The Canucks had a strong first period and generated some okay scoring chances. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was up to the task and remained poised in the net. It was the Bruins who struck first a little over five minutes into the first as Vancouver native Milan Lucic and David Krejci teamed up on a 2 on 1 opportunity. Jason Garrison got caught up the ice and out of position which led to this Bruins odd man rush.
The sequence of the game came in the second period. Vancouver was on the penalty kill, and Daniel Sedin was able to steal the puck at the Bruins blueline for a breakaway attempt. Sedin shot the puck, but Rask answered the bell and made the big stop. The Bruins took the puck off Rask's big save and Jarome Iginla was able to score his sixteenth goal this season from a nice cross ice pass from Zdeno Chara. If Daniel was able to score, it would have tied the game for the Canucks. This play summed up the entire night and pretty much resembles the Canucks entire season.
Three and a half minutes later, Yannick Weber in his Canucks debut scored his first goal of the season with a wicked slapshot from the point. The final dagger for the Canucks came courtesy of Daniel Paille who managed to score on a breakaway with 2:54 left in the second period. Frank Corrado and Yann Sauve got caught up the ice and were too late getting back to defend Paille.
Vancouver faded off in the third period and did not generate much of anything. This has been a consistent story for several games this season. The third period has not been kind to the Canucks. Vancouver is a slow team and they get fatigued real early in games. This is something that is going to have to be addressed with the supposed "youth movement" in the future.
Canucks star players Roberto Luongo along with Daniel and Henrik Sedin took full responsibility for the Canucks' recent struggles:
"Danny and I have to be difference makers and we're not. We have to keep our heads up and turn this around" - Hank #Canucks
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) February 5, 2014
"This one is 100% on me. I wasn't on my game, I wasn't tracking well and I didn't feel like myself" - Luongo #Canucks
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) February 5, 2014
I appreciate Luongo taking a bullet for the team, but this game was not lost because of his play. The Canucks had 28 shots on net, but not many quality scoring chances. Vancouver is not shooting enough in the offensive zone and have become a very passive team. I do believe the effort was there (at least in the first two periods).Newcomer Raphael Diaz had the lone Canucks goal last night and he led all skaters with 25:26 icetime. What a way to kick off his Canucks career with a goal and getting rewarded with lots of icetime on a depleted roster.
David Booth had a strong game for the Canucks. He registered six hits and was bumping bodies with Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk all night long. Booth finished with 15:39 icetime and was a -2 on the night.
Canucks Captain Henrik Sedin was laboring all night long. He is playing with a significant injury in the ribs area. I would not be surprised if he is actually playing with a broken rib. He had 20:30 icetime last night, but did not contribute anything to the scoresheet. Henrik is a warrior, but I believe he needs to take his pads off because he is not doing the Canucks or himself any favors.
Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk led all Bruins skaters with 24:04 icetime. Tuukka Rask stopped 27 of 28 Canucks shots. Roberto Luongo stopped 29 of 32 Bruins shots in the 3-1 loss.
The Canucks head to Montreal with their depleted lineup and will face off against the Habs tomorrow at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT.
Until next time, stay classy! -George
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