Post-Game Talk: GM 1 | Vancouver Canucks lost to Calgary Flames | 5-6 (OT) | Sprong, Boeser(2), Garland, & Miller | Not Good Enough

[WTG]

What's with the Pettersson roast jeesh. Yes had some poor play late and looked a little out of game shape but also looked good early. I'm sure he regrets looking for the easy tap in goal instead of shooting but he was also really good defensively. Played too many minutes due to not having options and that led to some flat play and turnovers later in the game but i'm not as worried as most here it seems. Hardly worth lighting him up after 1 game

This one I also don't get. If the Pettersson like connected on a few good scoring chances nobody would be talking about Pettersson. He made few bad forced passes but overall I did not think he played badly at all.

also once again

he wasnt every good in the playoffs if you look at his stats

He played against two good playoff teams and preformed servicably.

Out of his 20 NHL games prior to this game. He has played 7 against the f***ing highscoring oilers (35% of his total games played). He's played 50% of games vs playoff teams.

 

[Zippgunn]

Silovs looking like Spencer Martin. No idea where the puck is.

It's worrisome because a new goalie can look good for a month or 2, then they get figured out. Remember Spencer Martin looked good at first. This is probly what is happening to Silovs.

Martin played .500 in 6 meaningless games at the end of a season and got rewarded with a multi million dollar contract and then the Canucks rode him for months despite him losing something like 10 in a row before giving up on him. Silovs took us to within a goal of the conference finals and after one bad game (not just by him but the whole team) it looks like the party's over for him. Watch them trade him for nothing by the All Star break...

 

[TruGr1t]

Martin played .500 in 6 meaningless games at the end of a season and got rewarded with a multi million dollar contract and then the Canucks rode him for months despite him losing something like 10 in a row before giving up on him. Silovs took us to within a goal of the conference finals and after one bad game (not just by him but the whole team) it looks like the party's over for him. Watch them trade him for nothing by the All Star break...

He needs to play 50+ games in the AHL and figure it out.

 

[Regal]

It is early
BUT
Is this a carryover from last season?
They only lost 31 games last year but over half 17, were in the last 34 games, marginally a .500 team which in the loser point era means no better than 24th in the league.

I don't recall the doom and gloom over losing to those two games. The Flyers may have been a surprise but not the Tampa game. Expectations were no all that high at the beginning of last season I didn't think.

What? They were 18-12-4 over their final 34 which is a .588 winning percentage (96 point pace). You can’t add OT/SO losses to the loss column to claim it’s .500 hockey (even though they’d still be 18-16), then say .500 hockey in the shootout era is 24th in the league. It’s only 24th in the league in the shootout era because the OT/SO points you’re discounting are bringing the winning percentage up. If you’re adding shootout losses to losses, then .500 hockey is middle of the pack. They were still tied with Boston for 13th in the league in winning percentage in those 34 games.

Martin played .500 in 6 meaningless games at the end of a season and got rewarded with a multi million dollar contract and then the Canucks rode him for months despite him losing something like 10 in a row before giving up on him. Silovs took us to within a goal of the conference finals and after one bad game (not just by him but the whole team) it looks like the party's over for him. Watch them trade him for nothing by the All Star break...

Silovs did not look great on many goals in the playoffs either. He has serious puck tracking concerns. And I don’t think anyone’s giving up on him, but I think this game is just a reality check that his inexperience will likely mean some ups and downs.

 

[ChilliBilly]

First game in years, on cloud 9 after the first, and then it was like two totally different teams.

At least they salvaged a point.

In reality we were a goal away from it being a satisfying night.

 

[shottasasa]

This one I also don't get. If the Pettersson like connected on a few good scoring chances nobody would be talking about Pettersson. He made few bad forced passes but overall I did not think he played badly at all.

Yeah, I agree with this. Pettersson wasn’t the absolute disaster this rather neurotic board makes him out to be. He was good in the first period and was pretty good defensively breaking up a lot of passes. He wasn’t elite but this market seems to be seeing red when it comes to anything he does at the moment.

To make sure I wasn’t wildly off base on my Petey take I watched the replay of the second Flames goal (Andersson) he was on the ice for and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t his fault. Debrusk bit on trying to overload the winger with Sprong (who had for some reason followed the puck over to his off wing) which left Andersson with space down the middle. With Sprong wandering Petey was in the middle but shading over to cover the LD, who was wide open. It was a great shot by Andersson but that was an all round coverage breakdown and perhaps a miss by Silovs. Caveat is that It's only the first game so we haven’t seen them play enough to get a strong feel for what their assignments should have been and what their rotations should be.

All in all this game looked very much like a team that isn’t in game shape yet and is trying to integrate some new things into their play: Great start but lost steam as the game went on and were beaten to the puck too often/ didn’t make decisions quickly enough. The Flames seemed to take preseason quite seriously and just looked a little bit more hungry. I’m not terribly concerned at the moment.

Even for Silovs, it was not a great game but I suspect he might run hot and cold as he’s inexperienced. From everything I’ve heard from the likes of Woodley his issues with tracking pucks thru screens is something that should come with time. I’d prefer that to be in the AHL atm, but until Demko’s back I guess we’ll have to live with the Lankinen/Silovs tandem.

 

[krutovsdonut]

that was a weird game. it felt like they made such a powerful statement in the first that they were emotionally done and couldn't play the rest of the game. part of it i think was that they did not want to mix it up with the flames and get hurt unnecessarily, nd the rooney hit nonsense allowed the flames an angle to back into the game emotionally.

it's ironic, but the flames have built a matthew tkachuk dream team of agitators that are potentially going to knock teams off their game all season long if they can find an emotional storyline.

i agree with all the criticisms of ep40. he does not have his head right. the most telling part of his game to me was when he tried to mess with prospisal after prospisal messed with de brusk in the corner in the first. he needs to play smarter than that.

i believe the problem with ep40 is he wants to be a physical complete two way centre like forsberg and he is not built to be one (and neither was forsberg to be honest). to a certain extent i understand that both he and hughes both want to be treated like regular 2 way players. but they are both exceptional talents who need to accept being partly sheltered and to play to their strengths. hughes seems to get that. ep40 for a while now has been focussed on things other than scoring or just not focussed at all.

 

[M2Beezy]

Oilers lost their first game of the season in 2023-24, and then went on to lose in game 7 by one goal for the cup. So maybe is not the end of the world just yet (sic)

 

[krutovsdonut]

Oilers lost their first game of the season in 2023-24, and then went on to lose in game 7 by one goal for the cup. So maybe is not the end of the world just yet (sic)

sic comment dude.

 

[Regal]

that was a weird game. it felt like they made such a powerful statement in the first that they were emotionally done and couldn't play the rest of the game. part of it i think was that they did not want to mix it up with the flames and get hurt unnecessarily, nd the rooney hit nonsense allowed the flames an angle to back into the game emotionally.

it's ironic, but the flames have built a matthew tkachuk dream team of agitators that are potentially going to knock teams off their game all season long if they can find an emotional storyline.

i agree with all the criticisms of ep40. he does not have his head right. the most telling part of his game to me was when he tried to mess with prospisal after prospisal messed with de brusk in the corner in the first. he needs to play smarter than that.

i believe the problem with ep40 is he wants to be a physical complete two way centre like forsberg and he is not built to be one (and neither was forsberg to be honest). to a certain extent i understand that both he and hughes both want to be treated like regular 2 way players. but they are both exceptional talents who need to accept being partly sheltered and to play to their strengths. hughes seems to get that. ep40 for a while now has been focussed on things other than scoring or just not focussed at all.

There was a lot of dismissing of them after the beat down in the first with comments like they’ll compete with the Sharks, but I think they’re going to be a frustrating team to play all year and likely still finish similar to last year’s record.

 

[theguardianII]

What? They were 18-12-4 over their final 34 which is a .588 winning percentage (96 point pace). You can’t add OT/SO losses to the loss column to claim it’s .500 hockey (even though they’d still be 18-16), then say .500 hockey in the shootout era is 24th in the league. That’s only because the OT/SO points you’re discounting are bringing them up. If you’re adding shootout losses to losses, then .500 hockey is middle of the pack. They were still tied with Boston for 13th in the league in winning percentage in those 34 games.

You can't add OT and SO wins but a L is still and L whether OT or SO.
No with OT and SO loses getting a point for the loss it makes a .500 team around the bottom third of the league. Last year NJD and Seattle were .494 teams but 23/24th in league standings, Sabres were 22nd with .512.

So .500 hockey is "losing" hockey

My bad they had 14 losses in the last 27 games, games #56 to #82.

 

[theguardianII]

There was a lot of dismissing of them after the beat down in the first with comments like they’ll compete with the Sharks, but I think they’re going to be a frustrating team to play all year and likely still finish similar to last year’s record.

Ya I thought that, the ice was so tilted, they looked nervous but they sucked it up in the last two and the "fog of play" seemed to descend on the Canucks. More worried about making a mistake or being out of position, "paralysis by analysis"
A mistake and then getting "stapled"
Calgary was missing their best forward too.

 

[krutovsdonut]

There was a lot of dismissing of them after the beat down in the first with comments like they’ll compete with the Sharks, but I think they’re going to be a frustrating team to play all year and likely still finish similar to last year’s record.

the key for a team at their stage is finding an emotional reason to compete when the playoffs/cup are likely not in the picture. i feel like they have a team with maybe a couple of promising young players, some underrated veterans, and guys that can stir the pot and handle the resulting physical play. they could be a pain in the ass some nights for teams on regular season cruise control. sort of like the '88 canucks.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

re: petey, i missed the second and most of the third period (only saw the tying goal, then OT)

but fwiw i thought he was fine in the first. his line didn’t score but they were generating chances and he was a big part of that.

when i tuned back in late in the third with us down one goal, there was a shift, i think before we tied it, when we’re pressing and petey enters the o-zone. he makes a smooth dipsy-doodle and buys himself a little room, then instead of attacking he slows to a standstill looking for a pass that doesn’t materialize. i think he lost the puck, then quickly gained it back because he’s really good at picking off passes, then for no reason from the left side boards he throws a very soft curling-type pass backwards to no one which of course goes to a flame and they go the other way. i think there were multiple posts at that moment all saying “wtf petey."

then at the end, i thought he looked really good on the 6-on-5. he kept the puck in the zone numerous times, and it was hughes who eventually lost it, leading to him having to block that shot and initiate the sequence that led to the tying goal.

his OT shift was no good, but that’s what happens when you don’t win the faceoff on 3-on-3. he didn’t look good defending that one rush just before the goal but i think it looked worse than it really was.

i think my big takeaway is how does he get back into an attack mode mindset?

 

[strattonius]

I just think that what epitomizes Pettersson, and in turn frustrates fans is that play where he's alone in the slot and he decides to try to pass the puck through everyone for a backdoor tap for Debrusk instead of just using his excellent shot to pick a corner. Like if he smacks a shin pad no one cares but when he passes it we all wonder where the confidence is and why he's trying to force difficult plays. Pettersson wasn't bad but he still looks like he's thinking too much out there - and that's a bad sign for me.

 

[Hodgy]

The frustrating thing is that in the preseason game in Edmonton they played Wolanin-Desharnais as the top pairing and they had a fantastic game against a loaded Oiler squad. That pairing worked with Desharnais able to defer to Wolanin to move the puck.

Then we go back to Forbort there and Forbort is so awful with the puck on his stick that Desharnais has to be the guy trying to transition it ... and it doesn't work at all.

I don't think Wolanin is an NHL regular. I like him, and wanted to believe he was an NHL regular, but he is way too soft and his defensemen isn't good enough given that he's not even that great offensively. Wether he's better than Forbort is a different story, but a Stanley Cup contending team should have Wolanin as a regular in their opening line up.

Obviously a Stanley Cup contending team shouldn't have Forbot and Desharnais as their third pair either. And its way too early for me to start saying "I told you so!" but I didn't like the Desharnais signing at the time and always thought he sucked when we played the Oilers. It was a massive redflag that a team like the Oilers, that needs good cheapish defensive depth, would let Desharnais - a home grown talent - walk.

Of course Desharnais, and/or Forbot, can both improve. But Alvin/Tochett took a gamble here hoping that Tochett's system could mask the fact that neither of these guys have been very good defensemen historically, and have really struggled to move the puck. Ironically, Tochett seems to understand that we need to have better puck movement and overall offense to contend in the playoffs (it was pretty clear that we weren't generating anywhere close to the amount of offensve needed against the Oilers, and that our offense steadily declined throughout last season as defense was prioritized), but then we end up with this pair.

 

[Hodgy]

I just think that what epitomizes Pettersson, and in turn frustrates fans is that play where he's alone in the slot and he decides to try to pass the puck through everyone for a backdoor tap for Debrusk instead of just using his excellent shot to pick a corner. Like if he smacks a shin pad no one cares but when he passes it we all wonder where the confidence is and why he's trying to force difficult plays. Pettersson wasn't bad but he still looks like he's thinking too much out there - and that's a bad sign for me.

To me, this is a much lesser problem. But totally agree that I want him to shoot that.

The biggest problem to me, is that Pettersson has stopped moving his feet and attacking with the puck. When he gets the puck in the offensive zone, even if, seemingly, he's got a step on a defensemen and could beat that defensemene wide, instead, he slows up and tries to feather a pass to someone. And he's a great passer so it sometimes works. But he isn't opening up space for himself or his teammates. He also seems to be a bit scared of contact. So instead of playing fast with the puck and just evading hits with his speed, he actually just slows up and initiates contact which just isn't his game and doesn't actually help. He's not Miller, and he's not going to power through players. He's needs to move fast like Hughes and evade players with his speed.

Anyway, it all kind of looks mental, and just as he has fallen into this type of play, I think he can play himself out of it. Look no further than JT Miller in terms of players making incredible turn arounds in their style of play. We can only hope Pettersson follows in his path because otherwise we are pretty f***ed.

 

[arttk]

i think my big takeaway is how does he get back into an attack mode mindset?

Yeah right now he still creates a bunch of high danger scoring chances from his passes. He needs to start scoring and feel better and get back to taking the puck straight to the net mode.

 

[Leif Rohlin]

2010-2011 Canucks lost in a SO to the kings in the first game. This is a sign

We started that season with 2 wins in the first 7 games.

Our 4th line in that opener was Alexandre Bolduc centering Tanner Glass and Guillaume Desbiens.

 

[MS]

I don't think Wolanin is an NHL regular. I like him, and wanted to believe he was an NHL regular, but he is way too soft and his defensemen isn't good enough given that he's not even that great offensively. Wether he's better than Forbort is a different story, but a Stanley Cup contending team should have Wolanin as a regular in their opening line up.

Obviously a Stanley Cup contending team shouldn't have Forbot and Desharnais as their third pair either. And its way too early for me to start saying "I told you so!" but I didn't like the Desharnais signing at the time and always thought he sucked when we played the Oilers. It was a massive redflag that a team like the Oilers, that needs good cheapish defensive depth, would let Desharnais - a home grown talent - walk.

Of course Desharnais, and/or Forbot, can both improve. But Alvin/Tochett took a gamble here hoping that Tochett's system could mask the fact that neither of these guys have been very good defensemen historically, and have really struggled to move the puck. Ironically, Tochett seems to understand that we need to have better puck movement and overall offense to contend in the playoffs (it was pretty clear that we weren't generating anywhere close to the amount of offensve needed against the Oilers, and that our offense steadily declined throughout last season as defense was prioritized), but then we end up with this pair.

To me 22-23 Wolanin looked like an NHL player but 23-24 Wolanin (with some injury issues) did not. But he's better than Forbort and actually balances the pair. You just can't have two guys who both really struggle to move the puck on the same pairing.

I like Desharnais and have since he was in the AHL and to me he's fine as the #6 as long as you have a good #5 to play with him. Forbort is the bigger problem.