Flames 5, Canucks 2: Exhausted Vancouver never had a chance

Thursday's game was the Canucks' fifth in eight nights — a stretch that also included three games in four nights on a trip to Eastern Canada.

Get the latest from Patrick Johnston straight to your inbox

Published Nov 16, 2023  •  Last updated 3 hours ago  •  7 minute read

Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames stops a shot from Dakota Joshua of the Vancouver Canucks during the first period of an NHL game at Scotiabank Saddledome on Nov. 16, 2023 in Calgary. Photo by Derek Leung /Getty Images

When hockey people talk about “schedule losses,” they mean games like the Canucks had Thursday night in Calgary.

Article content

You can just look at the schedule and safely predict a game will almost certainly be a loss, just because of circumstance.

Article content

Thursday’s game, a 5-2 loss to the Flames, was the Canucks’ fifth in eight nights — a stretch that also included three games in four nights on a trip to Eastern Canada.

The Canucks really never had a chance.

They did open the scoring on a power-play goal by Elias Pettersson, scored on his old friend Jacob Markström, but the Flames surged past Vancouver from there, especially in the second period where they outshot the Canucks 17-5.

“A little tired. I think we were tired. It caught up to us,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said post-game.

“The second half of the game, listen, they didn’t quit. I got no problem. But you’ve got to learn how to play tired. You’ve got to manage the puck a little more.

Article content

“Sometimes you have to play tired, better angles, protect the middle, live for other shifts. You can’t hit a home run every shift. I think that’s our downfall tonight.”

The good news about the Canucks is their power play remains lethal.

The more nervous news about the Canucks is they’ve hit a wall trying to score at five on five.

A week ago, the Canucks had scored on close to 15 per cent of their five-on-five shots. The best teams each season score on about 10 per cent of those shots, so you knew the Canucks were going to hit a dry patch.

That time has clearly come.

The Canucks have just four five-on-five goals in their last four games: Three were scored last Sunday in Montreal, and the fourth on a lovely tip goal by Nils Höglander in the third period of Thursday’s game.

Article content

Article content

On Saturday in Toronto, both Canucks goals came on the power play. On Wednesday, the Canucks scored three times with the man advantage and then won the game in 3-on-3 overtime.

And their other goal against the Flames on Thursday came on the power play.

Article content

Over these four games, the Canucks have scored on just four per cent of their shots.

That’s regression.

Canucks forward Dakota Joshua said he doesn’t think the Canucks are helping themselves much, either.

“Staple in our game is getting on the puck and hunting those defenders. Not enough of it tonight. We’ve got to find a way to get that back in our game,” he said.

There’s not a lot of margin for error in the NHL. Mistakes can really hurt you.

And when you’re tired, the mistakes are often bigger.

“It catches up. All teams go through it, this part of the schedule. The time zones and such, it caught up. But we kind of hung around there when it was 2-1 and just wait it out. There was a couple big mistakes and its in our net,” Tocchet said.

Article content

On the Flames’ first two goals, the key errors that led to them were pretty obvious.

On the first goal, Mark Friedman made an aggressive pinch at the offensive blue-line, which was covered reasonably well by a backchecking J.T. Miller.

But Friedman still had work to do to get himself back and, while he got close, he still didn’t pick up Mackenzie Weegar coming up in support of the Flames rush and it was Weegar who scored the goal.

On the Flames’ second goal, where Dillon Dube found the loose puck behind Canucks goalie Casey DeSmith, the whole sequence began because of a lack of patience by Noah Juulsen, who made a hard hit to deny Dube’s attempted zone entry, but then tried to flip the puck out with his backhand.

The puck didn’t clear the zone. Instead, it was intercepted by Dube, who relaunched the Flames’ attack and ended up benefiting from the sequence.

Article content

J.T. Miller was knocked into his own net by Flames forward Martin Pospisil, but no call was made. 

Article content

Also in the first, Conor Garland took an obvious high stick.

Again no call, which feels like a nightly occurrence.

With the Canucks’ power play running red-hot, you have to like their chances of picking up a goal on at least one of those opportunities. Especially in a game where they were as tired as they were — and when they’re dealing with a power outage at five on five.

Höglander’s goal gives him four on the season.

Depth scoring is handy and it’s something the little Swede has always brought with him, but it’s the rest of his game that will keep him in the lineup or send him back to the press box.

On this night, he was one of the more aggressive Canucks. He needs to find a way to keep the motor running every shift. He’s doing that better this year than last.

Article content

One of the challenges that every young player faces is to recognize the consistency they have to bring to each shift is higher than they thought. And while they may not get as many puck touches as they did at a lower level, each one matters and they need to be focused and playing in such a way so as to optimize those puck touches.

Andrei Kuzmenko is doing fine, everyone says.

“Kuzy’s feeling good. He’s a good possibility for Saturday,” Tocchet said of the Russian winger, who didn’t make the flight to Calgary Wednesday night because he was still being assessed after taking a deflected puck square in the face during Wednesday’s 4-3 OT win over the New York Islanders.

The news is less clear about Pius Suter, who was a late scratch Wednesday for a so-far undisclosed injury.

Article content

“He’s still day-to-day. I’m not sure about Saturday,” Tocchet said.

Every night, the smarts to Ian Cole’s game become more obvious.

He clearly reads the game faster than most and then is blessed with physical co-ordination that keeps him in useful spots. His reaction time also gets him to the next good spot quickly.

Even as his team struggled to control the game on Thursday, Cole was again a pillar of strength.

He played 19:57 at even-strength, second-most among Canucks defencemen, behind Filip Hronek.

At +7, he was the only Canuck to be positive in shot-attempts while he was on the ice.

Noah Juulsen, on the other hand, had another tough night, going -13 in shot attempts.

And the Miller line struggled to make an impact, as Miller himself was -6, Brock Boeser was -5 and Phil Di Giuseppe was -10.

Article content

With Kuzmenko and Suter out, Linus Karlsson made his NHL debut.

The lanky Swede, picked up in a 2019 trade and signed to an NHL deal in 2022, spent all of last season in the AHL, where he scored 25 goals for the Abbotsford Canucks.

On Thursday, he managed five shots on goal in 11:54 of ice time. He also put the puck off the post in the dying seconds of the game.

Article content

He got a shin tap on the legs by Jacob Markström after the sequence.

Karlsson, of course, called the game a dream come true, even if the team lost.

He said the fact that they’re playing a very similar system in Abbotsford helped him prepare for the big step up to the NHL.

“For sure. It’s almost exactly the same game plan that they run over here, too. It’s just like I’m so comfortable with how to play the game. It’s so much easier for me to come here and know what to do,” he said.

Article content

Filip Hronek did not tally a point, ending his points streak at 11. He had a goal and 13 assists over that stretch.

Had he picked up another point, he’d have set a new Canucks record for consecutive games with a point by a defenceman.

Instead, his 11-game streak will leave him tied with Jiri Bubla, his Czech countryman.

The skilled blueliner — also convicted drug trafficker and estranged father of former Canuck Jiri Slegr — tallied points in 11 straight games for the Canucks exactly 40 years ago.

[email protected]

twitter.com/risingaction

Recommended from Editorial

None

None

Precaution around facial injury keeps Andrei Kuzmenko out of the Canucks lineup

Canucks Coffee: Morning jolts of java to ponder the greatness of Quinn Hughes

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.

Article content