Canucks gameday: In search of a second victory vs. Vegas

The Vancouver Canucks suffered a shutout loss to the Robin Lehner and the Vegas Golden Knights. That must change tonight in the second leg of back-to-backs.

Robin Lehner loves stopping the puck, especially when his opponent is the Vancouver Canucks. For whatever reason, No. 90 is unstoppable against the men in blue and green. With a 3-0 shutout win last night in the third game of this seven-game series, he now holds two shutout victories in this series. Actually, every win he’s ever had versus Vancouver, he’s shut the door completely.

That’ll have to change if the Canucks want to keep living in the bubble of Edmonton a little while longer. As good as Jacob Markstrom has been in the Vancouver crease, wins don’t come if you can’t solve the opposing goaltender. In the only game where Lehner has been beaten by Vancouver (Game 2), the Canucks potted five big ones by crashing the net and getting scoring chances in tight.

Using blazing speed and quick passing, Vancouver looked good to start Game 3, but the ability to finish their high-quality scoring opportunities just wasn’t there. The power play (Vancouver’s bread and butter) got their fair share of chances, but Vegas was able to “cheat” and stop the Canucks biggest threat on more than one occasion. Not only that but twice Vegas killed a penalty and immediately swung the momentum back in their favor by marching back and getting a quick one in the back of the Canucks’ net.

Game notes, stats, more

• The Vancouver Canucks have the right superstars to get themselves back in this series. With two shutout losses to Vegas, Bo Horvat (the NHL leader in 2020 Playoffs goals) has to find a way to get pucks past Lehner. Elias Pettersson is second in points (16) but needs to get his Ovechkin-like one-timer figured out.
• Matching speed versus speed got the Canucks their only win versus Vegas. I wouldn’t expect Travis green to make any adjustments to his lineup unless an injured Tyler Myers is good and ready. Vancouver will need to get back to moving the puck quickly, setting up good scoring chances, and firing a lot of pucks towards heavy traffic.
• Vancouver needs to find a way to control play more often than not. Despite owning the faceoff circle as the League’s best, Vancouver has suffered away from the puck. Huge possession numbers for Vegas make it a lot easier for them to walk away with shutouts because they spend the majority of the game with the puck on the blade of their sticks.

Players to watch

Brock Boeser: In three games he has a single assist versus Vegas, and in his last five games he only has a total of two assists and is -5 on the ice. For a player known for his incredible wrist shot, it’s been vacant from his arsenal for quite some time. He needs to start picking corners right now.

Alex Tuch: He’s got goals in four straight games and he gets them with quick footwork and an accurate wrist shot. Too many times he’s snuck past the Vancouver defenders with ease only to get control of the puck with time and space to finish the play and zip one past Markstrom.

Jake Virtanen: He’s the fastest skater on the team and he also knows how to throw his weight around. But you wouldn’t know that watching his play in the 2020 NHL Playoffs. Sporting nothing more than a goal and an assist through 12 games, Virtanen needs to find a way to be effective. He’s averaging two hits per game. That’s less than half of Ryan Reaves’ 53 hits through 11.

Shea Theodore: The Golden Knights top point producer has grown into quite the 1A defender. 12 points through 11 playoff games has him quietly outshining Quinn Hughes. The Canucks need to find a way to stop him from getting the puck out of the defensive zone before he can bring his offensive talents to the other side of the ice.

Prediction

The Canucks are in deep versus the Western Conference’s best team and back-to-backs will not favor the smaller, more fragile Vancouver Canucks. Considering how amazing Lehner has played, I doubt Vegas turns to Marc-Andre Fleury for this one, but they have the option.

There is absolutely zero chance that Travis Green asks Thatcher Demko to take the net tonight. Markstrom will need to get some good rest and come ready to play. I don’t see this game being a Canucks win, but stranger things have happened. A lethal power play will need to be just that. If the stars can find a way to shine, the Canucks have a chance.

I’ll predict that the pace of play in this game will be controlled by the Knights, but Markstrom will put up a stellar performance and Vancouver will be able to pot a couple of quick ones to steal the win. 3-2 for Vancouver if they can get the power play rolling.