Recap: Nucks WIN! (Nothing) - Goal Faeries Let Buff Have 4 for Nothing

This was an easy win for the Canucks. Everyone in the preview thread said so. Buffalo are the 2nd worst team in the league. We’re only the 4th worst. Simple ranking math tells us we win. And so did Westy:

Buffalo comes into town after sweeping both games in Alberta. But don’t let the games fool you, the Sabres suck. Also, Buffalo hasn’t won in Vancouver in almost 7 years. Have I jinx the Canucks enough yet?

Yes, that would seem to be enough. But...just in case...

Either the Canucks are too easy to play against at home or NM SPWers are still taunting the fickle middle finger of the Score Faeries.

Or the Nucks just thought they could coast into the first period unconcerned that the Goals For quota may have been exhausted last Tuesday.

Still...at least two of the goals against were on Westy. Check the game thread for official blame verification.

Let’s move on from the blame game, before Westy reads the rest of my recap.

To the highlight of the game. The pregame section specifically.

1st Period

The first Canucks goal wasn’t scored.

The first Buffalo goal was.

Scored by Sam Reinhart on a backhand. It wasn’t a gentlemanly play. Loui protested this loutish puck possessiveness by waving his stick in Sam’s direction as if to say, “Hey...don’t make me look bad, I had 3 points last game”.

Like the other Nucks, Loui did not want to engage Sam physically or otherwise be a bother to the visiting team in a game that is won by genteel gallantry and force of diplomatic negotiations. With a minimum of effort expended.

And so....the Nucks get off to a poor start and make up for it by being soft on the puck, slow on the skates while throwing an ungentlemanly 2 hits.

And the Game Chase was on...

2nd Period

The first Canucks goal wasn’t scored.

The second Buffalo goal was.

Jake’s no-look pass was a clever play. At the wrong place. At the wrong time. To the wrong player. 3 wrongs don’t make a good decision.

But, did lead to Buffalo’s 2nd goal.

The Jake Brake was applied to the Canucks momentum.

And the Game Chase continued at a renewed line-mixed-up pace.

3rd Period

The first Canucks goal wasn’t scored.

The third Buffalo goal was. On the Buffalo power play. On a tap-in from a Softie™ shot from the point that trickled softly through Marky to lie softly on the goal line until an unmolested Okposo tapped it in, softly.

The fourth Buffalo goal was scored. On a freak of a short-handed empty net in the final 2 minutes.

And we’re still waiting for the first Canucks goal.

Enjoy the highlights from our 5th shutout loss this season.

The one home game winning streak was so much fun. How it ended, not so much.

The Ups and Downs are expected during our extended rebuild phase. Sure, it’s a little jarring when the ups and downs are so starkly different, but is it asking so much to have more than one two game home winning streak per season?

Tonight, Hank’s 31 game goal drought ties his 2003 arid goal record. Hasn’t scored at home in a year. At least he is still shipping apples during the drought.

Marky’s .880 SV% was down slightly from last game’s .938 SV%. Last game he outplayed one of the league’s premiere goalies. This game was outplayed one of the league’s not-quite-premiere goalies. Because the Canucks probably made Lehner’s shutout the easiest of of his three this season.

45 minutes should be enough for anybody. In Las Vegas.

But, not in the Green room. Travis was still figuring out how to clean the emotional mud off, without flinging mud around the presser.

This was the game that explains why Double D is sorely missed - Dorsett rarely took a night off. Other than the last 20+. How flat the energy curve was at the start of the game is tough to explain. All-Star break jitters? Big win hangover? Or to celebrate Mental Health Awareness with #HockeyTalks the Nucks drove us crazy?

Or, more likely, Westy’s ridiculous pregame SPW points offer.

Oh well. At least we take the All-Star break on a high. The break started Wednesday btw. It did for the Nucks, why not us fans?

Enjoy your All-Star No-Hit Hockey weekend! Will be fun to watch Brock getting 3 to 30 goals in a single game.

NM’s full frontal coverage will resume next Tuesday when the Avs are here to lose another game after winning 10 of their last 11.

Have a happy real-hockey-free weekend and a tremendous next week.