For the fourth straight game, the Canucks struggled with their defensive play in the third period, surrendering two goals. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that, for the first time since Nashville, it didn’t affect the final score. Vancouver’s issues closing out games were relatively inconsequential by the time the third rolled around, thanks in large part to strong individual performances in the first and second.
In the first, it was Cory Schneider and only Cory Schneider, who was unbeatable, despite seeing more rubber than Tate Langdon in American Horror Story. In the second, it was Dale mother-flipping Weise. The Flying Dutchman stepped on the clutch and shifted into high gear Tuesday, scoring a highlight-reel goal that turned out to be the game-winner. That’s right: thanks to Weise, the Canucks won this game. And thanks to the innovations of Philo Farnsworth, I watched this game.
Canucks 3 – 2 Blues
- I’m not trying to say Cory Schneider was a one-man show in the first period, but on top of his excellent play during the Blues onslaught, he also played an acoustic guitar, a tambourine tied to his elbow, a hands-free harmonica, and worked a bass drum mounted on his back with his right foot. The Canucks have really suffered from mediocre play from both Schneider and Luongo of late, but this time, while the rest of the team slept, Schneider appeared to be in a groove and he showed serious heart, which makes sense, since groove is in the heart.
- Schneider’s best save came on Alex Pietrangelo late in the first, as he stuck with Pietrangelo coming across the crease and managed to stretch out his leg and get a pad on Pietrangelo’s attempt. Poor Pietrangelo. I haven’t seen someone that frustrated by a leg since the mom in A Christmas Story.
- The first period also featured a spirited scrap between Zack Kassian, back in the lineup after missing time with a bad back, and the red-hot Chris Stewart. Kassian held his own in the tilt, but the strain of doing so apparently re-aggravated his back. He didn’t return to the game. That’s not good, but if it makes you feel any better, the Canucks are traditionally very, very good at handling recurring back injuries to their top forward prospect.
- Best part of the Kassian fight: when he bumps into Max Lapierre clearing the sticks and jumps like he just saw a spider. Intimidating.
- Tom Sestito and Ryan Reaves fought later, if you care. But if watching two giants halfheartedly struggling with one another really floats your boat, I recommend Godzilla vs. Gigan instead. More backstory.
- Perhaps the Canucks were merely conserving their energy in the first for a firecracker second period, because they went off in a big way, hanging three goals on Jake Allen. Jannik Hansen made like Pink and got the party started, taking a fantastic feed from Mason Raymond and beating Jake Allen with a laserblast right under the bar, where Moe Syzlak keeps the pickled eggs.
- Shortly after that, the Sedins cooked up something positively wizardous, connecting for a 2-0 goal that featured one of Henrik’s best passes of the season. I cannot for the life of me figure out how he thought to do this. If you watch the video closely, he takes a look over his shoulder as he moves to the edge of the trapezoid. At that moment, Daniel Sedin is at the top of the offensive zone. That’s Henrik’s last look. How he knows Daniel is going to cut into the middle, and how he manages to get Daniel the puck once there is beyond me. It’s beyond us all, I think. I’m pretty sure this pass takes place in the fourth dimension.
- We’ll have to break this one down tomorrow or Thursday, because I don’t think I can fully explain how absurd this pass is from conception to execution without additional graphics. It has a draw weight, for goodness’ sake, to allow Daniel the time to get to a place no rational hockey player would ever assume he was going to be. It’s amazing. I know Dale Weise was a TSN highlight of the night candidate for his move, and I hate to take that rare moment away from him, but they picked the wrong goal. Forgive me for gushing, but this one’s a gusher. Also a gusher: these classic fruit snacks.
- The goal was Daniel’s first in eight games, and you could see the confidence in his play instantly return. He spent the rest of the night dangling like Michael Fassbender in Shame.
- About that Dale Weise goal: I found it patently hilarious that, after Jordan Schroeder finally got the promotion back to the second line people have been demanding for weeks, he hooked up with Weise instead. I really wanted a quick cut to a smug Alain Vigneault at that moment, but no luck. The goal was incredible, with Schroeder making a lovely spin-o-rama feed to Weise, who went backhand and beat Allen. It was a nice bit of poise and patience from Weise, no doubt, but the feed from Schroeder was monkey-in-Outbreak sick.
- That wasn’t the only thing Vigneault got to feel smug about in this game. Not only did Schroeder and Weise yield a goal, but Weise had a great game despite a head-scratcher of a move to centre. Plus, while the Canucks are bound to come under fire for sitting back in the third period of this one, I think everybody was entertained by the way they killed a minute late in the game by playing keepaway on a delayed penalty. I’ve honestly never seen that before, and the fact that the Canucks managed to turn it into a sudden two-on-one made it even more hilarious.
- The Canucks’ second line of Raymond, Hansen, and Schroeder looked really dangerous tonight, which is a strange thing to say considering the line is made up of a babyface, a tiny guy, and a guy with a squeaky voice. Really, they seem less like a scoring line and more like members of The Fellowship of the Ring.
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Lucky
March 20, 2013if you watch that daniel goal, backes is putting his stick on the ice thinking the puck’s coming to him and outta nowhere comes in daniel
those sedins!
Amor de Cosmos
March 20, 2013It was seriously Midwich nutsie-cuckoo spooky.
So long as the team can deliver these kind of plays — all three goals and Hansen’s killing off of the game last night, I don’t care too much about an oversized chunk of silverware. The foreplay is every bit as exciting as the orgasm, sometimes you just have to lie back and enjoy it foe what it is.
jeremy
March 20, 2013I’m going to be a jerk and scratch the scab off an old wound, so forgive me. Jannik Hansen scored his ninth goal tonight, and with his assists he is on track for what would be a 49 point season. That’s the same figure predicted by you guys to be – using an analysis of his PDO after ten games – untenable. The assumption was that, because PDO always regresses, so too would his scoring.
Well, his PDO regressed, but his scoring didn’t. It’s now at 1048, just about down to the level where the figure starts to become sustainable.
For me it’s more evidence that too much stock is put on PDO as an analysis or prediction tool for performance, and that it’s far from a convincing way to look at sheerly luck. A player’s PDO is inflated or deflated by so many arbitrary elements around him – to make sure it *does* eventually regress cleanly – that it becomes practically meaningless.
Besides that, it’s just great to see Jannik’s development into a core member of the team. The Canucks are scoring some beautiful goals, and Jannik’s presence has been a big part of that. I think when the centre depth is solidified a bit and our faceoff woes are dealt with (tonight was a big leap), this team will stop losing.
Snepsts
March 20, 2013He found his shot. That goal last night was shot into a space the size of a soup can. I think the running joke with Hansen has always been that he scores in practice, but not in-game. Well, he found his shot. I guess if he were in the Wizard of Oz, he’d have no hands. So, I submit that the secondary nickname, Jannik “Hands” Hansen.
Daniel Wagner
March 20, 2013That’s a pretty nice strawman you’ve got there. Where’d you get it?
What I actually said was that Hansen’s scoring wouldn’t continue “if [he] continues to play a checking role.” At the time of that article, Hansen was being used primarily as a defensive forward. He was facing some of the toughest competition on the team and starting the majority of his shifts in the defensive zone. I said in the comments of that post, “The only way he keeps his production going is if he gets a lot more offensive opportunities …If he is instead on a checking line that plays tough minutes in the defensive zone, his negative Corsi and high PDO is going to catch up to him.”
So, what has happened? Hansen isn’t playing third line checking minutes anymore. He’s playing on the second line and being given primarily offensive minutes. His Offensive Zone Start % is up over 50% now, indicating that he’s started the majority of his shifts in the offensive zone. Since it was far below 50% when I wrote that post, he’s really been getting prime offensive zone minutes since. His quality of competition has also dropped.
Sure, PDO can’t be looked at in a vacuum: you have to consider the context of how a player is being used when looking at whether a player’s point production is sustainable or not. It’s worth noting that Hansen’s on-ice shooting percentage is still at the highest it’s been in his career at 13.07% and there’s likely still some room for regression, but because he’s getting primarily offensive minutes (and even spending some time on the first unit on the powerplay), he’ll keep putting up points.
jeremy
March 20, 2013The strawman? I have a whole army of them back here. I’m not afriad to unleash them.
Corsi I can agree with, Warpstone, and I think the original article (and the historic site of my first broken, frothing rant) had some great analysis – when it looked at the zone starts, Corsi and shooting percentages. I just don’t think because PDO and Corsi are both ‘advanced stats’ they are equitable (or of equitable merit). Again, it comes down to PDO being forged by too many irrelevant variables to work well.
To be continued… (?)
Daniel Wagner
March 20, 2013Oddly enough, the biggest proponents of advanced statistics generally agree that PDO is one of the most important to understand…
jeremy
March 20, 2013I don’t find it odd. I think there’s a tendency towards the assumption that “more complex = better.” What should be odd is that so many proponents of PDO default to the argument that “It just works!” to validate it – specifically using the example of the regression-to-1000. When looking at an offensive player, what are you really looking at? What should you be looking at, when considering ‘regression’ or lucky streaks!Their shooting percentage! That’s what you’re talking about, that’s the only figure in amidst others that can meaningfully swing their point production. I suppose you could say on ice save percentage transfers it into a more all-purpose statistic, because you might argue that a player with a low PDO’s +/- stat is a bit misleading, but why not just directly look at on ice shooting percentage? It baffles me. I am baffled by PDO.
If you couldn’t tell.
jeremy
March 20, 2013“Why not just look directly at on ice save percentage,” rather.
jeremy
March 20, 2013Thinking about it for a while, to temper plus/minus stats specifically, PDO can work. That is I think its most useful context.
Warpstone
March 20, 2013The reason PDO is broad is because that’s exactly what it tries to cover: all kinds of puckluck.
It’s the very opposite of an isolated measurement, which is probably why it often feels so counter-intuitive.
Once you get over the fact that the actual outcomes of advanced stats are themselves irrelevant (i.e. shots themselves are not why Corsi is important for example), it gets easier to accept them as abstract representations of puck possession. In my reading at least, that’s what 9/10ths of advanced stats tries to capture.
Don’t get too hung up on exactly what PDO is describing because it’s too abstract to analyze that way. It’s a broad indication of puckluck that helps you assess other important data such as David Booth’s Corsi or the Leaf’s for example within context.
Warpstone
March 20, 2013Heh, it’s funny I actually thought this game helped show the point of PDO: below average puckluck for the Canucks regressed to the mean (or maybe even flipped the other way) and the Blues suffered poor production for performance.
Re: Hansen, as Daniel says, it’s contextual. PDO is not a smoking gun but rather an indicator of a statistical outlier. Most times, the outlier is indeed temporary because it’s just puckluck (i.e. Kassian in the beginning of the season). But in some cases where a player does make a change (i.e. ice time and usage), it’s entirely possible that the new PDO figures reflect a new development and not just puckluck.
One of the really amusing things that Corsi and PDO do is help filter over the top reactionary judgements a la Ed Willies or Tony Gallagher’s columns. They are useful for indicating when staying the course has merit (and for the Canucks it does) and when something is clearly not what it seems (i.e. the Maple Leafs recent regression). They’re tools not smoking guns and that’s why you always need to consider such information with respect to context.
BTW, context is really the big takeaway from advanced stats. It’s the difference between reacting to hockey like Don Cherry or an adult.
Kevin Z
March 20, 2013Actually, on Daniel’s goal, from watching the behind-the-net reply, it looks to me like Henrik’s head is up the entire time. He looks down at the puck to collect it behind the net, and then is looking out into the zone the rest of the play. His awareness of Daniel is incredible, and the pass is jaw-dropping.
akidd
March 20, 2013it felt like the cancuks finally got the mojo swinging the other way. there was a last gasp spasm from the poltergeist with the bounce off the body for the first blues goals and then the most audacious of all, the ‘bounce off tanev’s head right to blues stick’ second goal. knock out the precious right-sider and turn the screw on a jumpy team and fanbase. low blow.
but not to be. hansen’s brilliance on the delayed penalty proved that reason really does trump superstition. and with that hopefully the dam bursts.
swizzler
March 20, 2013Hansen with shades of Yzerman on his slapshot.
what a terrific year he’s having
Tom 1040
March 20, 2013…and Cody Hodgson.
Question: Who was the goalie Yzerman scored his Game 7 double-overtime goal against (of course St. Louis)?
Answer: …. J.C. – (but go and watch it on Youtube, Hodgson’s goal too – beauties)
MichCat
March 20, 2013Go Canucks go…Keep smiling until the end of April. What’s up Corey & Lui…?
Tom 1040
March 20, 2013Great goal-tending, bad team.
Where have I heard that before?
Nee
March 20, 2013Okay, that Daniel – Fassbender reference made me laugh. And then barf.
Gross Mooney!
Rob
March 20, 2013Off the top, in no way am I trying to compare any hockey player to Crosby becasue he is really in a class of his own but Sydney does a nice spin-o-rama pass to set up a goal and its on the highlight reel for 2 days – I think it was actually TSN’s ‘Highlight of the Night’. This game has not one but TWO assists from Hank and Schroeder that are just as good if not better and they dont even garner a 2nd look…. Just another day in the office for Hank, making amazing passes look so easy.
I cant help but wonder how the perception and media exposure of the Twins would be different if they were Canadian.
Brent
March 20, 2013I think part of the problem is the ancient Chinese art of Tai Ming. When the Canucks score these great goals, most people at headquarters at TSN Toronto are in bed. Plus, the market is mainly in central Canada so who really cares what wizardry occurs out west. But I am not bitter, no, not bitter at all.
RG
March 20, 2013I cant help but wonder how the perception and media exposure of the Twins would be different if they were IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE.
Chris the Curmudgeon
March 20, 2013Not to be nitpicky Harrison, but those two goals in the 3rd did affect the final score, because it was 3-2 not 3-0.
chicken chick
March 20, 2013Cambo commented yesterday
Before his words were wiped away:
“Blues will school Casucks” tonight,
But once again he wasn’t right.
Of course he is so often wrong
As tediously he trolls along.
The first chapter of the story
Keeping clinic taught by Cory
Then Mason Raymond points the way
By feeding Hansen on the play,
And Daniel puts the second in,
Converting from his elder twin.
J. Schroeder finds his center Weise
Who scores while streaking through the crease.
The end of two, the schoolings done,
Suffice to say Vancouver won.
the olde coot
March 20, 2013A lesson we’d do well to heed:
Do not sit on a three goal lead!
bolderevolution
March 20, 2013Good thing it wasn’t a two goal lead.
gretchen grouse
March 20, 2013Says Gretchen Grouse the Grammar Geek
Concerned with how we write and speak
The third line needs another beat
Add “the” to make iambic feet
madwag
March 20, 2013and if it’s rhythm that you need, “don’t sit upon a three goal lead.”
James
March 20, 2013Really? It’s strange that Raymond + Hansen + Schroeder looked dangerous? Funny because everyone and their dog has been pleading with AV to reunite that line from earlier in the season when Kesler came back and pushed Schroeder out. I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut when it’s attached to it’s body eh?
ZeroTenacity
March 20, 2013“…the way they killed a minute late in the game by playing keepaway on a delayed penalty. I’ve honestly never seen that before…”
May I draw your attention to exhibit A: http://vansunsportsblogs.com/2013/02/22/canucks-play-keepaway-in-dallas-why-kesler-prevents-that-from-happening-more-often-video/
Now if only they could keep it up for the whole 3rd period.
MB13
March 20, 2013If Hansen doesn’t win the team MVP at the end of the year, then the vote is rigged. He’s probably the most difficult Canuck to play against, brings 100% every night and plays clean (except for his clumsy play against Hossa).
J21 (@Jyrki21)
March 20, 2013The new Martin Gélinas?
chinook
March 20, 2013“the Canucks are traditionally very, very good at handling recurring back injuries to their top forward prospect.” Mooney, what a hilarious low-blow!
Weise’s inspired play was surely the result of his turn at centre – “Wow, Coach really believes in me!”
P.S. Harrison, please use your technowizardry to edit the ads out of your video links. Thanks!
Lenny
March 20, 2013Who is the squeaky voice in the Fellowship of the Ring?
Harrison Mooney
March 20, 2013I dunno…. Frodo.
shoes
March 20, 2013I after the 3 goals in the 2nd, what I liked most about the game is the Canuck did not get assessed a series of head scratching penalties. Especially in the Detroit games and the Minny game, when the Canucks had a strong upper hand, they suddenly could do nothing to stay out of the box and the calls were of the variety so as to be called “questionable” by both Sportsnet and CBC crews. When Ron Maclean states on HNIC that Burrows “would need to be run over by a zamboni to get a call” people should pay attention, because alas he doesn’t care for Burrows.
Rob
March 20, 2013The Canucks have a bad rep with the officials – and for good reason too. There is a reason that no Canuck player will ever get the benefit of the doubt on an infraction, and there is a reason that once the first Canuck goes down softly, the flood gates open on calls against. They have rightly earned this reputation with the officials and will have to play through it and deal with it for the foreseeable future. If the calls/non-calls happen – they happen, and us fans can’t really say too much about it because the Canucks have made their own bed, now they have to sleep in it.
Gretchen Grouse
March 20, 2013Dear troller Rob,
It’s “we fans”, please.
The objective case creates unease.
Rob
March 20, 2013Dear Grechen Grouse, I am no troller…. If you go back and look at the hundreds of IWTG and PITB articles I have commented on you see that I have always been and will always be a fan and a supporter of the team. I have been a canuck fan my entire life and I will continue to be, so please do not make the assumption when I post something that can be percieved as negative that I am trolling. The Canucks situation with the officials is a sad reality, but a reality that the Canuck players have created for themselves and will have to deal with as long as they are playing together.
Gretchen Grouse
March 20, 2013“In internet slang a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community.”
I’m Gretchen Grouse the Grammar Geek
Concerned with how we write and speak,
And I must now apologize
Because there is no compromise.
While I could simply shrug and say
I thought the word was neutral, eh!
I see it is pejorative
And so take steps restorative.
I am most sorry, Mister Rob
For this malicious hatchet job!
To hurt was not my real intent.
I feel like shit in wet cement.
Though you’re to blame for all this fuss,
Not using “we” instead of “us”.
RG
March 20, 2013You should follow all the other teams that dive to gain the upper hand. The Canucks are not the worst team at it – they just get the most publicity.
See: Claude Julien ripping the Canadiens for diving when he coaches Marchand.
BakerGeorgeT
March 20, 2013It wasn’t a great home-stand. Two wins in which the team was ahead with a healthy lead and suddenly collapsed to make the game much closer than it should have been.
That said, the Canucks played outstanding hockey in the 2nd. I wonder why they can’t get that type of effort throughout the game? Why do our defenceman panic (some would call it chipping it out, but you have to get the puck out for that to work)?
A win is a win. I hope this the first step in turning this season around. But they play an even more dedicated defensive team in Phoenix on Thursday. Can they sustain pressure and score some goals there?
chinook
March 20, 2013I listened to the radio for a few minutes when it looked like the start of the Canuck telecast on TSN might be delayed by the preceding game, and caught two Shorty witticisms that I’d like to share:
The technical term for garbage goal is now “an abdelkader”.
And elsewhere in the NHL, two opposing coaches each with a ‘Johnson’ on their roster were making last minute line-up changes by “scratching their Johnsons”.
The several second time delay between radio and TV telecasts is such a disappointment. I’ve tried TV mute + radio commentary in the past but the dis-synchronicity is too annoying. TSN crew were OK last night but way behind Shorty and Garrett in the humour department. I like Ferraro though for his enjoyment of the game, the passion that comes across with his game insights.
chinook
March 20, 2013oops, lest I offend Detroit fans, I should re-state Shorty’s line:
Scoring a goal without use of a hockey stick is an “abdelkader”, not a garbage goal.
Don
March 20, 2013Yeah, I was gonna say…
After all, as any hockey fan knows, a garbage goal has always been, and will always be, a “Calgary goal”.
Nick
March 20, 2013I really liked Mike Johnson on colour commentary last night. Personally, I’ve had my fill of “jokes” about Garrett’s love of junk food and bad TV. Mike Johnson was on point all night long about game action and team-neutral insights, and Gord Miller is decent at calling the play without and keeping his head in the game.
And then it was nice to have an intelligent hockey panel between periods … nobody’s better than TSN’s Bob McKenzie in my book … Doug McLean, Nick Kypreos, and the other “experts” that Sportsnet trots out are not even close (and the CBC panels guys are even worse).
I understand the loyalty to Shorthouse and Garrett here at PITB, but the TSN crew (Ray Ferraro is good too) is almost always more focused on game action and there’s far less mindless chit chat while play is under way. I like the insights. I like the professionalism.
chinook
March 20, 2013Totally agree with you about how good TSN’s hockey panel is (Bob McKenzie, Aaron Ward, Button or whoever). And that they are better than Sportsnet, or gawd forbid, the HNIC panel. But when Canucks are on the tube, its all good.
Cheers Nick!
tom selleck's moustache
March 20, 2013Thanks for another great IWTG, Mooney. I appreciated the A Christmas Story reference and this:
” the Canucks are traditionally very, very good at handling recurring back injuries to their top forward prospect.”
especially. Nice.
cwhite
March 20, 2013CBC had a different perspective on the delayed penalty:
The Canucks received a power play with 3:06 left in the third period as Vladimir Sobotka was called for holding. The whistle finally blew after the Canucks had a prolonged delayed penalty, struggled to get the puck up the ice with an extra attacker. Kevin Bieksa just missed the net as he tried to put in a pass from Raymond.
J21 (@Jyrki21)
March 20, 2013I love when the Canucks were facing a delayed penalty against them, and Jannik Hansen tried to force a Blue toward his own net to score without being allowed to handle the puck.
The Donger was all over the ice last night. Great game for him.
eric blacha
March 20, 2013Anyone think that maybe Daniel and Hank have like really good eyes, and can see things off the glass like 7x better than others?
kesler's Nose
March 20, 2013Playoff picture for Nucks as follows. Out in 6 games Round 1
chicken hawk
March 20, 2013The team gets knocked by Tony G
It’s long past time we fired AV
How much we miss the silent G
It’s all horseshit it seems to me
Cody Hodgson just had to go
The pressure from his Dad you know
This team has always started slow
After the ebb begins the flow
Some fans when speaking off the cuff
Complained that they don’t shoot enough
That’s just a lot of effing guff
Their luck of late’s been rather rough
Just don’t forget you heard it here
The Stanley Cup is theirs this year
Nick
March 20, 2013Anyone else surprised to see Keith Ballard get another start in the St. Louis game after his hip-check screw-up against the Wild ?
I thought for sure AV would use that as justification to park Ballard in the farthest nether regions of his doghouse.
Maybe AV is lengthening Ballard’s leash a bit?
Chris the Curmudgeon
March 20, 2013Not so sure about that, he played fewer minutes than any other defenceman.
chinook
March 20, 2013Yeah, at the moment of Ballard’s misplay I said “he will never play again as a Canuck”. Glad to see I was wrong.
Nick
March 20, 2013Interesting that the first game of the TSN double-header involved Hodgson and the Sabres.
While his statistics indicate that Hodgson is having a good year, watching him play in that Hab game, he didn’t seem to me to have developed much since his time with the Canucks.
Still seemed slow, and he was a defensive liability at times, including blown coverage on the goal Gallagher set up. I’ve been hearing so much on PITB about how this player has really blossomed, but anytime I’ve seen Hodgson this year, he’s been nothing special.
chinook
March 20, 2013I saw about 1/2 of the Sabres game. ‘Silent G’ certainly benefits from playing with Vanek and Pominville who drive the play and create rebounds.