Canucks lose valuable point in 4-3 shootout loss to Senators

Thoughts on the game

The Canucks had plenty of chances to blow the game wide open.

There were instances where they were buzzing. There was a ton of pressure from the likes of J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland. There was even a really good offensive zone shift from Nic Petan, Brad Richardson and Sheldon Dries in the second period. The Canucks moved the puck well but they kept missing the net.

There were some great chances very close to the net but the shots kept going over the net and not in it. The Canucks spent a lot of time with the puck in the Senators’ zone in the second and third periods but only managed to score one goal in that timespan. That was Travis Dermott’s first goal as a Canuck on a nice setup by Boeser.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1516630926620381188

The Canucks did get off to a good start, however. Both Miller and Boeser gave the home team a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Miller joined Bo Horvat in the 30-goal club and this is the first time the two Canucks scored 30 in a season since 2010-11. Both Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler had 41 that year.

Miller was also second on the Canucks in Corsi for behind Garland with 80% according to NaturalStatTrick.

Vancouver also played kind of casual against the Senators as they had 12 giveaways on the night. They also were letting the Senators get a bunch of high danger scoring chances by letting them skate into the offensive zone. Alex Formenton got two of Ottawa’s goals Tuesday night and his speed was tough for the Canucks to handle for example.

Formenton blew by Luke Schenn for the go-ahead goal.

Jaroslav Halak looked pretty good in net but unfortunately, he looked like he hurt his right hand and Thatcher Demko came in for the start of the second period. So much for a night off. Demko didn’t make any spectacular saves but he looked good in net.

In overtime, the Canucks had the bulk of the possession. But there was too much passing and a lot less shooting. They had open ice for shots but instead passed it too much. In overtime, you just got to shoot the bloody thing.

Vasily Podkolzin continued to improve. He was great on the forecheck and displayed good hustle. However, Bruce Boudreau did not give him an overtime shift. Instead Dries got a look in the extra frame. That was a questionable decision.

Podkolzin did not get a shot in the shootout but Nic Petan did instead. The rookie was third in Corsi for with 79.17%.

Miller found a way to beat Filip Gustavsson in the shootout and Pettersson had a chance to win it but was foiled by the Sens goalie. Brady Tkachuk kept the shootout going and former Canuck Adam Gaudette got the winner for Ottawa.

Gaudette laying out a big blow to the Canucks playoff hopes is just cruel from the scriptwriters. That is some Attack on Titan level of cruel writing. But it is the most Canucks thing that can happen.

So the Canucks have to be kicking themselves after this one. Against a team they should beat in a must-win game, they had trouble hitting the net and fell asleep defensively.

What was said

Boudreau confirmed that it is an upper-body injury for Halak and he will not travel with the team for the upcoming road trip.

Spencer Martin was called up from Abbotsford earlier on Monday as it looked like Demko was sick. Apparently, that was not the case.

With Halak looking like he’ll be out for some time, it looks like the Canucks will have to call him back up again.

Boudreau doesn’t want his team to give up after a demoralizing loss.

“You don’t want to speak emotionally, you want to speak analytically and intelligently,” said Boudreau per Ben Kuzma of The Province. “I could have gone in there (The locker room) and said a number of things tonight, but I’ll wait until tomorrow. We were going to be allowed one mulligan and we were thinking it might be on the trip. We’ve responded well in the past and that’s the kind of mentality we need. This group has fought for almost five months and they’re not going to quit now.”

“We knew we could’ve scored on many chances and just couldn’t really solve them,” said Miller.

Gaudette also shared his secret on how he beat Demko for the shootout winner.

Advanced stat of the night

The Canucks had a expected goals for rate of 3.74. That’s good. They also had an expected goals against rate of 3.58. That’s bad.

Tweet of the night

Gaudette’s shootout winner was like a kick to the face.

(Context: Gaudette was doing a lap dance at his wedding in June of 2020 but he accidentally kicked his wife Micaela in the face. She ended up posting the video on TikTok with the caption: “How my husband ruined our wedding.” However, Micaela was OK and Gaudette felt really terrible and apologized.)

Wrap-up

The Canucks are still in it but they have to put this behind them and get more wins with five games to go.

It doesn’t get easier for the Canucks. They start a two-game road trip with the first stop being St. Paul to take on the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. Puck drop is at 5:00 PM.