Nucks Win (the PP battle) Yet Lose the Game to the Isles 5-2

The Canucks are a team of destiny. I Westy predicted a Stanley Cup for this year. I He did. And you can’t make us shut up about it. The Isles tried, but yeah... sure... you can beat our lack lustre Nucks tonight, but you can’t beat the Westy Destiny.

And that concludes the happy section of the recap. Please join us again next time.

Let’s talk about the game. In Pittsburgh. That would be more fun. And isn’t that what we’re here for? The fun. And the drinking games.

Fine. You want to get your SADS on early, let’s talk about our sluggish Nucks on day 6 of their Big Apple party.

1st Period

Despite their slow start - or because of it, the Nucks got an early powerplay. So that’s good, right? The new 20% success level special team road record. It is - except when Brock blows coverage in the offensive zone and Eddie bobbles the puck at the blueline. And Ladd doesn’t. Eddie follows Ladd up the ice, at a safe and growing distance. Ladd blows a shot by Nilsson who wasn’t surprised by the shot as much as the sloppy play up ice.

Not 5 minutes in and the Nucks are down by one. However, just because the Islanders get a shortie doesn’t negate the Canucks PP. Altho...

The 2nd unit gets to rush up the ice (not rush as in a NY minute rush) and gains the O-zone. Loui sends a pass over to Vanek who gets a tap-in ‘cause Halak is way over on the other side of the net looking for the wicked wrister from Loui that didn’t arrive as feinted.

All tied. It’s anyone’s game now. It’s true! No. No, it’s not. The game belongs to the home team that has not lost a single game in their home Barclays rink so far this season. What’s that like, I wonder...your team having won all their home games into December? Sounds weird. And made up. Like a cheap Sports Fiction novel.

Anyhow...for us Nucks fan that was high point of the game. Nucks will be 50% on the PP in this game. Wooo! Let’s get excited!

It’s crickets in the NM game thread as Westy and I try to think up fun things to do while not sounding bummed out by the old and young, slow and slower and hungover Nucks.

How do we know the team was tired? Even the young guns were exhausted.

Meanwhile in the span of 61 seconds the Isles score two more goals on more sloppy Nucks coverage. TWO. That’s twice as many as one. And the period ends 3-1 Isles.

The game is already over and the Neverland Express dinning car is empty - ‘cept for Westy and me and some prime NM celebratory beverages. But, we’re not in a celebratory mood. We’re in that other mood - the one we experienced far too often last season on the road games to tanknation.

2nd Period

Really? Haven’t we suffered enough? The longer this game goes on the less fresh the team will be - and they didn’t start very fresh - 5 nights in a 5 star Manhattan hotel can wear you down.

Do you want to see the score go 4-1 Islanders? Me neither. But it does. Why? Well... 10 guesses. I’ll wait.

One thousand and one.... One thousand and ...

And then it happened. Finally. As Westy stated in the lonely gamethread, Gaunce got on the scoreboard. Yeah, he was drunk, so his goal - Westy’s goal, not Gaunce’s - curb your yappy happy thoughts - Westy’s goal was uplifting metaphorical cause and effect innuendos. Or something. He was drunk and I was working. On it.

What Gaunce does is take a penalty - which lead to a spark of Bo-lishness. Bo bolls over Tavares and breaks in on Halak and blows one past the startled goalie for the sparky shortie.

So the Isles get a shortie in the first and the Nucks get a shortie in the second. It’s a beautiful symmetry and the game ends in a tie. If this was New Jersey.

Nucks are only down two to end two periods of effortless hockey. Not true. There was some effort from the Nucks, but some won’t carry this team to .500 Park Ave.

3rd Period

Are you kidding me?! The game is over. A full period ago. Did you miss the first part of this ridiculous recap?

Still here? Fine. You want me to tell you the comeback kids who were on the slacker skids mounted a 4 goal comeback in the third? Sure. That’s what happened. Sorry you missed the goals, the replays and the corresponding confirmations from reality.

Good night. And have a tremendous tomorrow!

Meanwhile in the less pleasant NHL area of Brooklyn where the Nucks have been outplayed all night they hang around some more. Because their contracts state they must.

With 5 minutes remaining in a game that’s already over there’s another sloppy play (Shock!) behind the Nucks net and Lee steals the puck sends it out front where Tavares, of course, stuffs it past Nilsson. We’re stuffed. Over-stuffed even. With bad words and thoughts in the empty void of a tormented Tuesday NM gamethread.

You want to see the stats from this game? No, you do not. On a happy Twitting note, Virt got more ice time than some and made lots of mistakes - matching his teammates. Nilsson’s SV% was not suitable for revealing. The Isles outshot the Nucks (36-25), out-worked the Nucks (110% - 70%) and won 5-2.

You might be wondering what happened to the Canucks that a few gross games ago could win by 5-2 too. Me too.

Green said it was the brutal room service and exhausting bus rides. As well as...

We had some guys who looked a little tired tonight,” Canuck coach Travis Green said. “We didn’t play quick enough, and when you don’t play quick, you don’t put yourself in position to defend. You don’t take away time and space. We deserved to lose tonight.”

“We just needed to find a little more tonight,” Green continued. “We tried to push in the third … but we can’t play a game and have some guys play a 70-per-cent game. We need everyone to play good, sound hockey and play a quick game. Against a team like this, if you’re not playing a quick game, you don’t get to puck battles quick enough and they’re going to have time and space.”

Bo got some media scrum time to share the what-ifs and stuff...

The road trip to .500 hockey has lost some momentum. And more. Oh well...can’t win them all, but 1 point out of 6 ain’t so bad, is it? No - it’s worse. Why?

Because in two days the Nucks face another team who have a stoopidly impressive home winning record. Heading to Nashville for some new country hockey. At least they’re playing a team from the Western Conference so the time change won’t be as extreme. However, it will be a 4 point game with a conference rival. Just kidding. Meant a future rival - when the rebuilding has finished a full rebuild cycle.

Until then, board the NVL and give the greater NY hockey area the Finger of Destiny salute on our departure.