Post-Game Talk: GM 31 | Utah def. Canucks | 3-2 (OT) (Heinen, Joshua) | Soaked.

[Sedinery]

lets go get Cozens and Byram so Tocchet can ruin then as well

Canucks problem is simple, fire Tocchet and trade JT

Miller cost us this game with his pure selfishness in ot.

 

[tantalum]

Garland really isn't that good on the power play, never has been. He should not be on the 1st unit unless we're missing forwards, and Tocchet knows that. He isn't stupid.

I would not be surprised to see a coaching change in short order here. It's not just some weird deployment or a couple of specific things, it's a whole bunch of things at once that are just way, way off.

I was too young at the time to have any understanding of what was going on during the Messier/Keenan era but I've heard and read lots, and the vibes right now are starting to remind me of it.

Agreed on Garland. He is good at recovering pucks but beyond that he just doesn't fit on the top PP unit. His shot is a muffin and his passing isn't high level. That and Miller looks lost on the RW boards compared to the LW boards.

Coaching change? Not going to happen. Rutherford all but admitted management screwed up the back end in the off season the other night. They are going to address that and get the coaching staff a better foundation to work from. Failure at that point is when you start looking at a coaching change. And really I don't see the team tuning out the coach. I see players lacking some consistency at the start of games. Interestingly it seems once the first goal goes in (no matter which team scores) the switch gets flipped and they come alive. It's like they are paralyzed when the score is 0-0.

Miller...I didn't like his standing around. When an NHL player is stationary it stands out and there were several times last night where he was standing still. It was strange. I also thought his reaction at the start of OT looked strange. He was talking to Blueger about a plan and Quinn comes in and mentions something to Miller and his face seems to drop. Not reading anything into it but it was something I noticed for whatever reason. May not have even actually happened....it was late!

 

[dez]

Caught part of Sat Shah and Dan Riccio on the Sportsnet 650 post-game. I thought I heard them say that Blueger and Suter have more even strength points than Miller and Pettersson.

Is this even possible? Not much wonder the team is up and down, if true.

Pettersson is second man the team in even-strength points so that’s not true. Both have more than Miller but have played 9 & 10 more games than him.

However, Sherwood, Blueger, and Suter have more 5v5 points than Pettersson & Miller.

It was in reference to Even strength Goals not Points, Petey only has 4 and Miller has 5.

 

[ManVanFan]

Yep....The ghost of Jim Benning will haunt the Canucks as long as Guenther in in the league.

Probably a fair result though. The Canuck blueline was once again exposed by Utah's speed up front, and a lack of mobility and a poor first pass. They're just so ponderous and slow without Hronek in the lineup. But no quick fixes.

What gets me is that Maata and Valimaki were picked up by Utah for a song. And both looked good tonight. Skated and transitioned the puck far better than almost anyone the Canucks have right now.

Not sure what they'll have left in the tank for Vegas tomorrow night.

Canucks forwards definitely helping other teams defences look great most nights.

 

[Nick Lang]

Wrong on this one Nick. That was a low shove with the stick that happens ten thousand times a game. Keller is tiny, Myers is huge, and Keller wasn't even close to going down. That was a HORRENDOUS call.

Hmmm, hey Nas I'm not going to fight you too hard because I understand it was technically weak (and you're a freaking awesome poster).

You're right it was weak ... but I will point out, we both know that the rule book and the way the game is called has almost nothing to do with the force exerted. Additionally, neither are other calls during that game, that period, or even on the same play used as a comparison for the call. It also has absolutely nothing to do with whether the opponent falls down or not.

What they do look at is timing, intent, decision making, direction taking, advantage, game flow, and the like. Which in this case Myers blew it all. Sure it's a weak penalty but why on earth are you crosschecking a completely non dangerously situated player facing the side boards with 4 minutes left while the entire arena is staring right at you? Just don't. Especially a guy like Keller who has been twisting opponents in knots for years and during this game. Obviously the refs were looking for that very infraction and he served it up right in front of them. Game, set, match.

@MarkusNaslund19 ... okay I rewatched the third. It was extremely extremely weak lol ... I cannot disagree with that. Poor play, poor call.

 

[ManVanFan]

Problem was that Garland wasn't on one knee or crouching to accept that pass.

 

[Peen]

I don’t think last night was a good game btw.

Seems like there are a lot of people who viewed this as unlucky.. I think this was similar to the same script of a lot of bad games we’ve played this season.

 

[MS]

I don’t think last night was a good game btw.

Seems like there are a lot of people who viewed this as unlucky.. I think this was similar to the same script of a lot of bad games we’ve played this season.

1st period was poor and we were fortunate to be up 1-0.

Last 40 minutes were very solid, we controlled play with the lead, and I think we were unlucky to lose.

I actually thought tonight was as good as they’ve played with a lead all year.

 

[Johnny Canucker]

Wrong on this one Nick. That was a low shove with the stick that happens ten thousand times a game. Keller is tiny, Myers is huge, and Keller wasn't even close to going down. That was a HORRENDOUS call.

This. A lot of people here have never played and it shows. D who can move the puck make forwards look good. Good forwards with bad D leads to teams getting stuck in their zone, or dumping it in with nobody chasing because the center is having to come back to support so deep in his own zone and often doing all of the work so it's a perpetually outnumbered situation for the forwards moving ahead.

The team has to focus on fixing its starts. The first period was horrendous.

Johnny Canucker should find a hobby that brings him joy.

People blaming Demko don't get it at all. 2nd goal was a bizarre bounce. Looks slow on the replay, but it hit Blueger or Juulsen and the puck went unpredictable.

The OT goal was unfortunate in that, if you look closely, Soucy got Sergachev's stick right as he was shooting which made the puck behave randomly and so it diverted back towards Demko's 5-hole. Nobody's fault, just the bounce.

Hold on, not nobody's fault. Miller looked horrendous tonight and has been bad since he got back. He's stupendously talented, so he's made some great plays. But his body language, how casually and disengaged he goes to the bench for changes, and the long shifts today were terrible.
Hopefully he gets through whatever is ailing him mentally, and yes I can't help but think that if Petey had played the game Miller did tonight some of the mouth breathers on here would be having a conniption.

Hughes is a superstar, Soucy is very serviceable, Myers is better than he gets credit for. The rest of the D is not NHL caliber. We need more D when Hronek is here, without him this isn't tenable for long and it will be interesting to see what the braintrust does.

I think even if Hronek comes back and starts well, and Willander comes in and makes an immediate impact, we still need a competent puck moving LD. Wonder what they will do.

-
People ranting about trading Petey are the same people who would have wanted to trade Cam Neely.

Are the same people who wanted to trade Hughes in 2021.

Are the same people who wanted to trade Petey in 2021/2022.

Are the same people who were apoplectic when we acquired Hronek.

Are the same people who hated the DeBrusk signing, and wish we had spent his and Petey's money on Zadorov and Lindholm (lol).

I took up yoga. Didn’t help.

I don’t think last night was a good game btw.

Seems like there are a lot of people who viewed this as unlucky.. I think this was similar to the same script of a lot of bad games we’ve played this season.

Only the Su’s shine and rainbows crew on here say it was a good game and happy to get a point. When the head coach says “2 goal lead late in the game , have to lock that down” twice , you know it was a pissed away point.

 

[Shareefruck]

twice in OT petey bee-lined it to the bench early after we lost possession, missing out on a second chance opportunity when we quickly regained possession

is something up with his conditioning or is it a confidence thing where he is just not feeling like he can press?

Funny to criticize Pettersson for doing the exact opposite thing that we're criticizing Miller for.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Funny to criticize Pettersson for doing the exact opposite thing that we're criticizing Miller for.

tbh im not even criticizing

it just seemed odd that both times he left the ice so abruptly and before either linemate

that said i also don’t want him hero-balling like miller did on that last shift

 

[Bleach Clean]

I don’t think last night was a good game btw.

Seems like there are a lot of people who viewed this as unlucky.. I think this was similar to the same script of a lot of bad games we’ve played this season.

Agreed. It was not a good game. You can tell by some of the rush chances they were giving up in the final 40 min (2-1 goal as an example).

They didn't start on time, which we've seen before. They should have been down 2 or 3 after the first, but Demko saved them.

They did better in the final 40 min, but not to the level where you would say they deserved to win overall.

 

[God]

the first period was maybe one of the worst i've ever seen them play, but they tightened things up in the second and third.

on another note i hated miller in OT and seeing the shift lengths posted on twitter after the game made me angrier. guy was clearly gassed multiple times and just didn't come off. tocchet needs to do his "jt whisperer" act again.

 

[MS]

tbh im not even criticizing

it just seemed odd that both times he left the ice so abruptly and before either linemate

that said i also don’t want him hero-balling like miller did on that last shift

3-on-3 is weird anti-hockey and I’m not going to criticize either guy for either thing.

Being diligent about your shift length : fine.

Wanting to be a difference-maker and staying out with 20 seconds left to try and win the game : also fine.

Not specifically saying this to you, but social media has turned fans into drama queens who over-analyze every little thing.

 

[strattonius]

Myers is trying to time his cross check for when the puck squirts loose from the battle in the boards so he can win a 1on1 with an off-balance player. I get the tactic but he's using way too much force there a really dumb penalty to take. He's so bad for that and it's really frustrating because if we can isolate one incident that cost us the game, it would most likely be this poorly timed penalty.

Honestly I think a game we got pretty unlucky to lose just given the 2-0 lead and then what transpired to tie the game. It's not like we collapsed our defense was good. Tough point to lose with Vegas the next night.

 

[Shareefruck]

Agreed on Garland. He is good at recovering pucks but beyond that he just doesn't fit on the top PP unit. His shot is a muffin and his passing isn't high level. That and Miller looks lost on the RW boards compared to the LW boards.

Coaching change? Not going to happen. Rutherford all but admitted management screwed up the back end in the off season the other night. They are going to address that and get the coaching staff a better foundation to work from. Failure at that point is when you start looking at a coaching change. And really I don't see the team tuning out the coach. I see players lacking some consistency at the start of games. Interestingly it seems once the first goal goes in (no matter which team scores) the switch gets flipped and they come alive. It's like they are paralyzed when the score is 0-0.

Miller...I didn't like his standing around. When an NHL player is stationary it stands out and there were several times last night where he was standing still. It was strange. I also thought his reaction at the start of OT looked strange. He was talking to Blueger about a plan and Quinn comes in and mentions something to Miller and his face seems to drop. Not reading anything into it but it was something I noticed for whatever reason. May not have even actually happened....it was late!

He's pretty useful for zone entries, though. That could be why he might be necessary on the Miller unit if Pettersson is going to be on the second unit.

 

[AzNightmare]

3-on-3 is weird anti-hockey and I’m not going to criticize either guy for either thing.

Being diligent about your shift length : fine.

Wanting to be a difference-maker and staying out with 20 seconds left to try and win the game : also fine.

Not specifically saying this to you, but social media has turned fans into drama queens who over-analyze every little thing.

That effort on the backcheck was pathetic on the OT goal. Miller eased up as soon as he hit the blue line instead of continue the momentum and actually tie up Sergachev. Sergachev eased up to play that 2 on 1 so he could have been caught if Miller kept skating. But instead, Miller decides to mirror Sergachev to maintain the same amount of distance of being too far to check him, lmao. Like the guy at office who pretends to be working hard, but not acutally doing anything.

Be a difference-maker and prevent the opponent from scoring the gwg instead.