Vancouver Canucks: 3 takeaways from latest loss to Golden Knights

Despite a brief reprieve from losing, the Vancouver Canucks are back to form. At last from the loss, the young guns shined, but Alex Edler was the victim of a terrible cheap shot at the end of the game.

Alright, let’s do a little game logging for the Vancouver Canucks. With their most recent loss to the Golden Knights, the team dropped a 4-3 decision. Despite busting the losing streak a couple games ago, the team has lost 10 of their last 11. Over that span, the Canucks have scored 24 goals. However, they have given up 42. Is that bad? I think that’s bad.

Look, I know everybody is ready to blame the goaltending. Don’t get me wrong, Jacob Markstrom was not good, letting in four goals on 31 shots. But the problem is so much more than that. From top to bottom, there is so much junk on this team and the injury replacements are not going to move the needle much when they return.

Although, it did show how much of a difference goaltending makes. The Golden Knights are not very good. However, Marc-Andre Fleury turned took a middling team and turned it into a legitimate cup contender last season. With their fifth win a row, it looks like he’s trying to that again.

The Canucks were led by their young players (more on that below), but ended on a sour note. No, not the back-breaking goal. Alex Edler was sent to the concussion protocol thanks to a cheap shot from Ryan Reaves. My soap box will be short. This garbage has to stop. Sven Baertschi is looking down the barrel of his career because of concussions and is only 27 years old. It’s obvious that the league does not do enough, but when they do, the NHLPA finds a new low and undoes justifiable punishment. Things won’t get better in this area until major changes and admissions are made.

Rant over. There were a few things to salvage from this game, so let’s take a look at the three takeways from the night.

The night of short memories

I do have to say this. The chaotic whirlwind behind the scenes has been nothing but pure entertainment for me. Seeing Trevor Linden on the big screen at Rogers Arena was awesome and I’m not sure if the owner even knew about. DJ gate, the Jeff Stipec firing and calling back to the insanity of a Jim Benning extension really is top notch. I tip my hat to Graphic Comments (aka Nobody from CanucksArmy).

Travis Green really has a short memory. He trolled Canucks fans by putting Jake Virtanen with Bo Horvat in the morning skate, yet the team’s future captain started the game with Sam Gagner and Brendan Leipsic.

But that didn’t last long. After the Canucks blew their 1-0 lead, Virtanen and Tim Schaller (?) were put with Horvat. I don’t know why Green thinks Schaller is a top six forward, but these Willie Desjardins-type decisions have to stop. Canucks fans booed him when the team tried to thank him on the Jumbotron. Not the best idea to follow in those footsteps.

I don’t get it. There are about a dozen games where Schaller proves he doesn’t belong there, yet that’s where we see him. Also, Troy Stecher went from the doghouse to the penthouse, grabbing a spot on the top pairing. Here’s the thing, Stecher played about the same as he always has on Tuesday. And, Stecher wasn’t even going to play if Erik Gudbranson was healthy. Short memories.

Travis Green is not a happy camper

The tension is starting to mount with the Canucks bench boss. I’ve seen him more animated behind the bench and given the questionable number of calls tonight, I can’t blame him. To make matters worse, his team just can’t seem to string enough good plays together.

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His Canucks were once sitting on top of the division and coasting downwards, sixth in the Pacific. Ranked 28th in points percentage, there aren’t too many things that would suggest an upward swing is on the way.

The schedule has not been fair, but that’s the hand you’re dealt when your GM doesn’t fight the league on it. Vancouver hosts the World Juniors, so get ready for another long road trip next month. It doesn’t help him that both special teams are hurting his squad. It was bad enough when the penalty kill was bleeding goals against, but that game winning goal just hurt to watch.

Ben Hutton blames himself, but it’s not his fault. Nikolay Goldobin, Brendan Leipsic and Markus Granlund just skated away as Hutton and Markstrom were hung out to dry and fend off a 2-on-1. That is the kind of garbage that makes a coach’s blood boil.

And sadly, this isn’t an isolated incident. It really adds over a season of mediocrity and you have to wonder what kind of toll this taking on Green. I don’t think the best of coaches could clean up this mess. Although, you are all well aware about the disagreements I have with some of his decisions. Good luck, Travis, because I can’t even begin to guess when things get better.

The kids are definitely alright

Gloom and doom aside, there was one silver lining from this game. This is the kind of loss that Team Tank dreams of. Done in regulation and the offence was carried by the kids. Let’s start with Elias Pettersson. I think I have made this reference before, so forgive me, but he really is like Neo. Pettersson can see the Matrix and do things that we haven’t even thought of.

His blind pass to Brock Boeser from his knees looked like a cheat code out of NHL 94. Speaking of Boeser, it is fun to finally watch him play healthy again. His shot has its original power and I don’t ever want to see him separated from Pettersson this season.

And last, but certainly not least is the workhorse on the Vancouver Canucks. Their future captain, Bo Horvat. I still think Pettersson is the best player on the team in terms of raw talent. At a time, that would be enough for an MVP from me. But it has to be Horvat. He carried this team on the road and had to take an absurd number of faceoffs.

Think about doing that with a revolving cast of bottom six forwards on his wing. I don’t know how many times his lined changed during the game, but having to constantly adjust with new linemates is nothing short of incredible. Horvat wants to be the guy and he is doing just that. I’ll still take issue with the penalty kill, but Bo has been nothing short of remarkable this season. It’s a damn shame that those three are surrounded by such a bad team. They all deserve better and frankly, Canucks fans deserve better too.