3 takeaways from the Canucks’ 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames last night
After snapping a six-game losing streak on Saturday night, the Vancouver Canucks carried over their momentum into last night’s 4-3 loss to the Flames.
Vancouver jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period but subsequently gave up three straight goals before Brock Boeser tied the game with less than a minute remaining in regulation.
Just when it seemed like the Canucks had a chance to steal two points, however, Johnny Gaudreau scored on a Calgary power play just 23 seconds into overtime.
Coming away with one point is obviously better than nothing, but Vancouver had a golden opportunity to win a second straight game before sloppy plays ended up costing them a victory. Here are three takeaways from last night’s 4-3 loss to the Flames.
Stifling penalty kill
At the beginning of the season, the Canucks’ penalty kill was causing lots of concern amongst fans, and rightfully so. The team was bleeding scoring chances left and right, and it was obvious that Chris Tanev’s departure left a gaping hole on the special teams unit.
More from The Canuck Way
- Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
- What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
- Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
- Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
- 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg
Fortunately, Vancouver seems to have fixed a lot of their early-season issues. Before Gaudreau scored on the power play in overtime last night, the Canucks had killed almost 20 straight penalties, and have been especially dominant on home ice.
The four-man unit prevented Calgary from setting up in Vancouver’s zone and often generated chances the other way, which was a nice change of pace from the porous play we saw just a few weeks ago.
Let’s hope the team can maintain their stifling penalty kill while they continue working on improving some defensive issues at even strength.
Is Nate Schmidt cursed?
Contrary to what many fans might think, Nate Schmidt has actually been one of, if not the most consistent Canucks defender this season.
Unfortunately for him, his mistakes have also been magnified the most.
Just a few games ago, he scored an own goal when the puck deflected off of Jordie Benn before bouncing off Schmidt into a wide-open Canucks goal. An even more memorable gaffe happened last night when he tried a pass from behind his own net, which hit Thatcher Demko and gifted Dillon Dube a free goal.
After getting the pass from Demko, Nate Schmidt's pass goes off Dube, off Demko and into the net. #CofRed #Canucks pic.twitter.com/wbPSINm1q0
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) February 16, 2021
The play was extremely reminiscent of Steve Smith’s famous own goal during game seven of the 1986 Smythe Division Finals, and it’s safe to say Schmidt will have nightmares about the incident for a while. Again, he’s been one of the Canucks’ most consistent performers this year, so there’s no need to worry about his play.
Also, the Oilers won the cup a year after Smith’s own goal. Just saying.
Sloppy overall play
The final scoreboard shows that Vancouver scored two power play goals, but that doesn’t accurately reflect their performance with the man advantage.
I’ve been saying this for a while now, but the Canucks have consistently struggled to gain and maintain offensive zone time, which is the most important aspect to sustaining a dangerous power play. The first goal was scored by the second unit with a second remaining in Calgary’s penalty, and the team largely failed to generate dangerous chances before then.
In fact, that was the first power play goal that the second unit scored this season.
Last year the #Canucks' second unit PP chipped in with 17 goals.
— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) February 15, 2021
Through 18 games this season, PP2 has yet to score and actually has a -2 differential because they've been scored on twice.
Regression can be a cruel, cruel thing
That tweet was posted before the game, and the second unit still has a negative differential on the power play even after scoring.
The second goal scored with the man advantage occurred on a five on three, which is the only time that Vancouver had long stretches of offensive zone time in Calgary’s zone on the power play in the entire game.
Moreover, there were many sloppy possessions at five on five too, with the worst one being this soft pass from Bo Horvat that ended up in the back of the Canucks’ net.
#CofRed turn it up ice after the Horvat giveaway and Elias Lindholm beats Demko to tie the game in the 2nd period. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/TIZRoldX38
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) February 16, 2021
The good news is that many of these mistakes are self-inflicted, which should mean that the team can fix them given time.
The bad news is, well, they’re running out of time to salvage the season.
Other notes
- The Lotto Line had another decent outing, as they ended the game with an expected goals percentage of 75.46% despite only controlling half the shot attempts, according to Natural Stat Trick. At this point, it’s safe to say that they’re back.
- After having one of his best games as a Canuck on Saturday, Tyler Myers struggled mightily last night. He ended up posting a 36.38% expected goals percentage, which was one of the worst marks on the team.
- As previously mentioned, Boeser tied the game up with less than a minute to go with a wrist shot. It wasn’t the prettiest goal he’s ever scored, but it’s still nice to see him shooting more and getting his scoring touch back.
Next. Canucks: Olli Juolevi is settling in as a quality NHL defenceman. dark
The Canucks are back in action Wednesday against, you guessed it, the Flames. The two teams will square off in Calgary this time before Vancouver comes back home for a Friday night matchup versus the Jets. Let’s see if the team can bounce back with a win tomorrow.