NUCKS Win! 1st Period. Lose 3-2 in SO

Ok, fine, ruin our dinner plans with a late afternoon game. Thanks NHL schedulers. Not that we mind playing road games. But, would it be so bad to play them a little closer to home? Like Hope.

And in hope, we were hoping the extravagant goal quota that the goal gods granted the Nucks on Friday could travel with the team. Not to be. The Run ‘n Gun movement didn’t get a permit from Detroit.

Oh well. It’s a big day for American democracy, such as it is, but just another afternoon game for the unelected leaders of the NM gamethread. A game without Brock, because his nagging groin injury was nagging louder after the cheapshot crosscheck from the Avs’ douchemonkey Calvert.

No worries. We have our shutdown guy back on the blueline. Tanev was released from the fluffy faery captivity centre and made his 2nd debut on Motor City ice. Playing against a team that has been idling roughly in 29th place so far.

Easy victory for our fast ‘n furious road game warriors. For the first 20 minutes.

1st Period

The Canucks played a near perfect road game opening period. Out shooting, out possessing and out giving away the Wings throughout the period.

At one point the Nucks had put 15 shots on goal with Howard stopping them all. All but one. One with a net meeting with destiny.

Play started in the Nucks end, where Elias helps our defenders to clear the puck and EP zips up ice to receive a nice pass from our million dollar per assist assistant, Loui.

EP skates in on Howard who is positioned perfectly to stop the shot. A shot, maybe. Not a Dekey Pete rocket. The slow windup and instant rubber bullet shot blew over Howard’s glove, plunked and dented the post and down into a rippling net of 10 goals in 10 games.

Wow! So much wow. Earlier in the day, Green was telling the media he’d never seen as complete a player as Pete. Neither have we.

The Nucks were given a powerplay in the period. But they weren’t given Brock to play on the powerplay, so it was more of dis-empowered play - the Wings had 5 or 6 guys on Pete during most of it too. Which is weird, since they were supposed to be be short-handed.

Still it was the perfect road 1st period. Outshot Detroit 17 to 7. A season high shot count for a single period - broke last Friday’s record of 14. With more shots come more goals. It’s a well known axiom. We just needed Howard to brush up on his well known axioms.

Ok, not quite perfect road period, as the Nucks gave 8 giveaways versus the Wings 2. But, if you have the puck more often, there’s more chances to give it away.

Anyhow... the important thing is we won the game. The most important part of a road game. Only part of a road game worth reading about.

Thanks for Reading!

2nd Period

In the second, the Wings started to get their home wings on and played a much better period. Didn’t look like a 29th place team at all. More 18th-19th. Or better.

No matter. Even if Howard has found the zone and doesn’t drink the water in Flint, neither does Hutton. His wrister from the point trickles through player after player and trickles between Howard’s open pads. Boom!

Just a theory - but if Howard can’t see the shot or the puck, the net cam can. While the Nucks would try to keep Howard from seeing their magic puck on a string tricks, they didn’t pull off anymore magic.

And the game, or at least my re-telling of it, took a turn for the worse.

How much worse? Real worse. In the worst way. No more Pete goals tonight. *sigh* No more Nucks goals at all. Oooph.

You’d think that when Detroit’s manipulative coach protested the goal for an offside that allegedly occurred 32 seconds earlier and was ruled nope, the resulting Nucks PP would power goals past Howard. Nope. Don’t think about it.

Without Brock to help us off the lowly number plain, the Nucks are stuck at 2 and it’s a horrible plateau to be stranded on.

How horrible? So horrible that the opponent can climb up there with just a couple goals of their own.

Do I have to show you? Yes I do, because it’s pucksational cruelty afternoon in the NM gamethread. Stupid tradition. And even Westy left early in protest. And leaving early in an afternoon game is a strong protest.

Those stoic keyboard typists or touchscreen screamers that remained behind witnessed something no one should have to experience. A failed Nucks PK.

It’s an unspoken part of the code. If our powerplay can’t score, no one else’s can. Our vaunted 5th 8th 9th ranked PK is impenetrable. And then it wasn’t. Not fair.

And the period’s shot count favoured the home team too, 11 - 7. Great. Stuck in a game with an obvious goal quota in play, the Nucks have to suffer through a shot shortage too.

At least, we’re still winning. Leading 2-1 after 2. Won two thirds of the road game. That’s not so bad.

3rd Period

No, the bad part happens in the 3rd. Why is it that the bad things happen in the 3rd? Why can’t we just keep the lead and our reckless road rogue narrative going? Why?

Don’t know. Maybe it’s because we’re bad fans. Or just bad afternoon game fans. Yes, that’s it. Put it all on the NHL schedulers.

And the Wings. Some of the blame goes on the Wings. They have a couple sneaky dirty pool shot players. Nyquist is Stech’s bank shot night afternoon terror.

I don’t want to show the shot. It was cheap and unfair. And tres clever. That’s what makes it so unfair. Watch it with your eyes closed. To match your mind. I did. And it almost worked.

And that’s the only goal of the period. One freakin’ goal. What kind of juicy exciting back ‘n forth narrative does that give us. The shrivelled and dried up kind.

And so...the game ends in a tie.

Thanks for reading even more!

The Nucks outshot the cheap bank shot artists 14-11. It was our game to win. Just ask most in the SPW thread. Winning in regulation by a large number of goals was the majority vote. And they call the USA a democracy.

OT

And...yup...the Nucks goal drought continues despite Pete’s trick shot. A shot so tricky it pinged off the crossbar and... out. Dammit.

SO

Marky and shootouts aren’t his favourite things. Last season, the Nucks were 0 for 5 in the SO. Ooooh. But, this season they’re 1 for 1. That’s good. But now they’re 1 for 2. Not so good. Larkin scored the only goal in skillz round. Not even Pete or Bo could beat Howard.

Here’s the video evidence - stop it after the 1st goal. Because 1st goals wins. That’s all you need to know.

Both goalies were really good. Marky ended with a .933 SV%, on 30 shots, but Howard ended with a stupid stingy .952 SV%.

The Nucks put 42 shots (another record this season), 42 on Howard, but needed 60 to make sure. Dammit.

They say stealing a point on the road is worth two at home. Sure, I believe them. But, let’s wait until the goal accountants get home to verify it.

Not a horrible game, just...disappointing after the best game of the year last Friday.

But enough of my whining about what could have been, let’s hear from the two goal scorers. Yeah, just the two.

A long road trip. In the eastern block. Probably filled with more late afternoon games too.

But, let’s hear from our #1 rookie star.

Pete made some great passes and played a full 200 foot game and was given a slippy puck by the officials in the shootout. Not fair.

And yes, Pete is correct about the powerplay. Needs to be better. And it will. In time.

But, there’s no time. Like the present. If the powerplay is effective on the road, then road games usually have a better ending. And we need that.

Not just for my selfish needs to finish a recap with a compelling narrative that inspires NucksNation to watch the next stupid late afternoon game. Played in some dark and dingy eastern block hovel of a rink. Can they not afford full lighting systems at these eastern rinks or is it true all the players in the conference eat more carrots?

Either way, we have to endure another road game in the darkest dingiest arena on earth. In a place so full of asshatting fans that we can’t even bearly mention the boos, urns and loathing that wells up in our collective Nuckalated psyche.

Oh well. It’s only a game. A game played in the freakin’ afternoon. 4PM PST - Note that’s standard time - which isn’t really a standard at all - only a dark anomaly for 4 months.

Enjoy your wild Wednesday and a splendid tea time on Thursday.