Post-Game Talk: Canucks def. Islanders - 6-5 (Pettersson x2, OEL, Boeser, Aman, Beauvillier)
- Thread starter theguardianII
- Start date
You could see the way Tocch wants the team to play tonight and I like it.
Team is playing well and had to be to overcome very shaky goal tending. Have to hope this is more than coaching change bump in terms of the way some players are improving.
Good
Pettersson - playing with more maturity and out from any shadow created by Horvat's leadership. He's not deferring to anyone now and is truly becoming the lead dog. Very good both ways. Besides the offense, he was coming back better than any other center to cover up.
Miller - becoming the horse of previous times. Played big and lot less of the loose plays that led to so many problems earlier in the season.
Boeser - most improved player on the team since the coaching change. Ups his trade value but if you could be certain he'd play consistently like this, you might rather keep him. Can't believe I'm saying that but he's showing stuff he hasn't shown much of for a couple of season. Actually giving it a much better defensive effort and that's a huge change.
Hughes - another terrific game. Like how he rotated with Pettersson on the PP giving the team a shot from the point. (maybe the all-star performance let the team realize this possibility ). Much better compete and results in his own end
DiGuiseppe - you wonder why they traded for Studnicka when this player was already with the organization. Solid game where he created offense and ground away creating a lot of ozone time. Line with Aman (another good game although needs to work on FO) and Joshua had dominant shifts and played about as good as any 4th line combo this year. Lazar should not be seen as alternative for these players.
Podkolzin - using his speed to disrupt other team and is moving the puck well. At this point finishing the season well and again providing hope he will become a bona vide NHL player. Great work ethic in this game.
Bear - playing well both ways. Getting up to support the puck in the neutral zone consistently. Been a good pick up at the price.
Not Good
Dries - not able to play a 200 foot game. Just not fast enough or anything enough. Got overpowered one on one by a big Islander team. Has some touch but not an NHL player. Not the kind of player Tocchet will keep around
Burroughs - in over his head. Was gapping poorly and losing his check. Any effectiveness he was showing early in the season now seems in the distant past. Should probably bring up someone from Abbotsford and put Burroughs down where he should be.
Delia - skittering around like a cat on a hot tin roof. Just holes everywhere as he lurched about. Sometimes tucked away in the back of his net and at others wheeling way out of his crease leaving the net abandoned. Most saves were pure luck. Was atrocious at handling the puck and on several occasions blocked of the d-men from picking the puck up cleanly behind the net. Maybe the best way to a tank is playing him although Martin might give him a run for his money.
Myers - head doesn't appear to be it at times. Late was watching the play too much and not taking people out around the net. Gives up inside position too much and has been all season. Gets tired and then looks extremely clumsy.
Others
Beauvillier - nice he scored the winner. Actually should have had a couple more. Least he goes to the net
Kuzmenko - needs to play more than half ice. Short comings not apparently acceptable under Tocchet as it should be. We'll see how this works out.
Couple of things I wonder are how long Schenn is out and, second, whether they are still giving out the belt as they did under Boudreau.
Win brutal for the the tank but conceivably might help Islanders finish just out of the playoffs.
Good
Pettersson - playing with more maturity and out from any shadow created by Horvat's leadership. He's not deferring to anyone now and is truly becoming the lead dog. Very good both ways. Besides the offense, he was coming back better than any other center to cover up.
Miller - becoming the horse of previous times. Played big and lot less of the loose plays that led to so many problems earlier in the season.
Boeser - most improved player on the team since the coaching change. Ups his trade value but if you could be certain he'd play consistently like this, you might rather keep him. Can't believe I'm saying that but he's showing stuff he hasn't shown much of for a couple of season. Actually giving it a much better defensive effort and that's a huge change.
Hughes - another terrific game. Like how he rotated with Pettersson on the PP giving the team a shot from the point. (maybe the all-star performance let the team realize this possibility ). Much better compete and results in his own end
DiGuiseppe - you wonder why they traded for Studnicka when this player was already with the organization. Solid game where he created offense and ground away creating a lot of ozone time. Line with Aman (another good game although needs to work on FO) and Joshua had dominant shifts and played about as good as any 4th line combo this year. Lazar should not be seen as alternative for these players.
Podkolzin - using his speed to disrupt other team and is moving the puck well. At this point finishing the season well and again providing hope he will become a bona vide NHL player. Great work ethic in this game.
Bear - playing well both ways. Getting up to support the puck in the neutral zone consistently. Been a good pick up at the price.
Not Good
Dries - not able to play a 200 foot game. Just not fast enough or anything enough. Got overpowered one on one by a big Islander team. Has some touch but not an NHL player. Not the kind of player Tocchet will keep around
Burroughs - in over his head. Was gapping poorly and losing his check. Any effectiveness he was showing early in the season now seems in the distant past. Should probably bring up someone from Abbotsford and put Burroughs down where he should be.
Delia - skittering around like a cat on a hot tin roof. Just holes everywhere as he lurched about. Sometimes tucked away in the back of his net and at others wheeling way out of his crease leaving the net abandoned. Most saves were pure luck. Was atrocious at handling the puck and on several occasions blocked of the d-men from picking the puck up cleanly behind the net. Maybe the best way to a tank is playing him although Martin might give him a run for his money.
Myers - head doesn't appear to be it at times. Late was watching the play too much and not taking people out around the net. Gives up inside position too much and has been all season. Gets tired and then looks extremely clumsy.
Others
Beauvillier - nice he scored the winner. Actually should have had a couple more. Least he goes to the net
Kuzmenko - needs to play more than half ice. Short comings not apparently acceptable under Tocchet as it should be. We'll see how this works out.
Couple of things I wonder are how long Schenn is out and, second, whether they are still giving out the belt as they did under Boudreau.
Win brutal for the the tank but conceivably might help Islanders finish just out of the playoffs.
RutherPlan
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- Jan 2, 2022
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Baby Pettersson
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Hot take. Was Horvat the bad blood?
Half sarcasm but the team is jelling... Even if we still are losing. But they are clearly on the up trend.
Half sarcasm but the team is jelling... Even if we still are losing. But they are clearly on the up trend.
Could be that Miller and Horvat were having some some conflicts?
Total speculation, of course.
sting101
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- Feb 8, 2012
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may want to reference Orcatown on this he's done game recaps forever. i believe he calls him Horvath
Look i love Bo and im not ignoring he was a really solid player that we should have been able to use as a 2C and make some runs. Benning fuxxed that up not him.
Fact is he was a slow starter that didnt inspire the team through his play as often as he could have. And thats fine he was a 2nd tier guy who often was asked to do too much often with poor linemates but he also was a captain a 1st line PP player and didnt play that great of defence. He has a big body and didn't used it as much as one would hope, he certainly fired up the fanbase watching teammates get pummeled and doing nothing. He's not like a Perry or Tkachuk where he would drag his team into the fight but not everyone is wired like that.
His legacy will always leave a lot to be desired for me and i realize it's not entirely fair and i was a big fan of the person and the player. He's around Greg Adams level for me as far as all time Canucks. Wish it would have been better circumstances for him to show more but thats just the way it goes.
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RutherPlan
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The team seems a lot happier on the ice and felt like they were trying even harder to celebrate. It's either they're relieved that Horvat is no longer there or they're excited that the coaches are building a winning culture.
Watching arguably the NHL's worst blueline playing in front of AHL goaltending is like watching hockey's equivalent of a slasher movie. What's the next comical breakdown going to look like who's going to bite the dust?
Maybe the rest of the Islanders contracted the 'Canuck disease' in their defensive zone after too much exposure to the former Canucks captain. With the Canucks, no lead is is safe, not even a two-goal cushion with a couple of minutes remaining.
I'm beginning to think that other than Quinn Hughes and the odd game from Schenn, the Canucks don't have single d-man who'd be any better than a 5-6 on any competent NHL team.
Myers and OEL paired together look like a combo of a fire hydrant and a pylon. Bear is no better than #5 on most any other team. As for Stillman and Burrroughs, they'd be depth AHL callups anywhere else in the league. And apparently Dermott can't even play.
But I guess you can't lose them all. A costly loss for the Islanders who still face an uphill struggle to get into the playoffs. Delia and Sorokin with a goaltending nightmare for the ages.
Maybe the rest of the Islanders contracted the 'Canuck disease' in their defensive zone after too much exposure to the former Canucks captain. With the Canucks, no lead is is safe, not even a two-goal cushion with a couple of minutes remaining.
I'm beginning to think that other than Quinn Hughes and the odd game from Schenn, the Canucks don't have single d-man who'd be any better than a 5-6 on any competent NHL team.
Myers and OEL paired together look like a combo of a fire hydrant and a pylon. Bear is no better than #5 on most any other team. As for Stillman and Burrroughs, they'd be depth AHL callups anywhere else in the league. And apparently Dermott can't even play.
But I guess you can't lose them all. A costly loss for the Islanders who still face an uphill struggle to get into the playoffs. Delia and Sorokin with a goaltending nightmare for the ages.
- May 3, 2021
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Got home late. All I can say is WOO HOOO!!!
so proud of this team!! Giving Bo an L and having Beau score against his former team? Must have been great motivation there!!! YAY CANUCKS!!!!
so proud of this team!! Giving Bo an L and having Beau score against his former team? Must have been great motivation there!!! YAY CANUCKS!!!!
And that’s how he was in the room….I’m always surprised folks don’t believe this
DFAC
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Gotta feel for Bo… gets traded off the Canucks and yet still has to answer questions about how his team blew a multi goal lead
How many times did Bruce and management talk about Millers leadership last season. Countless times. They always preferred Miller to Horvat as he has been running the room for awhile and before this year was their best player. It was time for Bo to leave.
Going to be interesting to see who they eventually make the captain. I honestly don’t think they have anyone worthy other than Schenn
krutovsdonut
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Just A Bit Outside
Playoffs??!
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Sorokin blew chunks tonight compared to his normal play.
SelltheTeamFrancesco
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sting101
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Pretty dismissive response to a good game by both teams forwards and an odd game to go after Myers and OEL who played 25 and 23 minutes without being directly responsible for a goal. In fact OEL played very good scored a nice goal and Myers hung in there despite way too many minutes. ironically Hughes had a rough game in his own zone and gave the islanders 3 grade a chances for no other reason than he's wearing a bubble or didnt handle the forecheck that well. thats Quinn though sometimes. He's playing with a broken nose and is an incredible play driver
Burroughs i agree. He was burned twice badly and had to be spotted. Needs to go down because he needs to play games but they also don't want to lose him for nothing so he plays with Schenn out. Not a big deal for this season. For sure an upgrade is needed next year. Stillman is normally a mess but is having his best run of games. Maybe he does have some utility? Dermott is looking like a lost cause like Poolman so at some point we need better 5-8 guys also
Sorokin had little chance on most the goals if not all. Maybe the Pettersson wrister but we all know how hard Petey shoots and how deceptive it comes off his stick. Dalia battled hard but is a back up at best thats obvious. He's been excellent given the expectations but is leaky and scrambled. No complaints.
I think it's a fair question. We'll see if these patterns with players like Miller and Boeser continue. Tough to judge if it's the Horvat trade or the new coach because both happened roughly around the same time.
PuckMunchkin
Very Nice, Very Evil!
Defend like shit, out score their problems.
Sounds like a winning formula to me!
For JT its playing ~8mins less per game. And he is defending better now while not generating anything offensively.
For Boeser its being put on PP1 and on the wing of EP.
kanucks25
Chris Tanev #1 Fan
Let's not get ahead of ourselves here lol. He's been better but I don't think even close to "change your mind on him" level. Even if his play does pick up a bit consistently, his cap dollars are better spent elsewhere, primarily defense of course but also quality checking forwards.
Yeah I'd attribute it a lot more to the new coach bump. Some guys are clearly just trying much harder and I doubt Horvat was inhibiting that.
Now the question is: is this just a new coach bump or is Tocchet doing work here? I will say from the limited sample size of on-ice play and what he's said off-ice, he seems to be doing well. Particularly appreciate the honesty and directness when it comes to his criticisms of the team and players - he's straight up but it doesn't come off in a way that should piss off the players, at least I don't think.
kanucks25
Chris Tanev #1 Fan
Agree with all of this. Good 3rd liner but a bit overpaid at his current salary.
Kuzmenko made a nice no-look pass to him in front when he was wide open and he was not ready for it at all, I think that was a good depiction of the IQ gap.
If Pod and Miller are moving their feet and using their body, they will be a load to handle. A lot of power and skill.
