Post-Game Talk: Game #5: Vancouver Canucks 3 @ Dallas Stars 6

[biturbo19]

Who shoots the puck on that line. 3 primary playmakers and the top line has two.

The team has a bad mix that doesn't compliment eachother outside of the top line.

I'd say the other option, would be to just swap Bonino and Richardson straight up and leave the Wingers the same.

Matthias doesn't belong anywhere near a "scoring line", but he does shoot the puck (not particularly well, but he does do it).

Matthias-Bonino-Kassian
Higgins-Richardson-Burrows

Maybe it works. And i really did like the way Vey seemed to work with Dorsett+Hansen. Those two buzzsawing around crashing the net area seemed to give Vey some time & space to actually handle the puck and work it into scoring areas a bit. Though part of that may have just been the Stars defensive depth flattering the trio. Worth a continued look though. And it'd at least get that "checking line" together with a more coherent purpose having a checking Center in the middle, rather than trying to be a scoring/checking line, which Bonino doesn't seem up to the task on.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Corsi>scoreboard..

Seemingly. Who cares if we outshot them? We got doubled on the scoreboard. That's all that matters.

 

[John Bender*]

It was a game we got dominated in, and then started to get shots and score after we already had our teeth kicked in. Dallas had complete control.

You obviously did not watch the game.

 

[y2kcanucks]

You obviously did not watch the game.

Actually I did watch most of it. Stopped when we went down 5-0. That's really all that mattered.

Again, I don't care about how many shots we got after we were already behind and weren't coming back. If we only lost 4-3 and it was back and forth all night in terms of scoring then you can draw positives. But there's no positives when you get curb stomped like they did to start the game.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

You obviously did not watch the game.

I did. I watched us get the snot kicked out of us by a clear superior hockey team, and then fight and claw in the second half when they had already folded the tent and were in coast mode.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Whats funny is it isnt hard to put vey and kassian on the 2nd line and emulate exactly what that line did.

just deal with the fact theyre young and need time to develop.

why do you think chicagos and LA s prospects do t have this problem. Because thers no pressure to produce and make the playoffs or ur benched.

dssjardins better get a clue and play kassian and vey

i think saad and shaw and toffoli and pearson develop because you can play toffoli and pearson with jeff carter, and saad with toews and hossa, and shaw with kane and sharp. only one guy at a time can play with the sedins (and yeah, it should be kassian but still you get my point).

but furthermore, it's not like vey got any plum icetime in LA is it? to some degree you have to belong.

 

[me2]

I would be interested to see what those numbers were last year to start and up until the calendar rolled over.

Seem to recall out shooting the heck out of the opponents then too.

Twins looked like 70 point players then too.

I'm quite annoyed by getting Edmonton and Calgary and a week long break prior to playing real teams.

False sense of optimism.

The biggest difference between the goals last year and this year is the team is scoring some clean goals instead of relying on deflections and bounces and goal mouth scrambles off low percentage shots (3 forwards grind the wall, pass back and shoot from the point, repeat). That is a good thing, when you rely on randomness like deflections to score you are going to look OK in patches (Nov/Dec) but go into prolong slumps when luck is against you (Jan/Feb etc). The offensive style of the game is much better but I'm not sure the team is.

 

[Drop the Sopel]

Shot attempts were even up until the 3-0 goal and I'd say Dallas had the better chances in the 1st.



Yeah but look at the competition. 1 of 5 games vs a playoff team from last year, Tampa is about the only competent possession team in the bunch, and none of the 5 games were against even a decent defensive team. The real test will be when they have to play some good teams that can defend like LA, STL, etc.

Ah, thanks. Yeah, I never felt the team was losing the possession battle. The Canucks created a ton of glorious scoring chances. Lehtonen was outstanding.

Obviously I don't expect the Canucks to outshoot the field by 10 shots a game this season. But through 5 games, this looks like a much better offensive team IMO. Have to give a lot of credit to Desjardins - pretty much every struggling player he inherited looks noticeably improved. Never mind how much better the PP looks.

 

[John Bender*]

Actually I did watch most of it. Stopped when we went down 5-0. That's really all that mattered.

Again, I don't care about how many shots we got after we were already behind and weren't coming back. If we only lost 4-3 and it was back and forth all night in terms of scoring then you can draw positives. But there's no positives when you get curb stomped like they did to start the game.

The Canucks had a number of grade A scoring chances in the first, as did Dallas. Dallas' went in, the Canucks did not. Bad bounces. Overall the 1st was a wash in terms of one team dominating the other.

The Canucks opened the second with some weak plays (from the goaltending, to back checking). After that it was a wash in terms of play.

 

[arsmaster*]

yeah, you're right. bonino doesn't seem to optimally fit anywhere. my hope is that this longshot configuration clicks:

sedin sedin vrbata
bonino matthias kassian
higgins horvat burrows
dorsett richardson hansen

that assumes that bonino and kassian can figure out how to play together and that matthias can be the goal scorer he looked like he could be that one magical march in 2013, but i think that's our best bet for a real second line this season short of trading for a legit second line center.

i'm not sure that the tenacity of higgins and burrows wouldn't buy vey the time to operate that he sorely needs. but i guess vey is still too much of a trainwreck defensively and pie-in-the-sky horvat will adapt seamlessly. this is almost certainly cloud talk though.

I don't know. Might be cloudy but I think Horvat can handle a line. Him making the team is basically the only thing I've been looking forward to this season.

 

[John Bender*]

I did. I watched us get the snot kicked out of us by a clear superior hockey team, and then fight and claw in the second half when they had already folded the tent and were in coast mode.

I don't agree. Not at all. I think it's easy to say this given the score, but if you analyze scoring chances and who carried play, you'll see this is not the case.

The way the game went does matter - not just the final score. Too many times the Canucks have been on the other side and we have not been willing to admit this.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I'd say the other option, would be to just swap Bonino and Richardson straight up and leave the Wingers the same.

Matthias doesn't belong anywhere near a "scoring line", but he does shoot the puck (not particularly well, but he does do it).

Matthias-Bonino-Kassian
Higgins-Richardson-Burrows

Maybe it works. And i really did like the way Vey seemed to work with Dorsett+Hansen. Those two buzzsawing around crashing the net area seemed to give Vey some time & space to actually handle the puck and work it into scoring areas a bit. Though part of that may have just been the Stars defensive depth flattering the trio. Worth a continued look though. And it'd at least get that "checking line" together with a more coherent purpose having a checking Center in the middle, rather than trying to be a scoring/checking line, which Bonino doesn't seem up to the task on.

to be fair to vey, and i'm pretty hard on him, i didn't hate him with dorsett and hansen.

and come to think of it, higgins and burrows with richie is a pretty mean shutdown line, albeit undersized.

but if bonino and kassian are going to play together, i think i want the shooter (to the extent that matthias can be that) in the middle.

 

[arsmaster*]

The biggest difference between the goals last year and this year is the team is scoring some clean goals instead of relying on deflections and bounces and goal mouth scrambles. That is a good thing, when you rely on randomness like deflections to score you are going to look OK in patches (Nov/Dec) but go into prolong slumps when luck is against you (Jan/Feb etc). The offensive style of the game is much better but I'm not sure the team is.

Didn't see hansen's goal but the first two weren't "clean looks".

 

[biturbo19]

The biggest difference between the goals last year and this year is the team is scoring some clean goals instead of relying on deflections and bounces and goal mouth scrambles off low percentage shots (3 forwards grind the wall, pass back and shoot from the point, repeat). That is a good thing, when you rely on randomness like deflections to score you are going to look OK in patches (Nov/Dec) but go into prolong slumps when luck is against you (Jan/Feb etc). The offensive style of the game is much better but I'm not sure the team is.

Good post.

I think the last line in particular is probably right on point.

The offensive style is better, but more than anything else...losing a player like Kesler really hurts and the team itself is going to take a step back when you don't have that player anymore.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

I don't agree. Not at all. I think it's easy to say this given the score, but if you analyze scoring chances and who carried play, you'll see this is not the case.

The way the game went does matter - not just the final score. Too many times the Canucks have been on the other side and we have not been willing to admit this.

There may be a lot of nights like this then, the finishers just do not exist on this team. We have one at the moment.

 

[PancakeHero]

The score of the game was not indicative of the play. There was no curbstomping, just rain that poured.

Good goalie outing against bad goalie outing. That was the story of that game. Dallas looked very porous and their goalie mostly closed the door.

 

[y2kcanucks]

The Canucks had a number of grade A scoring chances in the first, as did Dallas. Dallas' went in, the Canucks did not. Bad bounces. Overall the 1st was a wash in terms of one team dominating the other.

The Canucks opened the second with some weak plays (from the goaltending, to back checking). After that it was a wash in terms of play.

The Canucks ended the first period down 3-0. No clue how you can call that a wash.

 

[Drop the Sopel]

Didn't see hansen's goal but the first two weren't "clean looks".

Kassian's goal was a beauty. Called for it, then handled it like a top 6 forward.

Still think this is Kassian's breakout season. Unfortunately the Canucks need one more pure finisher to best compliment him. Hopefully Virtanen can be that guy next season.

 

[The Stig]

Don not discuss other posters. Only the posts. Thank you.

 

[PancakeHero]

The Canucks ended the first period down 3-0. No clue how you can call that a wash.

Because the goaltending sucked. At least 2 of Dallas' goals were straight out puck luck

 

[y2kcanucks]

The score of the game was not indicative of the play. There was no curbstomping, just rain that poured.

Good goalie outing against bad goalie outing. That was the story of that game.

I beg the differ. Going down 5-0 after 32 minutes is getting curb stomped. How often do we see it happen where a team gets a huge lead like that and lets up? But if you want to take solace in the Canucks getting a bunch of shots after the game was over then be my guest. A bunch of people were ready to proclame this as a playoff team after we beat up on the Alberta teams. The Tampa game and the Dallas game should bring us back down to earth. If not, we got St. Louis coming up on Thursday.

The good news is, while we may not be in it for the stanley cup we can always win that coveted corsi cup.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Because the goaltending sucked. At least 2 of Dallas' goals were straight out puck luck

So we're back to scapegoating the goalie all the time? How about this team just isn't that good?

 

[John Bender*]

There may be a lot of nights like this then, the finishers just do not exist on this team. We have one at the moment.

That's more than last year.

 

[Addison Rae]

The game was closer than the scoreboard indicated, but we were clearly the second best team on the ice.

 

[y2kcanucks]

The game was closer than the scoreboard indicated, but we were clearly the second best team on the ice.

Was it closer because we got a ton of corsi points and shots after we were already slaughtered? Because before I quit on the game I saw one team clearly outclassing another until the game was out of reach.