Oilers Crush Canucks 4-2: Elite Defense Falls Short Against Connor McDavid
Photo by Leila Devlin /Getty Images
The Vancouver Canucks put up their best defensive effort of the season when they needed it the most and it still wasn’t enough.
For so much of the night, the Canucks defended the inside of the slot so well, it was hard to believe how bad they’d been on Thursday in Winnipeg.
The Canucks gave very, very little away. It was a deserved 1-1 tie after 40 minutes.
Photo by Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Ge /NHLI via Getty Images
Elias Pettersson, the forward, had battled Connor McDavid to a draw. He had a couple nice drives to the net and maybe a different bounce on the most notable one, where the loose puck slid to Jonathan Lekkerimaki, ends with a go-ahead goal for Vancouver rather than a fortunate block for Conor Murphy.
In matchups like this, you do have to take your chances and try to avoid handing the opposition too many. That was the lesson on Thursday in Winnipeg: too many major mistakes leading to glorious chances for the Jets.
Canucks Report
Thanks for signing up!
Article content
Such is the state of affairs when you are just about the weakest team in the league, facing up against a team led by the world’s greatest talent.
For so much of the night, the Canucks defended the inside of the slot so well, it was hard to believe how bad they’d been on Thursday in Winnipeg.
The Canucks gave very, very little away. It was a deserved 1-1 tie after 40 minutes.
Photo by Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Ge /NHLI via Getty Images
Saturday was absolutely a reminder how danger always lurks when you’re playing the Oilers. They ended up scoring twice in the opening four minutes of the third period and that was that, despite a hard push at the end of the game.
It also didn’t help that once again the NHL ties its officials’ brains into knots, with the final Oilers goal coming after the officials missing Pettersson, the forward, deflecting the puck into the Edmonton zone. It was called as icing, which it wasn’t when we watched the replay, but the NHL doesn’t let officials get calls like that right. Obviously we don’t want endless reviews, but if there’s a quick video review to confirm or deny a missed call, why not let them use it? This isn’t why the Canucks lost, but it still stands out as a weird one.
‘This who we have’
As I went over the line changes that head coach Manny Malhotra threw at the wall before the game, I found myself thinking of the line Travis Green delivered to Jeff Paterson in December 2021, what turned out to be hours before Green was to be let go as Canucks coach.
Reviewing the Canucks’ struggles to kill penalties then, Green was asked if he had the right personnel to get the job done and he just quipped “this is who we have.”
In the end, that’s the overall struggle with the rebuilding Canucks. They are getting a fair bit of hustle from the likes of Pettersson and Brock Boeser, who had Vancouver’s second goal on the night, and on the whole, yes this team probably deserved better and if they’d played a lesser team, maybe a win was there.
Photo by (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via G /NHLI via Getty Images
That’s the real takeaway here: if they can manage to keep themselves together going forward, the wins will start to come. Maybe even Monday vs. Rick Tocchet’s brutal Flyers.
A point for Breeze
Long time readers will know we’re always saving a cheer for Guillaume Brisebois, the perpetual Canuck.
He’s had a couple handy games for the Canucks this week. Saturday playing on the right side, he was totally fine.
He picked up an assist on the first-period goal by Max Sasson, his first point since March of 2023, when the Canucks were in the midst of a ridiculous late-season surge under Rick Tocchet.
That point on March 14, 2023 was a goal; Brisebois’ lone NHL goal to date.
Share this article in your social network