Vancouver Canucks at Ottawa Senators: Final Score and Highlights
The Vancouver Canucks continued their six-game road-trip against the Ottawa Senators, and were shutout for the second straight game.
The Vancouver Canucks‘ goal drought continues.
Last night, Vancouver outshot the Montreal Canadiens but failed to find the scoresheet. They hoped for a similar effort but a better result.
The Canucks did outshoot the Ottawa Senators 27-24. But the result remained the same, as they lost their sixth straight game
Vancouver has been shutout in four of their past five, including twice by the Senators.
More from The Canuck Way
The four-game winning streak is ancient history; the comeback Canucks are a distant memory. Panic time is quickly approaching, if it isn’t here already.
Trevor Linden and Jim Benning have continually stated that their goal is to make the playoffs. It will be interesting to see whether that message changes given how abysmal this streak has been for the team. The Canucks are trying to win, so how bad would they be if they weren’t?
It’s painful, but let’s look back at the game in Ottawa. Perhaps we can tease out a few positives.
Final Score:
OttawaSenators1
VancouverCanucks0
The lone goal:
On the Gudbranson turnover, Markstrom misses with the poke, Hoffman scores to put #Sens up 1-0 #Canucks pic.twitter.com/ao84wli1o6
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) November 4, 2016
How tough is it to be a Canucks goaltender right now. Once again, Jacob Markstrom was close to perfect. Yet, that was not enough to win a game.
While Marky did miss his pokecheck, it was the two defensemen who were ultimately to blame. Ben Hutton surprised Erik Gudbranson with a pass, and Gudbranson immediately turned it over.
With no Canucks defender nearby, the goaltender gambled — and lost. Mike Hoffman chased down the puck and scored his second of the year.
Both he and Ryan Miller are playing some excellent hockey. However, as long as they receive zero goal support, the few mistakes they make will prove the difference.
Bo Horvat vs. Erik Karlsson
These two teams only see each other twice a year. Yet, they still managed to generate some bad blood.
In the first period, Erik Karlsson impeded Bo Horvat on his way to retrieve a puck. Horvat retaliated by ripping off Karlsson’s helmet:
Horvat knocked the helmet off the #Sens best player and you have to love him for that pic.twitter.com/6ThH8aocqU
— Omar A (@omarcanuck) November 4, 2016
After the scrum, the referees gave Karlsson a minor and Horvat a double-minor, all for roughing. The Senators failed to score on the ensuing powerplay.
Then in the second period, as Horvat carried the puck into the Sens’ zones he managed to dodge hits from three different players, including Karlsson:
The shift where three Senators pledged their lives to getting vengeance on Horvat for daring to touch Karlsson pic.twitter.com/OjHQCSYvKd
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) November 4, 2016
Tryamkin’s season debut
After Nikita Tryamkin spent October catching up on his summer cardio, he finally made his season debut tonight.
He made good use of his 6-foot-7, 265-pound frame:
Nikita's first dance. pic.twitter.com/J35EmhDRtk
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 4, 2016
Zack Smith tried throwing a few punches. His arms were too short to reach Tryamkin’s face. That’s something to smile about, right?
When you want to start something until you realize it's a giant coming after you pic.twitter.com/QGvsCUPDIf
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) November 4, 2016
Besides the fisticuffs, Tryamkin handled himself well during play. He and Luca Sbisa were some of the best Canucks players on the ice in terms of shot attempts:
Leading CF for #Canucks after two:
Eriksson – 68.8%
Tryamkin – 68.4%
Sbisa – 64.7%
Horvat – 64.2%— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) November 4, 2016
Nikita Tryamkin started the year in the doghouse because of his conditioning. Based on his play tonight, it looks like he might become a mainstay in the lineup.
Inching closer to a goal
It’s frustrating to watch Vancouver hand another goalie a shutout.
But the Canucks did have chances. Loui Eriksson and Sven Baertschi were stopped on point-blank attempts. Jannik Hansen also narrowly missed beating Mike Condon five-hole on a breakaway:
CONDON WITH 24 SAVES SO FAR. WORKING ON A SHUTOUT. pic.twitter.com/LGIAKVElsR
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 4, 2016
The shot numbers from the last two games do flatter the Canucks, but a lot of those shots have been from the outside. No team can bury 100-percent of their grade-A scoring chances.
To give themselves a chance, Vancouver needs to generate more than the four of five high-danger chances they have been managing lately.
The Canucks have a day off tomorrow, before resuming action on Saturday versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs have given up the third-most goals so far this season. Let’s hope the Vancouver Canucks can take advantage of that.
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