Post-Game Talk: GAME 38: Canucks def. Blues - 5-1 (Horvat, Gaudette, Leivo, Virtanen, Eriksson)

[F A N]

The best backside award goes to Jake Allen.

 

[valkynax]

The best backside award goes to Jake Allen.

Seems like Blues fell off a cliff.

Tarasenko was a scoring machine, and Allen was thought to be their goalie for the next run. This was all just a year ago wasn't it?

 

[nuxnuxnux]

When baertschi is healthy I’d like to see
Bae-petey-leivo
Godly-horvat-boeser

 

[I am toxic]

Marky deserves a star in this one. First period was the game.

Alex had a really good discussion about Marky's performance in the last 6 games on the post-game show. It really struck a cord, after reading about a young Hasek and - oddly enough - playing ministix in a tiny alcove with ohsix.

 

[xtra]

The game came down to two thing

Allen is turrible

Marky was great in the first

 

[sting101]

Another enjoyable win by the boys

Horvat was just blasting through and around guys all night.
Virtanen has taken his game to another level....looks good with Horvat and makes that line incredibly hard to handle off the rush
Edler looks as good as ever right now....with Juolevi's development i would sign him for another couple years without much thought. Still not the ideal PP guy.
Tanev is also in top form again which has such an impact as were seeing
Have to give Markstrom some kudos....started slow last year too but his form right now is a goalie you can win with. Much better rebound control and is really sharp in his reactions.

Could see Gaudette Granlund and Leivo struggling against good teams but was mostly getting the job done tonight and had some nice positive results. Leivo has really good hands and offensive instincts.
Gaudette despite his goal i thought was our weakest forward and Pouliot was ok but looks the same amongst the defense
Hutton Gudbranson Roussel Motte Beagle Biega Eriksson had good games. Gudbranson teetered as he just cant advance the puck very well under duress or when he has his back to the play. A better team like Winnipeg will make him look bad. Do like his physical play which is much better now that he is healthy

Boeser Pettersson Goldobin are struggling to win 1 on 1 battles and Goldy and Boeser are not skating fast or hard enough to break teams down off the rush. Elias may be struggling with the grind a little but still looks incredibly dangerous and can punish teams in the blink of an eye same with Boeser. Have to echo Orcatown here. Brock needs to be slimmer and faster out of the gate next year. Not concerned though because his offseason was incredibly bad with a potential career ending back injury and he's the kind of guy who will work his tail off to improve it. Despite the obvious struggles he still paces at nearly 40 goals and pt per game and is 21.

This team right now is the most fun i have had watching Canuck hockey since the 2011 season.

 

[PG Canuck]

When baertschi is healthy I’d like to see
Bae-petey-leivo
Godly-horvat-boeser

Swap Goldobin and Baertschi and I’m in.

 

[Motte and Bailey]

Swap Goldobin and Baertschi and I’m in.

Put pre-concussion Baertschi on a line with Petey and Brock and I think he gets at least 60-70 pts. We will see if he comes back the same player.

 

[PG Canuck]

Put pre-concussion Baertschi on a line with Petey and Brock and I think he gets at least 60-70 pts. We will see if he comes back the same player.

Baertschi is the forward version of Chris Tanev (injury prone), except Baertschi will just be a temporary filler on wing until we can find someone more capable. He was off to a good start this year, but he's been a 30-35 point player who can't stay healthy, for the last 3 seasons. Now with the concussions, he'll be lucky to play over 70 games probably.

 

[Motte and Bailey]

Baertschi is the forward version of Chris Tanev (injury prone), except Baertschi will just be a temporary filler on wing until we can find someone more capable. He was off to a good start this year, but he's been a 30-35 point player who can't stay healthy, for the last 3 seasons. Now with the concussions, he'll be lucky to play over 70 games probably.

Svens skill level is undeniable. He was pacing 45 pts last yr not 30-35. I think he would work really well with Petey but that’s speculation on my part not a guarantee. We can only hope his concussion wont change his skills

 

[Intangibos]

Who was that bozo at the intermission that said he liked Gudbranson's response against TB the most?

 

[Zippgunn]

Carcone has been a healthy scratch w. Marlies.

Hows this even a debate still that this was a good trade

Some people are very unwilling to say anything unabashedly positive about anything to do with Benning; there must always be reservations...

 

[PG Canuck]

Svens skill level is undeniable. He was pacing 45 pts last yr not 30-35. I think he would work really well with Petey but that’s speculation on my part not a guarantee. We can only hope his concussion wont change his skills

He may, I'm not going to doubt him, as I noted he did start the year off well. However, he can't stay healthy, so I am not hanging my hat on a player like Baertschi. Three years of not being able to play close to a full season is worrisome to me. ~12 or so games is quite a bit to consistently miss, when players like Horvat play such a rugged game, and play most of the games (except for last season).

Hopefully he can stay healthy and be a staple in the top six, but I'm not expecting it.

 

[valkynax]

Some people are very unwilling to say anything unabashedly positive about anything to do with Benning; there must always be reservations...

Yeah, you're one to talk.

Read my post above after what you quoted before you post.

 

[DL44]

Perfect game to reflect why it’s imperative for your goalie not to gut punch your team with an early goal against..
Save the first 5 shots or have a clean first 5 mins, and the team settles and plays with confidence and responds.
It’s almost a mantra by now.

Marky was fricken awesome in the 1st period.
Team settled, rallied and took over.

The first shot on goal against Goal is coming.. but i’m enjoying this kid’s hot streak for now.

Winning the special teams battle is mantra #2... tonight- done.

It was a good night tonight.... Shotguns all around!

 

[F A N]

Seems like Blues fell off a cliff.

Tarasenko was a scoring machine, and Allen was thought to be their goalie for the next run. This was all just a year ago wasn't it?

I think the Blues were expected to be better with their summer acquisitions, but they did miss the playoffs last season.

I was never a fan of Jake Allen. When he was sharing the net with Brian Elliot, I thought Elliot was better.

 

[ErrantShepherd]

I think the Blues were expected to be better with their summer acquisitions, but they did miss the playoffs last season.

I was never a fan of Jake Allen. When he was sharing the net with Brian Elliot, I thought Elliot was better.

Yeah, I still feel the Blues have been a Paper Tiger over a serious Stanley Cup contender since the early 2010s, and it doesn't seem that has changed. It's possible that with either an improvement in coaching of settling into roles on the team they could improve back into a cohesive playoff contender quickly enough... but right now they look very disjointed and poorly structured despite having good pieces.

A number of the Blues goaltenders have felt like products of strong defensive systems over strong individual goal tending... perhaps that's the case with Allen with the team in front more in flux?

Either way... it's always fun giving the blues to the Blues.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

When baertschi is healthy I’d like to see
Bae-petey-leivo
Godly-horvat-boeser

Interesting.... Boeser and Petterrsen have been a little stagnant of late but they undoubtedly work really well together

 

[ErrantShepherd]

Interesting.... Boeser and Petterrsen have been a little stagnant of late but they undoubtedly work really well together

True, but Boeser has also worked quite well with Horvat before.

I would personally do either...

Bae-Bo-Boeser
Leivo-EP-Goldy
(Reunite the previous chemistry, idk if Goldy plays right wing? Maybe put Leivo there?)

Or

Bae-EP-Boeser
Leivo-Bo-Goldy
(Try a swap, see what happens?)

 

[VancouverJagger]

What is a top 4 dman exactly? Tonight he had the highest ice time among defensemen, almost 24 minutes and looked good in a convincing 5-1 victory over a team that was expected to be a cup contender before the season. I'd be lying if I said I don't think Gudbranson can still be a top pairing defenseman with the right partner because I think he has shown that ability when healthy.

Ok yes you pretty much proved my original point. Love the optimism - I'm all for it and nothing would make me happier than Jake scoring 30 and Gudbranson being more than someone who looks good in blue jeans and has nice hair.......I just tend to be a little more grounded in reality...........but hey keep it up!

Sure there are times when Gudbranson looks like he could be a top 4 guy. Unfortunately there are also times when it looks like he should be a 3rd pairing D-man in the AHL. Overall I think he can be a solid 5/6 guy - if he's in our top 4 our team just isn't that good.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

I’m all for..

Goldy-Pettersson-Leivo(Virtanen)
Baertschi-Horvat-Boeser

Boeser had his incredible rookie season before getting hurt on that line, why not reunite it? EP with Boeser not very effective 5 on 5, but are deadly on the PP together.

 

[Canucks LB]

Man, we should play these guys all the time. Nice when other team has a crappy goaltender.

Good

Horvat - glad we don't have to play against this player.

Edler - playing big and a little mean

Tanev - upper level d-man when he is on his game like he is now

Virtanen - is making the right play so much more often. Coming into his own as legit player at this level and showing he can think with the puck on his stick.

Markstrom - providing good NHL goaltending. Do the Canucks really need to pursue a supposed elite goaltender in the off season??? Markstrom looks pretty near to that this season.

Gudbranson - alternates b/w good and bad games. He is always likely to make a couple of coverage areas mistakes but I thought he was on the good side of the ledger in this one. One player that was moving people off the puck and taking people right out of the play. Strong on some crucial early PKs

In spite of score there were some poor performances in this game (lots of times when Blues did dominate and couldn't get the puck by Markstrom). These included:

Boeser - lugged badly in this game and mishandled the puck way too much. Seems to me that Boeser is going to need to have a thorough off season training regimen to get weight down (and he looks like a type that may have to worry about weight) and get in top end playing shape. Right now he is, in spite of getting some points, struggling

Pouliot - whatever ... just flat out not good enough.

Others

Gaudette - nice that he scored but he got schooled on the only goal against. Play in his own end was shaky

Levio - IMO not enough in the play. Just MIA for too much of the time. Can make a play here and there but overall he doesn't do much.

Pettersson - needs to get a second wind. Struggling with the size and strength of NHL players again. But he can make the magical play to turn a game around.

Hutton - like a few others I think the amount of playing time and the schedule is catching up with him. Didn't have much jump in this game.

Goldobin - could easily see where some would question his performance in this game. Did like the way he tried to stay hard on his check.

Eriksson - playing well on the defensive side of the puck and is getting offensive chances. If he was making 1.5 to 2.0 you'd be OK with how he is playing.

Canucks beat the Jets next game and I think you have to call them playoff contenders.

Nice summary, I would like to ask though do you think you are being a bit too hard on Josh.

He was really good on the corners he use the size to protect the puck had I’m really nice passes in this game.

I think you’re being a bit too hard on a person who is playing really well atm

 

[DL44]

True, but Boeser has also worked quite well with Horvat before.

I would personally do either...

Bae-Bo-Boeser
Leivo-EP-Goldy
(Reunite the previous chemistry, idk if Goldy plays right wing? Maybe put Leivo there?)

Or

Bae-EP-Boeser
Leivo-Bo-Goldy
(Try a swap, see what happens?)

With a healthy Baertschi I wouldn't mind seeing:

Eriksson - Horvat - Boeser
Baertaschi - Pettersson - Goldobin
Leivo - Gaudette - Virtanen
Roussel - Beagle - Motte

Schaller/Granlund

 

[Motte and Bailey]

Ok yes you pretty much proved my original point. Love the optimism - I'm all for it and nothing would make me happier than Jake scoring 30 and Gudbranson being more than someone who looks good in blue jeans and has nice hair.......I just tend to be a little more grounded in reality...........but hey keep it up!

Sure there are times when Gudbranson looks like he could be a top 4 guy. Unfortunately there are also times when it looks like he should be a 3rd pairing D-man in the AHL. Overall I think he can be a solid 5/6 guy - if he's in our top 4 our team just isn't that good.

The reason why I’m optimistic is because I think those times where Gudbranson looks good coincides with him being healthy and the times where hasn’t played as well we have often later learned after the fact that he was playing through an injury. The guy has had terrible injury luck with us, wonder why (thanks Geography and thanks NHL schedule makers for making it worse) defensemen who never had injury problems come here and start to miss more time than they ever have. Look at Dan Hamhuis. Before he became a Canuck missed what 2 games per season average. Then he comes to Van and has serious injuries where he misses significant time. I know Guddy has had injuries before us but still Erik Gudbranson is another guy on that list because it just went from bad to worse here with the travel etc. His true game when uninjured is encouraging when you look at it with more context.

 

[VanJack]

First period might have been one of the Canucks' worst all season. Outshot 15-5, and without Markstrom they're down by at least a couple. Quiet night for Petey and Brock, but the foot-soldiers at the bottom of the roster stepped up.

Have to say that Eriksson might be in one of his best stretches of games as a Canuck--consistency the only issue. But those d-pairings of Gudbranson-Hutton; and Biega-Pouliot...Yikes!....your heart is in your mouth every time they handle the puck in the d-zone.

Not understanding this mild dissing of Gaudette. This kid's week over week improvement since arriving in the NHL is kind of stunning. Scored last night with a drive to the net; but getting at least three for four glorious opportunities every game now. Just can't see how they can send him to Utica unless he falls off the cliff in the last half of the season.