Vancouver Canucks Lose Larsen, Drop 3-2 Decision to Devils

Vancouver Canucks D Philip Larsen was taken off the ice on a stretcher after being hit by Taylor Hall in a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

The Vancouver Canucks lost another defenseman on Tuesday night.

Philip Larsen had to be taken to hospital after a big time collision left him lying unconscious on the ice.

Once more, Canucks fans are enraged over a hit to one of their players.

Besides that, there was a hockey game. Vancouver stuck around right to the end, but ultimately made too many mistakes and took too many shifts off to come up with the win.

Final Score:

Scary Situation

First things first. Larsen received a crushing hit from Taylor Hall early in the second period.

Luca Sbisa threw a pass to Larsen behind the goal. As Larsen turned to grab the puck, Hall drove him to the ice:

Things got even worse. Michael Chaput jumped in to fight Hall, prompting everyone else to jump in the scrum. Unfortunately, the fight took place directly overtop of Larsen, who had been knocked unconscious.

The fallen defensemen received several blows to the head from skates, including from his own teammates.

The real heroes in all of this were Markus Granlund and Jacob Markstrom. They recognized the danger Larsen was in and did their best to shield him from all the sticks and skates.

After that Marky and Marky both signalled to the training staff. The Canucks goaltender even gave his teammate a little privacy from would-be paparazzi:

Granlund and Markstrom, Canucks fans salute you.

Larsen was stretchered off the ice. After that, the news was very positive:

Best wishes to Philip Larsen; we hope you’re back with us soon!

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Fans were understandably upset about Hall’s hit. Personally, I believe the hit was clean. Larsen is clearly eligible to be hit on this play.

There is some contact to the head, but I think it’s clear that Hall is targeting Larsen’s body. Larsen is shorter than Hall and is bent over slightly as he reaches for Sbisa’s pass. But Hall stays as low as he can and is not “picking” Larsen’s head.

I could be wrong on this, but I don’t believe this hit is dirty, or suspension-worthy. It certainly doesn’t compare to Kadri’s hit on Sedin, which was clearly predatory.

Scoring Recap

Back to the game.

The Devils jumped on the Canucks early. Hall spotted them an early lead:

Late in the first, Travis Zajac was hurt on an awkward play:

That play was deemed legal. The Devils were penalized once for roughing when they went after Chaput. And then their coach was fined again for his comments to the referee.

The Devils misfortune was the Canucks good fortune. The 5-on-3 stretched into the second period, and Daniel Sedin hit paydirt:

The Canucks passed and passed and passed the puck on the play. In true Sedin fashion, just when fans were yelling “shoot the puck!” at their TVs, they found the shot they were looking for.

It can’t be “too many passes” if it works, right?

After that goal and the hit on Larsen, New Jersey forged ahead once again.

Kyle Palmieri found a chink in Markstrom’s armor:

Then Palmieri provided the screen as Ben Lovejoy scored from the point:

Markstrom felt that Palmieri interfered with him on the goal, but the Canucks bench declined to challenge the goal.

Henrik Inches Closer

Vancouver did get back within one goal. In the third period Henrik Sedin took a pass from his brother and picked the corner:

That goal means Henrik needs just 13 more points to reach 1000!

Markstrom, it has to be said, was not sharp with his rebound control early in the game. And the second goal from the Devils is one he should not allow.

However, after playing the hero for Philip Larsen, he also was heroic in the net late in the game:

All in all, the Canucks did have stretches of good hockey in this game, but they were too few and far between. They waited until they were down 3-1 before playing their best, and by then it was too late.

Next: Three Possible Trade Targets

The Vancouver Canucks play their next game in Tampa Bay on Thursday. But right now, most of the focus is with Philip Larsen — get well soon.