Got totally owned early on with only great goal keeping it goalless. But by the third were the stronger team. Canucks seem to be doing something in the room to improve going into the third. Been their best period this pre-season.
The Good
Shinkaruk - put away his goal with scorer's touch (little Eberle like). However, the thing to like best was the speed he showed on several of his rushes. This combination of speed and touch gives you hope. Could be an excellent player
Higgins - Canucks need to find where this player fits best. Has offensive talent and the Canucks might want to get him into situations where he can utilize it more. Looked a cut above others in this game.
Lack - If Lack keeps this form might wonder if Miller's money might have been better spent elsewhere. Gave Flames nothing to shoot at.
Stanton - Got around the ice very well. Maybe it was the pace of the game but he looked very mobile tonight. Give Gillis credit for an outstanding waiver wire pick up. Hopefully we get someone this year as well.
Richardson - has NHL skating and compete level. Played strong both ways in this game
Not Bad
Tommernes - started the game poorly as did most of the defense. Could see these combinations had never played together and they ended running around chasing the play and bumping into one another. But once he settled in, Tommernes started making some good passes from his own zone and creating passes for defensive partners. Thought he had strong third period. Turn around in this game happened when the defense began to play better. This, I thought, was lead by Stanton, Sbisa and Tommernes
Corrado - lack of flow in the preseason has hurt Corrado's game. Best when he can stretch the game with his movement and passes. Not as good (but improving) when
he gets caught up in endless board battles.
Sbisa - nothing to get too excited about but he looked serviceable. Showed enough strength to remove people from the play and good overall range. Have to see him when he gets under a bit more pressure which maybe where he shows some negatives.
Horvat - Needs more consistency shift to shift. Decent at times but too tentative at other points. Not always going or involved at 100%. Probably a result of his Junior experience when he was getting tons of ice time and learned to take short cuts and on-ice breathers to save energy. Lot to like about Horvat but the type of grinding game he plays takes time to develop at the NHL level.
Jensen - looked dynamic at times in this game. Has very high top end if he can get other parts of his game together. I think his overall game is developing but still a liability in his own end. Cheats toward the offense and let's checks roll off him and go to the goal. Also, not strong enough along the boards in his own zone. However, he does show great top end speed and an ability to cut thru gaps in the defense to open himself up for chances. Two games, two goals so you have to be happy about that.
The Bad
Sestito - brutal in handling the puck and prone to terrible turnovers. Looked slow with the puck and lazy at times. Will need to play better than this to be any help to the team. Getting a bruiser that can play is often not easy.
Kassian - looked like the Kassian at the beginning of last season. Lots of brain farts and individual play. Looked out of position and guessing in this game.
Hansen - if he was a player just trying out probably be cut after this game. Tailed off last season and didn't look much better tonight.
Negrin - could well have trouble making it in Utica. Simply couldn't keep up with the play. Probably the last go around for Negrin. Don't really understand why they are using up game time on this player
Huskins - showed why he is no longer in the NHL.
Calgary has every right to be excited about Bennett. He looks like a player.
Pretty much agree with everything. Shinkaruk seems to always look good int he pre-season. He was great last year too and more or less "made" the team but never played. Higgins, imo, seems to be winning a 2nd line spot at the moment. Out of all the "vet" wingers, he has been the best thus far. Burrows has played well but can't seem to finish anything and this has been going on for a while so it might not go away.
Lack was perfect again and made some great saves. Like i said when we signed Miller, i didn't like that move. Given our situation, the #1 job should have been Lack's to lose... not be given to someone else (who might not even be an upgrade over Lack!). Lack is ready as he'll ever be and for the most part, was great last year. He got wore out at the end of the year but that's expected considering he pretty much played every game after the break...
Stanton looked solid as he was pretty much all year last year. Richardson's speed really stood out. Its too bad he doesn't have better hands because he generated a few chances that would have been scoring chances if he had a better shot or was a better play maker. Of course given his role/salary, he is what he is and he's great at it.
Also i thought Corrado should be the "good" instead of not bad. He was much better today than vs SJ. Felt like he was in better defensive position and better lane management. Of course it could be because the Sharks have better forwards than the Flames. Either way, Corrado looked better.
Tommernes, i really didn't notice him much except making a few passes. All passes were on target so that's much better than say Albert who can't even make a short pass... For the most part, no complaints about his play.
Sbisa - didn't notice him and given his role, i guess that's a good thing.
Horvat - Personally i think he's borderline "good" instead of not bad. He was solid in the circle (not as good as last game but still solid). Noticed him at both end of the rink. Didn't do anything really special but just played an all-around decent game. Don't think its enough to make the team but he also didn't look out of place (which for a 19 year old is a good thing).
Jensen had an up and down game and that seems to be his game. He will show flashes of playing great and then do something dumb (like the penalty that resulted in the Flames only goal... that was a bad penalty... no excuse about it and its something that could cost the team points). Of course he also had a goal and beside that, had a few other good shifts.
As far as the bads, i completely agree with all except Hansen. Hansen didn't look great but i didn't see him looking too bad either. For him, its really another one of those meaningless games just to get his legs ready for the season. More or less like Sedins/Vrbata/etc. Of course Hansen has a bit more to play for because he could be anywhere between the 2nd line and the 4th line. Given how others competing for those spots also haven't really done much (except Higgins), i guess its "normal". If nothing else, Hansen did play better than ZK who at this point is probably losing the top 6 spot that was his to lose...
ZK looked horrible today trying to do way too much. He needs to play the game simple. He isn't going to dangle pass many NHL defenders but at the sametime he's probably stronger than most defenders. He needs to start using power moves and try to drive pass defenders instead of dangle pass them.
Huskins - I wonder why he's playing and we sent Subban back to Jr... WTF management? He has no reason to be here and no way he'll earn a contract! Better off giving the pre-season ice time to a prospect!
Side note, i don't think you listed Bonino. I think he had a good game just based on production. He didn't play great but when you get points, it makes everything look better. Don't think he deserved to be the 3rd star but regardless, he was one of the better forwards (HS probably should have been the 3rd star).
Eriksson also played solid... solid enough that if the return was enough, i have no issue at all trading Lack since our plan B for backup goalie (after Markstrom) doesn't look all that bad either. The goal against was a bad bounce and beside that he played perfect.
