Post-Game Talk: GAME #1: Canucks 5, Oilers 3 (Boeser x2, Horvat, Höglander, Gaudette)

[4Twenty]

Anyone else surprised at how quiet Gaudette has been through camp and now game 1? It was an opportunistic goal, but I was literally just in the middle of writing a post saying how invisible he’d been when he scored

Did you watch the playoffs ? I’m not surprised. My daughter and I were remarking the same things to each other and then he scored.

 

[VibinCanuck]

What does this 70% share mean? 70% of what? Does that mean McDavid, in his minutes v B, was 30%? So Bo dominated McDavid 70 to 30? But at what? Face offs?

The stat is referring to expected goals numbers, which are based on possession shot stats but accounting for shot placement, meaning shots in the slot have a better percentage of going in. Essentially, in 5v5 Horvat was expected to score 69% while McDavid was at 31%. Aka Horvat would would be expected to approximately score 2 goals and McDavid would score 1 (66.6% to 33.3% would get that percentage to simplify it)

 

[4Twenty]

Was t he a plus one though, and that what’s wanted from the bottom six? Play hard minutes and don’t hurt the club, and chip in with the odd goal?

They played soft ass minutes and were under 10 minutes.

Gaudette’s line is the 4th line by usage. We want more I think. We also want a line that doesn’t suck so bad that they have to give the Sutter/Beagle group 16+ minutes.

 

[Gaunce4gm]

Was t he a plus one though, and that what’s wanted from the bottom six? Play hard minutes and don’t hurt the club, and chip in with the odd goal?

That’s what I expect from Sutter, Beagle and Motte. Gaudette was scoring at a 55pt pace last season. That’s 2nd liner production. In a 56 game season he should be scoring 31pts just to match last seasons pace, and at his age I’d expect him to at least match it, if not improve. So no I want to notice Gaudette. He scored a beauty goal so it’s not like he’s lost ability or talent, but I want him to hound the puck and create chances more consistently

 

[Pip]

Hard to make an impact in very limited minutes. Didn’t have much to work with in terms of line mates either unfortunately

 

[EP to Kuzmenko]

No they didn’t have to. They chose to.

So, you're saying that they didn't need to move out cap space to sign AP and be fine? They sign AP before trading Nate and they are hard pressed to get under cap. They wait on AP telling him they are trying to figure out how they will fit him, and chances are they lose him.

 

[EP to Kuzmenko]

That’s what I expect from Sutter, Beagle and Motte. Gaudette was scoring at a 55pt pace last season. That’s 2nd liner production. In a 56 game season he should be scoring 31pts just to match last seasons pace, and at his age I’d expect him to at least match it, if not improve. So no I want to notice Gaudette. He scored a beauty goal so it’s not like he’s lost ability or talent, but I want him to hound the puck and create chances more consistently

I also noticed him a decent amount last night before that goal, created some chances and put pressure on their D. He still sucks defensively.

 

[4Twenty]

So, you're saying that they didn't need to move out cap space to sign AP and be fine? They sign AP before trading Nate and they are hard pressed to get under cap. They wait on AP telling him they are trying to figure out how they will fit him, and chances are they lose him.

Yes. You can go over the cap in the offseason they didn’t “have to” deal him. They chose to. They could’ve signed AP and kept Schmidt. They chose to clear their cap early when a team was willing to take on the whole salary.


If I were Vegas I would’ve tried to move Martinez and a $2m ish forward.

 

[canuckking1]

Gaudette played like 8 minutes. Tough to get your feet going when you barely see the ice.

 

[hellstick]

True, but he wanted to make that play. It’s the thought that counts, right?

They've given 2nd assists to less before, but aside from padding some stats, it doesn't really matter.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Was a bit disappointed in Horvat's play 5v5 last year, but it's hard to put too much blame with a tweener in Pearson...

The same Pearson that was a borderline 1st line forward last year is a tweener... He was 25th in points for LW last season, 20th in goals and that's a 2nd line tweener?

 

[Vector]

That was a fun game. Missed the first 5-10 minutes with putting the kids to bed but caught the rest. It's going to be a weird season and I expect a lot of fluctuation in performances. Overall a very solid performance from a team missing the guy who makes the entire forward group work. Only real negatives to me was Sutter and putting him on the PP at the end of the game to protect a lead instead of just letting the team control the puck in the offensive zone.

Biggest positive was how Hoglander scored that goal. Went to the net hard in a dirty zone and off a rebound. For him to survive in the NHL, that's an element he'll need to have and was very happy to see it right away. Also thrilled to see Pearson have a great game. I really like the guy and consider him a near-perfect veteran winger on the second line.

 

[EP to Kuzmenko]

Yes. You can go over the cap in the offseason they didn’t “have to” deal him. They chose to. They could’ve signed AP and kept Schmidt. They chose to clear their cap early when a team was willing to take on the whole salary.


If I were Vegas I would’ve tried to move Martinez and a $2m ish forward.

GM's usually don't like to deal from a position of weakness. They also probably wanted to move out long term money. Martinez contract is up this year , I doubt they want to move Reaves, and nobody is trading for Chandler or Carrier. Even with Schmidt gone, they had to play with their cap and pencil waiver exempt players to save cap space to start the season. They tried to trade Patches, nobody would bite. They tried to trade Fleury with an asset, everyone wanted more than they were willing to give up. Schmidt made the most sense to trade in terms of Cap and expendability with AP coming in. For all we know they could have tried to trade Martinez and nobody wanted him.
What we do know is that they felt the need to move the cap before signing AP and we were the only team that didn't hesitate to make that trade.

 

[Fatass]

The same Pearson that was a borderline 1st line forward last year is a tweener... He was 25th in points for LW last season, 20th in goals and that's a 2nd line tweener?

I totally agree. Pearson was really good last night. He’s a straight line, nothing too fancy player. Bo is too. They both create a lot of space for Hogs. Really thought all three were exceptionally good in that first game.

 

[JAK]

Nuge tipped

Secretly #93 wants to get off the Oilers and play for the Canucks.

/s

 

[Tables of Stats]

I don't think Gaudette was as quiet as people think he was. Aside from his goal he made a few quality passes in the offensive zone that his linemates couldn't get a handle on. One that comes to mind was a nice pass out from the corner to MacEwen in he slot. MacEwen couldn't get his stick free and as knocked on his ass before the pass reached him but if that were Boeser or Pettersson I think they manage a shot at least.

 

[EP to Kuzmenko]

Secretly #93 wants to get off the Oilers and play for the Canucks.

/s

If he doesn't re-sign with Edmonton I could see him try and come here to replace Pearson. Issue will be whether we have the cap or not.

 

[Pip]

God was RNH awful last night. Usually a fan of his play.

 

[Regal]

The same Pearson that was a borderline 1st line forward last year is a tweener... He was 25th in points for LW last season, 20th in goals and that's a 2nd line tweener?

Pearson had a ridiculous amount of empty net points last year (9) and also played a full season putting him ahead of others he wouldn't be in front of ordinarily. At 5v5, he was 47th among LWs in points, and 62nd among LWs with at least 500 minutes in terms of P/60. He is 100% a tweener

 

[Gaunce4gm]

The same Pearson that was a borderline 1st line forward last year is a tweener... He was 25th in points for LW last season, 20th in goals and that's a 2nd line tweener?

Most people are really stupid and think the entire league has 15 top line players and like 9 top pairing D.

 

[krutovsdonut]

Anyone else surprised at how quiet Gaudette has been through camp and now game 1? It was an opportunistic goal, but I was literally just in the middle of writing a post saying how invisible he’d been when he scored

exact same for me.

he only got 8 minutes so to be fair he never got a chance to get going. then again, he only got 8 minutes as our supposed 3c which tells you what his coach thinks of his game right now.

 

[krutovsdonut]

for me that game had too many different small positives to be just beginning of season adrenaline. i see details being attended to.

the biggest change for me is they look to have carried over the eye of the tiger thing they had going in the playoffs. i don't know you quantify that, but they look determined, well led and accountable to each other. that will be hard to sustain for a compressed season of playing the same six teams, but for now they had an edge. it was sort of like a roman legion rolling over a disorganized gaulish tribe in spite of asterix and obelisk.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Pearson had a ridiculous amount of empty net points last year (9) and also played a full season putting him ahead of others he wouldn't be in front of ordinarily. At 5v5, he was 47th among LWs in points, and 62nd among LWs with at least 500 minutes in terms of P/60. He is 100% a tweener

Why are you cherry-picking stats like that? Isn't PP production just as important to a team's success as 5v5 play? Do ENGs not ensure a team's victory? Did you factor out every other plyers ENPs when running your numbers?

 

[CanuckleBerry]

That was a fun game. Missed the first 5-10 minutes with putting the kids to bed but caught the rest. It's going to be a weird season and I expect a lot of fluctuation in performances. Overall a very solid performance from a team missing the guy who makes the entire forward group work. Only real negatives to me was Sutter and putting him on the PP at the end of the game to protect a lead instead of just letting the team control the puck in the offensive zone.

Biggest positive was how Hoglander scored that goal. Went to the net hard in a dirty zone and off a rebound. For him to survive in the NHL, that's an element he'll need to have and was very happy to see it right away. Also thrilled to see Pearson have a great game. I really like the guy and consider him a near-perfect veteran winger on the second line.

Yeah lots to like about how the second line looked offensively last night. We will of course have to see how the season as a whole plays out and what the free agency market is like, but i wouldnt be opposed to resigning Pearson to a reasonable deal even with Hoglander and Podkolzin coming in. That allows for depth that we really need, hopefully giving Gaudette better options to play with.

 

[4Twenty]

Why are you cherry-picking stats like that? Isn't PP production just as important to a team's success as 5v5 play? Do ENGs not ensure a team's victory? Did you factor out every other plyers ENPs when running your numbers?

Never seen someone argue so hard for empty net points.

I certainly wouldn’t be using them to evaluate players. Pearson is a shark with the net empty I was shocked he didn’t find a way to get a puck into it last night.