TAKEAWAYS
- That was the response. That was the Vancouver Canucks answer to their worst loss of the season. That was their best attempt to make systematic and line-up changes and take their best shot at an opponent that exposed them brutally on Thursday night. Woof. There’s no other way to describe it. All you really need to know about Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Leafs is that it took the Canucks nine minutes to attempt a shot on goal. Did I mention this was their response game? When Justin Bailey rolled a puck on goal from 42-feet out to provide proof that the Canucks were in fact sharing the same ice surface with the Leafs, Toronto already had seven of their own shots and a 1-0 lead. The issue with Canucks right now isn’t their 6-9 record. To be perfectly honest, the record is one of the best things about the hockey club these days. It’s the way they’re playing and the way they’re losing. Fans can accept defeat if effort is evident and complete buy-in is on full display. But it’s hard to stomach the lack of pushback offered up by the hockey club on this four game losing streak during which the Canucks have been outscored 23-9. To hear the players tell it post game, they’re not far off. That’s not likely a view shared by many who watch the games.
- Travis Green opted for a line-up that included eight players 31-years of age or older on Saturday in Toronto. Youth movement be damned. Clearly, the coach was appealing to his veterans’ sensibility and their professional pride in an attempt to stem the recent bleeding (besides the guys that sat certainly haven’t set the world on fire). The game plan included turning to 35-year-old Loui Eriksson for the first time this season in the hope of playing a safer, lower-event style than the Canucks have displayed at any point this season. So what happened? 34-year-old Alex Edler took a slashing penalty just 3:19 seconds into the game. And with five other members of the 31+ club on the ice – Brandon Sutter, Antoine Roussel, Tyler Myers and Jordie Benn along with goalie Braden Holtby – the Canucks surrendered the game’s opening goal to Wayne Simmonds on a Toronto power play. Benn dropped down to take away a passing lane to Auston Matthews at the back post, but Simmonds had all kinds of time and used it to roof the puck short-side on Holtby. This is not to pin the loss entirely on the veteran players. It’s simply to point out that the team elected to go with a line-up full of experience – the oldest line-up possible, in fact – hoping to change its fortunes. That strategy did not pay off and now the team is left to try to find another game plan in time for Monday now in desperate need of salvaging something out of this three game set with the Leafs.
- It was not a banner night for Edler and his defense partner Jalen Chatfield. Edler took a pair of minor penalties in the game’s first 5:03 and as mentioned was in the box for the 1-0 goal by Simmonds. Edler then stumbled at his own blueline in an attempt to make a play on the puck which backfired and allowed Auston Matthews to blow past a static Chatfield on the 2-0 goal. That pair was also victimized on the 3-0 goal 7:36 into the second period when Chatfield got caught puck watching as the Leafs attacked the Canucks zone. Zach Hyman deposited both the puck and Edler into the Vancouver net adding insult to injury as the Leafs extended their lead. On the night, Chatfield was on the ice for all four of Toronto’s even-strength goals while Edler was on the ice for two of them. Edler, of course, was beaten cleanly by Jason Spezza in the third period of Thursday’s game. The Leafs speed will cause problems for many defenders in the NHL North Division so Edler won’t be the only one. But 15 games into this new season, Edler is in familiar territory. At night’s end on Saturday, he was one behind San Jose’s Evander Kane for the NHL lead in minor penalties taken with nine in 14 games. The league gets faster every year and it seems there are questions about whether Edler can keep up.
- It was apparent on Thursday and reinforced on Saturday night. The Leafs superstars are at a level higher than the Canucks top players right now. Auston Matthews has blitzed the Canucks for two goals in each of these first two meetings while Mitch Marner had three primary assists on Saturday to go along with a goal and two helpers in Thursday’s victory. Those two have had their way with the Canuck defenders. With Matthews on the ice at even-strength Saturday, the Leafs held a 4-0 goal advantage, carried 77.7% of the expected goals, outshot the Canucks 10-4, outchanced them 16-5 and held a 7-1 edge in high danger scoring opportunities. Somebody throw in the towel, please. The Canucks continue to wait for their best players to get fully invested and be the difference makers they were on many nights last season. Until that happens, the team will continue to struggle. Sure, Brock Boeser scored his ninth of the season on a late power play with the game out of reach. But this was yet another night where the Canucks were let down by their best players while the Leafs stars are surely counting down the minutes until puck drop on Monday and another chance to face the Canucks.
- There is something rotten with this Canucks team right now. It doesn’t seem to matter which buttons the head coach pushes, he can’t get a response. He called a timeout in Montreal on Monday night with his team flailing and down 5-1 to the Habs. It made no difference and garnered no reaction from the players. He made line-up changes on Saturday and they had no impact. He hasn’t been able to get his best players or the team’s power play to remotely resemble the powerhouse bunch they were last season. He is clearly frustrated and it’s clear to see and hear in his post-game Zooms. It’s also understandable given the nightly outcomes. But it is the coach’s job to have answers to questions off the ice and to have solutions to problems on the ice. This is his team and right now it feels like the team is drifting aimlessly. It wasn’t that long ago that the same coach was deservedly getting credit for his role in the Canucks playoff success. Last summer, he seemed to be able to affect change with his strategy, decisions and adjustments. Right now, none of that is happening. And it is fair to wonder how long that can continue? Again, this isn’t about wins and losses. It’s all about the way the losses have looked and felt -- and just how resounding they’ve been lately. This is pro sports and it’s a bottom line business. I don’t believe the players have quit on the coach, but he needs to prove that he still has command of this group. And it would be a nice change to see him have the team ready to all play like they give a damn from the drop of the puck on Monday night.
