP had his best game.   All these guys know what to expect from this team now, including the brass.    Which is something they can work on.    And on the bright side, according to THN anyways, only Dallas has a bigger window than we do as things stand right now.    Year one of four done.   Before major surgery or re-tooling is required.    That's significant.  Silovs is 23?   He's going to get better and maybe a diamond in the rough.  

 

Allvin will have his work cut out for him working out the details.    There is zero reason why as fans we can't hold our heads high for this group, it's coaching staff and top brass. 

[CanuckMan]

What if Lafferty had taken a stupid tripping penalty 200 feet from his net which cause the Oilers to go on the powerplay and take a 3-0 lead. What a dumb penalty to take. Canucks were playing good at the time too and seemed like they were building momentum. 

[Blue]

I'm more devastated than I thought I was going to be. We were the better team. We had leads in the series. We should have won it  Statistically we should have won it. 

 

I am fuckin sad Af honestly 

Edited May 21 by Blue

[Maniwaki Canuck]

I hate the Oilers as much as anyone else here.  They're a poorly constructed team of whining, diving, dirty bitches.  If I watch any more hockey this year, it will be to see how Dallas picks them apart.

But there's no denying that they compete and have learned how to defend.  Give then credit for that.

[CanucksJay]

Our guys were out worked this series.

Beside the 1 game, we were second to pucks and oilers out pressured us most games. 

Silovs future looks bright

[Mikeyman109]

Great season but that empty feeling is hard to take. I could have handled it if we had lost to the Stars but this just hits different against a team that we should have beaten.. Listening to the loser Oiler fans now is going to suck all summer. I hope they get blown out by Dallas. 

 

Just want to thank everyone here for what was a great season. We were never expected to be in the playoffs but winning the division and getting to the second round, i couldnt be prouder of our team. Our future looks bright, Thanks for the chats this year even the ones we argued about. 

 

To Quinn Hughes, Connor Garland, Dakota Joshua, JT Miller, Nikita Zadorov, Arturs Silovs, Brock Boeser, Carson Soucy,  heck even Tyler Myers you guys gave it all you had in the playoffs this year and thank you for it. I hope this serves us well going forward. These guys showed we can have another gear in the playoffs. 

 

Without disrespecting anyone Petey you need to step it up come playoff time.

 

Lindholm would be nice to keep but not at the price of not being able to resign some of the other FAs

 

Mikeyhev has to go. If he buries that breakaway early on in game 7 it changes the game. He is where the puck goes to die. It didnt help Petey playing with him all series.

 

Hronek, if he wants over 6 million trade him for other assets. Like Anson Carter sometimes the situation is better than the player.

 

Ian Cole you had a terrible playoffs. I liked Cole all year but that was brutal. for a guy with that much playoff experience there were some lessons there you should have already learned. Cost us two games in the series. should have been a difference maker. He was but in the wrong way.

 

Demko needs to play less that 60 games next season. If he cant stay healthy we need a new starter. Doesnt do us any good to have him hurt in the playoffs.  maybe bad breaks for him and us but doesnt help at all. 

 

Lastly to coach Tocchett who I was against hiring. I thought we were going down a road with a coach who didnt know what he was doing in Arizona and had not had the success as a head coach that was needed to turn the ship around.... man was I wrong. He will deservedly win the Jack Adams award and that is shared with his assistant coaches for sure. I see he has what it takes to win and will continue to lead this group going forward.  Thank you.

 

To have our forum closed and then reborn here thank you to those that made it happen. Its a great place to cheer, boo and hiss, fight and get along sharing ideas. To you all i wish you the best summer possible and we will see everyone back in September when Training camp gets going. Mikeyman

 

 

[spook007]

1 minute ago, IBatch said:

Great synopsis as usual. 

 

To me the 4 minute power play was the turning point and they didn't know it yet.    Actually felt the first period was tactical, to let EDM come at us and then go for the KO later on, way too many dump ins with the puck on the stick and room to skate it in by skilled players (when EP's doing this, they had a reason for it), to come out of the first tied.   Which they did.   It was like they were playing with a lead they never had, maybe just to get the jitters out who knows.

 

In the end, the war of attrition hit us in an unsuspecting way at a bad time.   It happens though.    

 

Super proud of the team and what they did this year.    Tochett maybe learned something too.   Which is just fine.   

 

EP had his best game.   All these guys know what to expect from this team now, including the brass.    Which is something they can work on.    And on the bright side, according to THN anyways, only Dallas has a bigger window than we do as things stand right now.    Year one of four done.   Before major surgery or re-tooling is required.    That's significant.  Silovs is 23?   He's going to get better and maybe a diamond in the rough.  

 

Allvin will have his work cut out for him working out the details.    There is zero reason why as fans we can't hold our heads high for this group, it's coaching staff and top brass. 

After seeing us this play offs, I'd even suggest that with a bit of luck our window may even be bigger than 4 years, if Podz can become a 3rd liner and both Willander and Lekkerimaki becomes players, we may look at a bigger window (maybe 6 years), but that is for another day...

 

We need to find bottom plugs, who likes to hit and hit a lot.... Petey having to be a wrecking ball is all good, but I'd prefer he concentrated on his elite creative and scoring powers... Wonder how he would fare with a spell between Garland and Joshua, or similar players... 

Playing him with Stone Cold Maki, and whichever plug there was available, didn't do much for him... Expect him to improve as he grows even older and the same with Hogs... these are young players, Podz too.... Our back up next year is likely Silovs, if they want to save on a back up keeper...

Myers brought it, just like last play offs and Zad too... They will need to make some cuts, to improve and stay within the cap, but it should be possible...

Remember how many trade proposal were made with Boeser and Garland... 2 of our best forwards during the play offs...

 

The future is bright and we can look towards next season with optimism... 

 

Still....it hurts like hell to lose this round to those diving arrogant pigs... Especially Dry, Kane and McDiver...

[spook007]

8 minutes ago, Mikeyman109 said:

Great season but that empty feeling is hard to take. I could have handled it if we had lost to the Stars but this just hits different against a team that we should have beaten.. Listening to the loser Oiler fans now is going to suck all summer. I hope they get blown out by Dallas. 

 

Just want to thank everyone here for what was a great season. We were never expected to be in the playoffs but winning the division and getting to the second round, i couldnt be prouder of our team. Our future looks bright, Thanks for the chats this year even the ones we argued about. 

 

To Quinn Hughes, Connor Garland, Dakota Joshua, JT Miller, Nikita Zadorov, Arturs Silovs, Brock Boeser, Carson Soucy,  heck even Tyler Myers you guys gave it all you had in the playoffs this year and thank you for it. I hope this serves us well going forward. These guys showed we can have another gear in the playoffs. 

 

Without disrespecting anyone Petey you need to step it up come playoff time.

 

Lindholm would be nice to keep but not at the price of not being able to resign some of the other FAs

 

Mikeyhev has to go. If he buries that breakaway early on in game 7 it changes the game. He is where the puck goes to die. It didnt help Petey playing with him all series.

 

Hronek, if he wants over 6 million trade him for other assets. Like Anson Carter sometimes the situation is better than the player.

 

Ian Cole you had a terrible playoffs. I liked Cole all year but that was brutal. for a guy with that much playoff experience there were some lessons there you should have already learned. Cost us two games in the series. should have been a difference maker. He was but in the wrong way.

 

Demko needs to play less that 60 games next season. If he cant stay healthy we need a new starter. Doesnt do us any good to have him hurt in the playoffs.  maybe bad breaks for him and us but doesnt help at all. 

 

Lastly to coach Tocchett who I was against hiring. I thought we were going down a road with a coach who didnt know what he was doing in Arizona and had not had the success as a head coach that was needed to turn the ship around.... man was I wrong. He will deservedly win the Jack Adams award and that is shared with his assistant coaches for sure. I see he has what it takes to win and will continue to lead this group going forward.  Thank you.

 

To have our forum closed and then reborn here thank you to those that made it happen. Its a great place to cheer, boo and hiss, fight and get along sharing ideas. To you all i wish you the best summer possible and we will see everyone back in September when Training camp gets going. Mikeyman

 

 

Cheers Milkyman... All true and on point...

 

Especially the part about the folks making the possible for us all to still talk Canucks with one another a massive thank you.

[spook007]

9 hours ago, HOCKEYGOD77 said:

THE DALLAS STARS WILL DEMOLISH THE OILERS..VICTORIA KID JAIME BENN SHOULD WIN A CUP..HE IS A TYPE OF [LAYER MOULD THE CANUCKS NEED. DALLAS SHOULD TAKE THIS IN 6

Like Miller?

[Maniwaki Canuck]

Juice said it best, we just ran out of gas.  It's not easy to play the high-pressure forecheck and cycle offence that gave us success.  Nobody can do that for 60 minutes a game all year, let alone into the playoffs.   By the end of January we stopped racking  up the lopsided wins that happened during the first 4 months of the season.  When other teams were  raising their game, we were already maxed out.  I say that without blame:  we had to discover what we were capable of and did.  Now it's a question of learning how to manage intensity, rest and recovery, etc. over the course of a season.  These guys will figure it out.

 

[spook007]

9 hours ago, coho8888 said:

So proud of the team. Not sure why a few seem to blame tocchet,  he’s done a great job turning things around.  We were without our top goal scorer and our #1 goaltender ( though silovs played great throughout).  Management knows what we need for next year.  These playoffs were all about finding out what we have for the post season.  Who to sign and who to let walk.  
 

looking forward to next season.

 

Dallas is going to shred their defense and goaltending.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a sweep

This .... spot on

[NewbieCanuckFan]

34 minutes ago, KoreanHockeyFan said:

Boys looked tired towards the end of the series. This playoff experience will help them learn how to manage the pain and effort you need to endure to elevate your game at a consistent level during the playoffs.

 

I think people are being a little too hard on Petey and Hronek - it was both of their first playoffs (yes I know Petey played in the bubble playoffs, but that doesn't really count). Next playoffs we'll see if Petey has learned anything.

 

I'm still open to re-signing Hronek, I can see him taking a cheap bridge deal. 

Nope.  Your best player has to be your best player. Petey wasn't even the best forward on the team *any* one game this post-season.  Or even as high as 4th best forward.  That isn't remotely acceptable (baring him playing thru a major injury which we'll find out I guess soon enough as it's pointless to 'keep it a secret now').

 

Pressure on him will significantly higher on him this upcoming season with his cap hit being well over 11 million.  

Edited May 21 by NewbieCanuckFan

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Nope.  Your best player has to be your best player. Petey wasn't even the best forward on the team *any* one game this post-season.  Or even as high as 4th best forward.  That isn't remotely acceptable (baring him playing thru a major injury which we'll find out I guess soon enough as it's pointless to 'keep it a secret now').

Any player with a “major” injury would not be playing. It’s obvious to anyone who played the game that Petey was clearly playing with an injury that limited his skating. His stride looked wrong. 

[CanucksJay]

4 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Nope.  Your best player has to be your best player. Petey wasn't even the best forward on the team *any* one game this post-season.  Or even as high as 4th best forward.  That isn't remotely acceptable (baring him playing thru a major injury which we'll find out I guess soon enough as it's pointless to 'keep it a secret now').

 

Pressure on him will significantly higher on him this upcoming season with his cap hit being well over 11 million.  

Truth

However I believe in Petey. 

Itll be like when ppl hated on Brock except Petey will be a top 5 centre in the league 

 

[PhillipBlunt]

38 minutes ago, KoreanHockeyFan said:

Boys looked tired towards the end of the series. This playoff experience will help them learn how to manage the pain and effort you need to endure to elevate your game at a consistent level during the playoffs.

 

I think people are being a little too hard on Petey and Hronek - it was both of their first playoffs (yes I know Petey played in the bubble playoffs, but that doesn't really count). Next playoffs we'll see if Petey has learned anything.

 

I'm still open to re-signing Hronek, I can see him taking a cheap bridge deal. 

Too hard? How? They knew that the playoffs were going to be a tighter, harder faster version of the regular season. They both should have elevated their play, instead they both disappeared for the majority of the run. That's a fact. If that's "being hard on them", that's too bad. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

3 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Any player with a “major” injury would not be playing. It’s obvious to anyone who played the game that Petey was clearly playing with an injury that limited his skating. His stride looked wrong. 

That's the only "out" I'll give him (which is why I've said it a couple times already).

 

I think the only other guy that I was significantly disappointed in this post-season was Mikheyev.  Pretty much all the other forwards on the team can look on the mirror & say "not my fault/did my best".  imho.

 

That aside, team has nothing to be ashamed of this post-season (especially considering how far down they had to go the depth chart on their goaltending).

Edited May 21 by NewbieCanuckFan

[Alflives]

23 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

Our guys were out worked this series.

Beside the 1 game, we were second to pucks and oilers out pressured us most games. 

Silovs future looks bright

Did you watch the games. The cheating league with their cheating refs out worked us. Coilers stink. Their fans stink. Their city stinks. F them and anyone who cheers for them to do well. 

[CanucksJay]

1 minute ago, Alflives said:

Any player with a “major” injury would not be playing. It’s obvious to anyone who played the game that Petey was clearly playing with an injury that limited his skating. His stride looked wrong. 

Yup. He was regularly caught by the back checker this playoffs. 

That didn't happen in any season he's played. It's not like he forgot how to skate all of a sudden. There was something hampering him for sure. 

Problem is, other guys would then use their big frame to protect the puck but that's not his game and so, he was pretty screwed this playoffs. 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

That's the only "out" I'll give him (which is why I've said it a couple times already).

 

I think the only other guy that I was significantly disappointed in this post-season was Mikheyev.  Pretty much all the other forwards on the team can look on the mirror & say "not my fault/did my best".  imho.

[syntheticity]

5 hours ago, Pears said:

Lindholm, Zadorov, and Joshua need to be priorities. Recoup assets for Hronek and use that space to get a winger or two for Petey. 

Unfortunately I don't think the math works...

 

Lindy was great this post season, but he's rumored to want 8-9m per on his next contract, which is a lot of cap to be allocating to a 3rd center, when we're already committed to almost 20m to Petey & Miller. That would amount to almost 1/3 of our projected cap on those just those 3.

 

With you on the need to find a top line winger for Petey and open to trading Hronek, but that alone doesn't get us the needed cap space, as you have to factor in the cost of a replacement RHD to pair with Hughes. For example, if we got Tanev in free agency (as a cheaper short term fix while Willander develops), even that's likely costing us at least 5m per, which is more than what Hronek is currently getting. In the end, it only saves us 2.5-3m vs signing Hronek for 7.5-8. And that assumes we're not taking any salary back in the Hronek trade.

 

Meanwhile, a top line winger that would make a difference would cost significantly more than what we'd be saving: Guentzel will likely cost at least 9m, Tofolli at close to 6, etc. 

 

In short, I don't see a way of retaining Lindy AND adding an impactful top line winger alongside Petey, without creating significant holes elsewhere in the lineup. Especially if we hope to also retain Zadarov and Joshua.

 

Edited May 21 by syntheticity