Post-Game Talk: Canucks def. Sharks - 7-4 (Kuzmenko x2, Joshua, Aman, Lafferty, Suter, Hughes) | 1st in the NHL!

[Baby Pettersson]

Ehh, can't say I agree. There's some very stiff competition right now. Hill has been incredible, Talbot's had a complete resurgence but I still think it's Swayman pulling ahead. All three have been better than Demko as of late.

There's pretty much zero chance he even gets nominated when DeSmith actually has a better GAA and SV%. Plenty of time for Demko to roar back but he's definitely taken himself out of the Vezina conversation at the moment.

Vegas odds still have him as the number one/two favorite.

That said I completely agree with you that he hasn't looked sharp as of late. But again I ain't worried about it yet.

 

[Zombotron]

 

[JT Milker]

The Vezna is very stat heavy. Demko is sitting 7th in GAA at 2.46, 10th in S% at 9.17, and T1st for shut outs with 3.

If Demko gets that S% back up to around 9.25% I’d say he’s there, but I don’t this he is currently in the running despite how well he has looked, he’s just had a couple of game like last night that kill his stats.

Hughes on the other hand, he’s gotta be the leader for the Norris.

This, anyone that thinks Demko is currently the Vezina favourite is a huge homer. And he doesn’t deserve it either; among a lot of great performances so far, he’s been one of the most disappointing.

 

[theguardianII]

This, anyone that thinks Demko is currently the Vezina favourite is a huge homer. And he doesn’t deserve it either; among a lot of great performances so far, he’s been one of the most disappointing.

Demko had a stinker of a game last night.
He didn't steal this game the rest of the team bailed him out this time.
No stopping 30+ shots while the team is out shot almost two to one in the first two periods

I saw something that made me think he may be hurting again, he surged from left to right but didn't make it all the way.

But he has been very good overall so far this season.

That was Zadorov's worst game since being traded, Myers sure can fly when he turns the jets on.

Kuzmenko passed up a couple of good shots to try to set up Boeser. Sure was a nice shot for that first goal, a laser.

Mikheyev was stumbling around a bit.

First in points.

.700 points percentage tied for second with LA.

Nobody thought they would be at these heights at Xmas.

 

[ChilliBilly]

Merry Effing Xmas everyone.

No one, not even us continuous cheer leaders, thought we would go into the break No. 1.

Thank you Canucks.

Keep it going.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

This is evidence that Christmas isn't about baby jebus, family or presents

Its about the Canucks being 1st in the league

Its always been about the Canucks being 1st in the league

Ho Ho Ho Pho Pho Pho Pdo Pdo PDO

 

[WetcoastOrca]

The most amazing thing for me is the forward depth! The star players were the main reason at the beginning of the season for all of the success.
But the third line has been the best third line in the league for a while now and have been the biggest reason lately for all of the success while the top players have tailed off a bit.

Third line in the last 6 games

Dakota Joshua - 5G 2A
Conor Garland - 1G 6A
Teddy Blueger - 2G 6A

 

[TruGr1t]

Nice to see them find different ways to win, even when they aren’t really getting stellar goaltending. Coaching staff really looks top notch.

Hopefully Demko is just going through a down period and isn’t dealing with some nagging injury etc.

 

[EpochLink]

We are a 4 line team, about damn time.
Also, our bottom 6 ain’t so expensive unlike JEB’s penile leakage of garbage

 

[SopelFanThe3rd]

Bottom 6 is money:
Conor Garland
Dakota Joshua
Teddy Blueger
Pius Suter
Sam Lafferty
Nils Aman
+
Phillip Di Giuseppe

Merry Xmas to all of them.

Of course the seasons that Pettersson, Miller, Boeser, Hoglander and Mikheyev have had have helped too. Now if we can get Kuzmenko going... look out.

 

[SopelFanThe3rd]

Pretty wild that the Canucks have
10 Americans
9 Europeans
And only 4 Canadians. 2 being healthy scratches and 1 being injured. Wild.

 

[theguardianII]

The most amazing thing for me is the forward depth! The star players were the main reason at the beginning of the season for all of the success.
But the third line has been the best third line in the league for a while now and have been the biggest reason lately for all of the success while the top players have tailed off a bit.

Third line in the last 6 games

Dakota Joshua - 5G 2A
Conor Garland - 1G 6A
Teddy Blueger - 2G 6A

That has really bolstered Garland's trade value. It ought to be easier for his agent and Allvin to execute his request made at the start of the season now.

 

[EpochLink]

Pretty wild that the Canucks have
10 Americans
9 Europeans
And only 4 Canadians. 2 being healthy scratches and 1 being injured. Wild.

Zomg not candaszzzzz teamsszz!!!

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

1st in the league outright

2nd in winning percentage (tied with LA)

1st in goals

1st in goals/game

6th in goals against (tied with NYR)

2nd in goals against/game

1st or last in PDO, i have no f***ing idea what that is and i don’t know where to look that up but i assume

3rd, 5th, 9th, 16th in pts (miller, hughes, petey, boeser)

2nd, 11th in goals (boeser, miller)

2nd, 4th, 7th, 11th in assists (hughes, miller, petey, hronek)

1st, 2nd, 12th, 17th, 17th in +/- (hughes, hronek, lafferty, hog, miller)

1st in wins (demko)

7th, 8th in GAA (desmith, demko)

5th, 10th in SV% (desmith, demko)

1st in shutouts (demko)

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

1st in the league outright

2nd in winning percentage (tied with LA)

1st in goals

1st in goals/game

6th in goals against (tied with NYR)

2nd in goals against/game

1st or last in PDO, i have no f***ing idea what that is and i don’t know where to look that up but i assume

3rd, 5th, 9th, 16th in pts (miller, hughes, petey, boeser)

2nd, 11th in goals (boeser, miller)

2nd, 4th, 7th, 11th in assists (hughes, miller, petey, hronek)

1st, 2nd, 12th, 17th, 17th in +/- (hughes, hronek, lafferty, hog, miller)

1st in wins (demko)

7th, 8th in GAA (desmith, demko)

5th, 10th in SV% (desmith, demko)

1st in shutouts (demko)

this run is very very reminiscent to me of the fall of 1991, on the is-this-real-life wavelength

up to xmas 1991:

5th in the league, 20-11-5 record, 1st in the smythe, 2nd in conference

5th, 15th in pts (linden, ronning)

2nd in wins

11th in GAA

8th in SV%

1st in shutouts (all mclean)

and most crucially bure came over in november

 

[thecupismine]

Drance at Christmas parties this year with Canucks fans

What a time to be alive, it hasn't been this fun to watch the team in 10+ years. Not every game is going to be a masterpiece, and players are going to have their ups and downs, but a sign of a great team is when the rest of the pieces pick it up and can support each other when that happens.

Pretty sure most of the cracks started to appear once the schedule got ridiculous in mid-November. Why we played so few games in the first two weeks of the season & then ramped up this hard is a bit wild. Excited to see what this break does for them + bringing some fresh legs back.

 

[bandwagonesque]

Nice to see them find different ways to win, even when they aren’t really getting stellar goaltending. Coaching staff really looks top notch.

Hopefully Demko is just going through a down period and isn’t dealing with some nagging injury etc.

This was really a nothing game with very little flow but the Canucks had a slight, vague territorial advantage the entire time which I would attribute to superior talent. Kuzmenko was fairly invisible despite scoring twice, Myers had a lot of good exits that better teams might have stifled but he was skating very well.

There were multiple Red Wings scouts posted up in the end where the Sharks attacked twice, something tells me they were always prepared for Kane to fail.

 

[Flik]

Woke up. Checked the standings, huzzah, I wasn't dreaming!

 

[kranuck]

This, anyone that thinks Demko is currently the Vezina favourite is a huge homer. And he doesn’t deserve it either; among a lot of great performances so far, he’s been one of the most disappointing.

lol, he's the odds favorite and everyone outside of delusional never happy Canuck fans can see it.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Watching the highlights, love seeing Kuz score. He is a huge blind spot for Tocchet, hopefully Tocchet comes to his senses.

A few posters were saying that Tocchet dun goofed after Kuzzy comes out and scores 2 goals right off the bat..Then his line proceeds to buckle defensively, and are on the ice for the next 3 goals against.

I'm with the coach on this one...Tocchet has explained to the fans/media, that to play within the teams structure/system, certain details on defensive play (each players responsibilities) are non negotiable..(by everyone on the team)...A different set of of rules doesnt apply to one player.

Tocchet obviously didnt like what he saw from Kuz in the Minnesota game, and Kuz took a time out..The team then played Chicago and Nashville (probably their most complete/disciplined road game of the season) and Dallas without him.

Tough love by the coach worked for Hoglander, it can also work for Kuz.

 

[kranuck]

oh hey, LeBrun NHL awards watch: Sorting out a crowded Hart field and more picks at the holiday break

Demko for Vezina.

Weird how a few Canuck fans see him have a mediocre week adn think he's completely out of contention.

 

[rypper]

 

[m9]

A few posters were saying that Tocchet dun goofed after Kuzzy comes out and scores 2 goals right off the bat..Then his line proceeds to buckle defensively, and are on the ice for the next 3 goals against.

I'm with the coach on this one...Tocchet has explained to the fans/media, that to play within the teams structure/system, certain details on defensive play (each players responsibilities) are non negotiable..(by everyone on the team)...A different set of of rules doesnt apply to one player.

Tocchet obviously didnt like what he saw from Kuz in the Minnesota game, and Kuz took a time out..The team then played Chicago and Nashville (probably their most complete/disciplined road game of the season) and Dallas without him.

Tough love by the coach worked for Hoglander, it can also work for Kuz.

It's kind of a funny situation where people can cling to their original opinion here and not necessarily be wrong. Kuzmenko scores twice - Tocchet motivated him. Or Kuzmenko scored twice - he should have never been scratched.

Maybe best not to take too much away from one game vs a terrible team.

 

[tradervik]

As for the team, well, when their only wins are against teams below them in the standings it's hard to have hope.

All the teams are below them in the standings now.

It's also quite obvious that the league has rigged the regular season for the Canucks.

The league has rigged something in favour of the Canucks? That’s crazy talk!

 

[nucksflailtogether]

That Kuzmenko post game interview was epic. The interviewer kind of left him out to dry though, clearly she didn't do her homework on who she was interviewing.