Vancouver Canucks Shut Out by Washington Capitals
The Vancouver Canucks had less than 24 hours between their back-to-back games, and the Capitals overwhelmed their defense and stifled their offense.
The Vancouver Canucks were playing two games in two nights, with travel and an early start to boot.
And it showed.
This Canucks team was already struggling with it’s top defense pair injured. With the added fatigue, the Canucks looked a step or two behind for most of the night.
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They spent long stretches hemmed in their own end. When they did manage to exit the zone, the Capitals defense did a superb job limiting their opportunities.
In the end, Braden Holtby only needed to make 20 saves to earn the shutout. Most of those saves looked routine. This is partly because Holtby is the reigning Vezina trophy winer, but also because Vancouver was unable to generate many high-quality chances.
The biggest issue was the Canucks’ power play. In 10 minutes on the man-advantage, Vancouver managed only one shot on goal.
Meanwhile, Alex Ovechkin put the Capitals up early in the game on a power play goal for Washington. Though it remained a one-goal game until early in the third period, it felt as though Vancouver was never close to tying.
Final Score:
VS.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Capitals | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Canucks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Canucks Player Grades:
Jacob Markstrom
G, Vancouver Canucks
A-He probably should have stopped the Ovechkin shot in the first period. But the Canucks deserved to be down more than one goal after two periods, and Markstrom was the sole reason they were not. He finished the game with a .929 save percentage.
#Canucks with a huge 5-on-3 kill to open the 2nd. Markstrom is up to 13 saves. pic.twitter.com/2KZA7rsmqd
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 11, 2016
Jack Skille
RW, Vancouver Canucks
B+Skille was the most noticeable forward, other than Horvat. Despite playing only 12 minutes, he finished with three shots, which was most among Canucks forwards. Good for him… not so good for Vancouver
Daniel Sedin
LW, Vancouver Canucks
Whether it was fatigue, new line combinations or just running into a better team, the Vancouver Canucks fall to 1-3 on this road trip. They play next against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
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