Red Wings 1, Canucks 0: A very harmful loss

Breadcrumb Trail Links

1. Vancouver Canucks
2. Sports
3. NHL
4. Hockey

Thatcher Demko was his usual elite self, giving up just one goal on 35 shots.

Article content

No team is going to win all its games, but when you drop must-win games to teams that are among the league’s worst defensive outfits, it really stings.

Article content

Such is the takeaway from the Vancouver Canucks’ 1-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.

It reduced the Canucks’ playoffs hope back towards “slim.” After their strong run of play in recent weeks, their chances had grown to roughly one in four, based on HockeyViz.com’s projections.

It was a loss that really didn’t seem all that likely on form.

The Red Wings have been woeful defensively of late, giving up more than 4.5 goals against per game over their previous 20 games.

And the Canucks’ offence has also been red-hot in that time, scoring about that many goals per game themselves of late.

So it added up that this game of course became a goaltenders’ duel.

Detroit goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who has struggled for much of the season, made 43 saves on the night, many top-notch. And at the other end, Thatcher Demko was his usual elite self, giving up just one goal on 35 shots.

Article content Article content

That said, the Canucks also didn’t help their cause even with all the shots they fired on the Detroit net.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Canucks managed just five high-danger scoring chances on the night, against 14 for Detroit.

It was a pretty stunning result, given that the Red Wings had won just twice in regulation in their last 20 games and had given up goals on nearly half the power plays against them in that stretch.

But the Canucks struggled to make life difficult for Nedeljkovic and their power play, which has been so strong of late, went 0-for-3 on the night.

Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau was, without doubt, the most displeased he’s been all season post-game.

“That first period might have been our worst period all year including the games we gave up five goals,” Boudreau said. “We must have given the puck away 25 times. That gave them the confidence to play. If you step on them early, they probably, you know, say ‘oh, here we go again. But we didn’t. We gave them a chance to play the game and then our power play wasn’t very good.”

Article content

“Can’t score on the perimeter, when a goalie is playing good and he’s seeing everything,” the coach added. “We didn’t we didn’t get in his way we didn’t sacrifice enough to get in his face so that he couldn’t see shots.”

“It was almost like we were arrogant that we’re gonna take care of this game pretty easy and we were like ‘la dee da,'” he said. “We were just casual. I guess the word I’m looking for.”

Detroit’s lone goal was scored by Pius Suter, just as a Red Wings penalty expired in the second period as the centre notched his 12th goal on the season. He’d been looking to pass the puck across to Vlad Namestnikov but whiffed on the play and instead the puck trickled between Demko’s legs.

Here’s what we learned…

Save of the year Article content

Late in a first period that the Red Wings finished stronger than the home team, they were unlucky not go into the intermission with the lead.

Lucas Raymond was stopped point-blank by Demko, who reach out to his limit to knock the puck down and away.

A lesser or shorter goalie wouldn’t have had the reach or flexibility to make such a save.

He made 18 saves in all in the opening stanza.

“Demko was outstanding in the first period just to keep it to 0-0,” Boudreau noted.

He made a similarly key save late in the second, stoning Namestnikov on a breakaway, keeping the score 1-0.

Canucks winger Tanner Pearson said the Canucks needed to be better defensively, given the stakes at hand at this point of the season.

“I thought we actually gave up a bit too much,” he said. “They create some good chances in the O-zone and extended our shift length. They were buzzing pretty good. I thought we gave a bit too much for it to to be a 1-0 game and obviously Demmer (Demko) played like Demmer. He kept it so we can have a chance.”

Article content

“I think the past two games we kind of got into a track meets and trading chances and when you’ve started trading chances …sometimes you’re going to end up on the other side and you know our game isn’t about trading chances, it’s direct. Playing behind their D,  behind the goal line and just simple. When we get into trading chances we kind of get in trouble.”

Anything you can do…

At the other end of the ice, Nedeljkovic was also putting on a show, especially in the second period and made a big save on Tanner Pearson.

“That’s probably the best offside one-timer I’ve ever taken and he made a heckuva save,” Pearson said.

He made a big save late in the second on a Conor Garland breakaway, looking as calm as Demko usually is in similar situations.

Article content

And while the Canucks didn’t have very many truly dangerous chances, just on the volume of shots HockeyViz.com’s expected-goals model suggested they should have come away with three goals on the night.

Nedeljkovic simply made the easy saves all night, something he’s been struggling with fairly often this season.

No puck luck for Boeser

Brock Boeser had just two goals in 11 games coming into the night and his run of bad luck continued against Detroit in spectacular fashion.

Even with his recent struggles, he’s still been effective on the power play, picking up assists. His last two goals, Mar. 5 and Mar. 9, were on the power play.

He also had a glorious chance on a two-on-one later in the period, but the puck skipped over his stick just as he moved to collect the pass.

Article content

He was taken off the first power play unit in the third period, replaced by Tanner Pearson.

Asked about the switch, Boudreau admitted some of the reason was because he felt Boeser wasn’t doing a good enough job screening the goalie.

“I’m not throwing anybody under the bus,” he went on to say. “When he’s involved he’s trying. Whether it works or not, it doesn’t matter, he was out there given an effort.”

And the implication was that Boeser wasn’t giving enough of an effort.

NEXT GAME

Saturday

Calgary Flames vs. Vancouver Canucks

7 p.m., Rogers Arena. TV: CBC, Sportsnet. Radio: Sportsnet 650.

Rough night for the veteran

Oliver Ekman-Larsson was on the ice for 32 shot attempts against at five on five.

That’s tied for the second-worst total for him this season.

Article content Diamond formation

Most teams kill penalties using what’s known as the triangle-plus-1, where three defenders sit in the slot and the fourth penalty killer pressures the puck and tries to drive the play.

The Red Wings shifted away from that setup, moving to a traditional four-man square or diamond, which disrupted the Canucks’ power play plans simply by being positioned where the Canucks didn’t expect.

They have had little success of late killing penalties so it was a surprise they proved to be so effective in limiting chances for the Canucks on the man advantage

“We were prepared for it. I mean, we always got scout other teams before games. There’s some teams that play that setup,” Canucks sniper Elias Pettersson said after the game.

Article content Pettersson’s wrist

Pettersson had missed the last two games because of an injury. The team said it was an upper-body issue, but a source told Postmedia it was a wrist issue.

Pettersson missed 30 games last season because of a wrist injury, which he spent the summer rehabilitating.

On his return to action, he had six goals on net and he won six of 11 faceoffs.

“I felt good. I just tried to simplify it at first. I mean, I’d missed two games,” he said of his return to action. “I think our line created created good chances. We spent most of our shifts in the offensive zone but still no goals. It’s the goals that count.”

Pettersson said he felt a least four of his shot attempts were really good scoring opportunities and was frustrated he couldn’t turn them into goals.

Article content

“One of those days when you sometimes go to their goalie. I don’t know. We just got to find a way to get the puck in.”

Article content The Höglander gloves

He didn’t play in the game because of suspected groin pull, but if you were wondering why Nils Höglander was wearing Pettersson’s gloves last game, here’s why:

After Tuesday’s 6-3 defeat of the Devils, Höglander acknowledged he’s been wearing Pettersson’s gloves often this season. They’re more comfortable, he said.

Canucks assistant equipment trainer Brian Hamilton added another nugget to the story on Thursday, telling Postmedia it’s also that Pettersson likes to change up his gloves, breaking in new ones all the time.

Höglander on the other hand, he added, is not a fan of breaking in new gloves, so it’s a perfect match. Once Pettersson is ready to freshen his pair, the old pair is offered over to Höglander, who otherwise would likely wear gloves until they were coming apart at the seams.

Article content

Post-game Boudreau said that Höglander was seeing a doctor and didn’t expect the team would have an update until Monday, suggesting that Höglander won’t play this weekend against the Calgary Flames on Saturday or the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Playoff chase

Two games on the out-of-town scoreboard had particular relevance to the Canucks’ playoff chase.

The Dallas Stars beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime, keeping them two points up on the Canucks and with three games in hand.

The Vegas Golden Knights, who had lost five games in a row and fallen out of a playoff spot were beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 and are now three points up on the Canucks, but Vancouver does have a game in hand.

Vegas’ win put them into the second wild card spot, a point up on the Stars.

Article content

Edmonton won 6-1 over Buffalo, their fourth win in a row. They’re five points up on the Canucks and have a game in hand.

The Los Angeles Kings, whose second half surge has just about locked them into a playoff spot, also won 3-0 over the San Jose Sharks.

The one result that was good for the Canucks was Nashville losing 5-4 to Philadelphia, but they’re still seven points up on the Canucks and also have a game in hand on the Canucks.

The Canucks need at least 28 more points in their final 20 games, meaning they can afford no more than six more losses, probably just five because they may need as many as 29 more points to avoid ending the season tied with a rival. The Canucks have fewer regulation or overtime wins than any team they’re chasing and that could prove to be a crucial tie breaker.

Article content

Pearson said that they couldn’t couch things anymore in saying that they’re simply not going to win every game.

“We’re past that stage. We need to buckle dow,n every two points matters for us right now. Every point for that matter,” he said. “Like Petey said, we’ve got to find a way to to win those. We’ve been pretty good at coming back in third periods as of late, so we had some confidence going into that (period) that we could do it, just couldn’t get that one (goal).”

Add up the night’s results and according to HockeyViz, the Canucks’ playoff chances fell about 10 percentage points, from 28 per cent going into the game to about 18 per cent.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

twitter.com/risingaction

More news, fewer ads, faster load time: Get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, the Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites for just $14/month or $140/year. Subscribe now through The Vancouver Sun or The Province.

Share this article in your social network Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.