Post-Game Talk: Kings def. Canucks | 5-1 (Boeser) | Too much outside noise?

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Ugh.

Onto the next one.

Click to read more...

 

[DimitriL07]

The ghost of years past is tingling my ptsd.

I must stay strong.

 

[wonton15]

Fire Mikheyev into the sun

 

[Play]

YOU WANTED ADVERSITY?

 

[Wry n Ginger]

This is the perfect time in the schedule for the team to get their asses handed to them. They have a coaching and management team that has won multiple Stanley cups plus the Sedins etc. A good dose of humility and "you haven't won sh!t" is just what this team needs.

 

[Play]

This is the perfect time in the schedule for the team to get their asses handed to them. They have a coaching and management team that has won multiple Stanley cups plus the Sedins etc. A good dose of humility and "you haven't won sh!t" is just what this team needs.

Agreed. It’s a step in the right direction

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Hoping it doesn't take a loss to a San Jose to wake the team up.

 

[God]

Lots to be unhappy about. After two solid games against Boston and Pittsburgh, they looked like they did against Seattle for most of the game.

- I don't think there was much to be done on the 1-0 (screen) and 2-0 (incredible shot by Kopitar) goals, but the penalty leading to the 3-1 goal was a poor play by Hronek who somehow ended up being the forward he was checking because he completely messed up the hit and body position. And yeah, it was a soft call, but you knew it was coming right back at us from the refs.
- The 4-1 goal was even worse because Boeser was skating with the 2nd LA player, then for whatever reason just stopped. Putrid effort and after a horrid two months you really have to think about moving him again if the opportunity comes up.
- Lindholm with another bad game. If you're not outplaying Pius Suter making 1.5M/year or whatever, you're not doing enough.
- Juulsen or Cole need to sit. Cole especially has looked tired since November.

I'm still not worried. They still have time to figure this out. I'd rather they go through this now than in April.

 

[AzNightmare]

1 win in 7 games, with the 1 win where they barely won.

Doesn't look good... I hope this isn't shaping up to a team that took a big lead in the first half of the season, just to let it all dwindle away until they end up somewhere in 3rd or wild card.

This team doesn't give me a lot of confidence that they can take Vegas or Edmonton if they drop down.

Maybe I need to recalibrate my expectations. Playoffs was the goal this year. I really shouldn't be so sour if they don't end up being contenders...

 

[EpochLink]

They need to smarten the f*** up, horrible hockey in February.

Need a March push for playoff positioning.

 

[David71]

brutal since the all star break. suter/mikeyhev shoot his ass to the moon not top 6 caliber. no trade would help this team break through this slide. 5-5-2? in the month of feburary.? correct me if im wrong. demko needs a break playing way way too much. on pace for 62 starts.. start desmith or else by the time playoffs roll around demko would be exhausted. losing dakota hurt this team more. missing piece to the third line. 4th line needs a revamp.. cole needs a break. march schedule is all western potential playoff opponents. vegas,edmonton, la 3 more x calgary edmonton each once. is it because of the elias petterson contract talks distracting this team? i cant quite put my finger on it. should have traded for monahan instead of lindholm? hes been helping winnipeg win more games since being aquired. 6 goals in 9 games. powerplay was 24th now its 4th in the league

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

This game was probably the bottom of the bottom..at least I hope it is.

Team looked lacklustre, and the Kings were hungrier for the win.

More than a few times in the game, they were helplessly hemmed in their own zone..Beaten to loose pucks, lost battles against the walls...Tocchets not going to be happy about this one.

 

[AzNightmare]

Canucks are going to start sliding quick if they don't start to get back on a heater.
They have a fast schedule so the gap between the teams behind aren't really as big as it seems.

The current version of this team will be out in the first round.

 

[Jovofan]

Burn the tape and play with some emotion and intelligence. Too many passengers waiting for somebody else to step up. Right now Miller is doing his best to carry this team on his back, eventually it's gonna break if there isn't more support to help him with the burden. Time for Petey to step up, time for Hughes to get back to his Norris level of play, time for the bottom 6 to start adding some secondary scoring. Coaching staff also needs to adjust. That was a brutal month, but we can now flip the calendar and move on. Reinforcements are coming.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Lots to be unhappy about. After two solid games against Boston and Pittsburgh, they looked like they did against Seattle for most of the game.

- I don't think there was much to be done on the 1-0 (screen) and 2-0 (incredible shot by Kopitar) goals, but the penalty leading to the 3-1 goal was a poor play by Hronek who somehow ended up being the forward he was checking because he completely messed up the hit and body position. And yeah, it was a soft call, but you knew it was coming right back at us from the refs.
- The 4-1 goal was even worse because Boeser was skating with the 2nd LA player, then for whatever reason just stopped. Putrid effort and after a horrid two months you really have to think about moving him again if the opportunity comes up.
- Lindholm with another bad game. If you're not outplaying Pius Suter making 1.5M/year or whatever, you're not doing enough.
- Juulsen or Cole need to sit. Cole especially has looked tired since November.

I'm still not worried. They still have time to figure this out. I'd rather they go through this now than in April.

I think you have to be worried at this point. You can't see a throughline yet of how they're getting out of it, and that's highly concerning.

1. LA, and other big teams give the Canucks fits. They can't get on the inside, they lose on battle and positioning, and then the team is chasing. That won't beat LA/BOS/VGK etc... doing this. The only way to beat them is to play quicker, which requires positioning and successive passes. That gets them out of the mud and moving.

2. Breakdowns that cause rush chances against sunk them this game. 5 alarm. That's not how this team has played. They've kept it low event, generally, until now. Either they get more conservative on chances given, or they have to generate more 5v5 to compensate. Easier to tighten up 5v5.

3. To me, you notice how shallow the defense was in this game. The movement of the puck up the ice is not good enough. The forwards didn't help with puck retrieval, but it starts with the defense. Hughes has been bad, especially. Hronek not far behind.

4. Lindholm has been bad. He wasn't brought in to be a mediocre 3C. There's no net advantage to his placement lower in the line-up this way, and that's a huge pro-scouting error to this point. Can he get out of it? Maybe, but he's not out of it right now. It has to be called out.

5. I hope Tocchet shifts the 5v5 lines to return to a more top heavy structure. I want to see:

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser
Hoglander-Lindholm-Garland

Hughes-Hronek
Zadorov-Myers

Put your best puck movers and your best offensive talent all at the top, and then overplay them. If they don't get it going 5v5, then the team doesn't have the right leaders anyway.

 

[LordBacon]

Getting too fancy for the last 10 games and it’s costing them.

With such a talented roster and coaching staff you’d think they solve this a lot quicker, also psychology is a very weird thing because it looks like the whole team don’t know what they’re doing rn.

Postseason isn’t too far away and they better fix this soon.

 

[God]

I think you have to be worried at this point. You can't see a throughline yet of how they're getting out of it, and that's highly concerning.

1. LA, and other big teams give the Canucks fits. They can't get on the inside, they lose on battle and positioning, and then the team is chasing. That won't beat LA/BOS/VGK etc... like this. The only way to beat them is to play quicker, which requires positioning and successive passes. That gets them out of the mud and moving.

This team got to 1st place with good battle and positioning; all of the videos of training camp and practices showed Tocchet preaching stuff like that.

I can believe that they're tired and worn down a bit physically and mentally, but they know how to do it. We saw it against Boston when they kept up pressure despite Boston playing very well defensively, and eventually won the third.

 

[mriswith]

Suter-Miller-Boeser
Hog-Pettersson-Lindholm
Mik-Blueger-Garland

All three of these lines worked even during the recent losses.

Bains in the top 9 doesn't work. Lindholm anywhere other than with Pettersson hasn't worked yet.

I think the losses are causing Tocchet to galaxy brain things. The first 3 or 4 losses weren't concerning at all because we were still dominating at ES but as the lines have gone into the blender our ES dominance has faded.

Hughes and Hronek look tired and beaten down.

 

[VanJack]

Canucks have been a nice story this year, but since the all-star break the prince is turning back into a frog. They weren't as good as people thought they were, and they're probably not as bad as they're looking right now.

But the reality is, it's just a huge stretch to see this team as a Stanley Cup threat. They don't call the playoffs the 'second season' for nothing. The ice closes down; and saves become huge; and special teams often dictate the outcome.

And the reality is, very few if any teams go from the 'out-house' to the 'penthouse' in one season It usually takes two or three years of playoff heartbreak before a team finally reaches the promised land.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Pretty well everything @Bleach Clean posted above mirror my thoughts. I think part of #5 is what got us to this point. Tocchet was redlining the group hard from game 1. Our stars need to rest and guys like Cole and Myers who are older and guys who have been performing in roles they haven’t historically played in the NHL. But unfortunately the roster isn’t and can’t really be constructed that way.

@VanJack I’m enjoying this season but those are just cold hard facts. The truth of the team lies somewhere in the middle. I know a “true” contender and I’m still a bit skeptical even after what I’ve seen.

 

[Bleach Clean]

This team got to 1st place with good battle and positioning; all of the videos of training camp and practices showed Tocchet preaching stuff like that.

I can believe that they're tired and worn down a bit physically and mentally, but they know how to do it. We saw it against Boston when they kept up pressure despite Boston playing very well defensively, and eventually won the third.

There's no throughline from the BOS game to LA. They were consistent against BOS, while being controlled, then they had to rescue the win. Then they were high event/inconsistent against PIT. Then they lose to LA as they had lost to WPG, key breakdowns and erratic play. There isn't a bedrock of play they've been able to cling to since the all-star break.

Knowing is not enough. Being tired isn't enough. Forgetting how to play your system... alarming.

If there is a time to worry about their ability as a team, it is now.

 

[bossram]

This game was somewhat of a microcosm of all the concerns I've had with the team, dating back to the start of the season frankly. I'm not concerned in the macro sense (I think at 5v5 they are good, and will still easily make the playoffs), but I think I should have trusted more of my initial read of this team rather than be convinced of their sterling first half.

1. Hate to bring up the PDO debate again (not really), but this team was very fortunate in the shooting department (and somewhat in goaltending) in the first half, and the table is turning the other way. The Canucks, are not in fact, doing something that can sustainably lead to historic NHL shooting efficiency.

2. I've said this all along. The Canucks don't create enough chances. We saw it very clearly against SEA, BOS, and LA tonight. They got by with hot shooting before, but they don't create enough rush chances or interior slot shots. They need to diversify how they create offense.

3. I've been visually concerned with Hronek's defending from the beginning of the season as well, and there were issues tonight again.

4. We really should have known this stretch was coming. The easiest parts of the Canucks schedule were front loaded in the first half - especially in terms of quality of competition and rest/B2B advantages. They're playing real teams now. It's tougher.

 

[Bleach Clean]

This game was somewhat of a microcosm of all the concerns I've had with the team, dating back to the start of the season frankly. I'm not concerned in the macro sense (I think at 5v5 they are good, and will still easily make the playoffs), but I think I should have trusted more of my initial read of this team rather than be convinced of their sterling first half.

1. Hate to bring up the PDO debate again (not really), but this team was very fortunate in the shooting department (and somewhat in goaltending) in the first half, and the table is turning the other way. The Canucks, are not in fact, doing something that can sustainably lead to historic NHL shooting efficiency.

2. I've said this all along. The Canucks don't create enough chances. We saw it very clearly against SEA, BOS, and LA tonight. They got by with hot shooting before, but they don't create enough rush chances or interior slot shots. They need to diversify how they create offense.

3. I've been visually concerned with Hronek's defending from the beginning of the season as well, and there were issues tonight again.

4. We really should have known this stretch was coming. The easiest parts of the Canucks schedule were front loaded in the first half - especially in terms of quality of competition and rest/B2B advantages. They're playing real teams now. It's tougher.

3 shots after the 1st against a division rival...

Can you explain why you are not concerned in the macro sense when we know they don't generate enough shots 5v5? To me, if they keep the game low event, they can win out on accuracy. But if the don't, that's when their inability to generate shots is exposed.

 

[bossram]

3 shots after the 1st against a division rival...

Can you explain why you are not concerned in the macro sense when we know they don't generate enough shots 5v5? To me, if they keep the game low event, they can win out on accuracy. But if the don't, that's when their inability to generate shots is exposed.

They're just a low event team in general. They don't create much offense, but they don't give up much (overall their defensive metrics are quite good). NST has them at 56% scoring chance control over the last 25 games. They are good at 5v5, hence my not-macro concern.

However, being a low event team means you are more prone to random variance. The shooting percentages worked in their favour before. Now it's not. Relying on efficiency is a fool's errand. To be a real, sustainable contender, they do need to generate chances (and a different variety of chances) at a higher clip. Look at a team like Florida - they are not shooting the lights out at all, but they are an elite team and winning because they just bombard the opposition.

 

[Bobby9]

A few of us expected this. As we get closer to the playoffs and things tighten up and get more physical we will start to lose more often.

Boeser, EP, Hughes and Hronek simply not built for heavy, stingy tight hockey.