NUCKS WIN! (1 Goal) Lose Game 4-1 to Blues

It’s the 2nd night of a back-to-back and the gamethread expectations were running high low on empty. Because it’s the 2nd night, Nillie got the start. And had to live with the finish.

Worse. We in the gamethread had to watch the unravelling begin early and ruin the gourmet dinner that the NM Catering Department had spent weeks preparing. Preparing to tell us that they’d no longer be preparing gamethread dinners during garbage time. Unless there are better dumpster diving options provided by the league.

For some teams that have 90% of the roster with them on the road, the second night can be rewarding. The Nucks are not one of those teams. Instead, with our limited roster selection, the 2nd of a B-to-B is best approached with dread.

Tonight was no exception. If the start had been better, the middle stronger, the ending super-sized the Nucks minus 8 regulars might have surprised. Or at least we would have seen Brock score his 38th goal. Or 49th. Oh...what might have been if the Faeries would just stay inside the looking glass for 70-82 games.

Anyhow...there’s a recap to trudge through, might as well get our blue suede knickers knotted now.

In the first minute a few things happened. The game started. And... the game ended. The Blues record when leading after the first is pretty dismal. For us.

46 seconds in Berglund lofts a backhand over the 4’8” Vancouver goalie for a Noftie. Or a partial Noftie. Whatever. Inauspicious start to the game.

In the period, Nucks threw 12 shots on Allen and he threw them all back. The Blues only put 4 on Nilsson and he only put 3 back.

1-zip Blues after 1.

The real good statline for the visitors to the city of arches. Or it just the single arch? No matter. Nucks were 100% on the PK - disrupting both Blues power plays. The legendary top 10 Nucks power play didn’t get any chances. That’s not a bad thing...as we’ll soon see.

Trailing only by one goal going into the second isn’t the worst thing.

No, the worst thing is getting your own power play early on, when a single blueline bobble has the game’s opening goal scorer score the opening goal of the 2nd short-handed. That’s two on the night for the goal Berg.

The gamethread took the news well.

Harrumph!

One shot on net during the PP, and it was on the wrong net.

by Thursday on Mar 23, 2018 | 6:12 PM

No matter. We’ve come back from worse. Not in recent memory, sure, but there’s still almost 2 periods of tough slogging to wade through. Anything’s possible. Possibly.

And then the center ice clog fog opened and we had brief glimpse of roadside Sedinery with rarely seen, but in distant memories, a Gags goal!

Not a power play goal, but an apres power play one. It counts! Yay! Sure, we might get beaten on this roadtrip, but we won’t be shutout! So far.

And that concludes the Nucks goal-scoring blitz for the night. Thanks for keeping awake this far into the recap.

Period ends the way it started. Behind. Playing from behind. The Nucks having learned the futility of outshooting the opponent in the first, conserved their road-weary shot shooters and restricted their shots to 4.

Just 4 shots, but...1 goal. Imagine if they could get a goal for every 4 shots. Ok, it’s far too late in the season for such dreaming. Meanwhile the Blues put 11 on Nillie and got 1 goal. If you can make sense of the shots-to-goal ratio please write your local theoretical physicist with the fancy axioms.

2-1 Blues and nothing to play for. Much. Yet, the game must grind on...because NHL rules.

Down by one starting the third isn’t the best winning strategy for the road team. Still.... could be worse. And then it was.

A mere, a scant 14 seconds in and it’s 3-1. What? How? When? 14 seconds in - read the first sentence of the paragraph.

It’s the how this Blues goal actually got in, that’s the disturbing puzzling thing. After the puck leaves Tarasenko’s stick it has the password to the draw bridge and Nillie’s right pad automatically obeys and opens the gate to the goal. Or something. Here’s a gif. You figure it out.

Never a shortage of expletive words to explain the inexplicable, the gamethread erupted with...

What the

Everfuxkingloveshit was that!!!!

by Chicky on Mar 23, 2018 | 6:59 PM

And the...

Hoo, boy.

I am not seeing how Nilsson finishes his contract here.

by Thursday on Mar 23, 2018 | 7:00 PM

At least the Blue didn’t score anymore goals and the game ended with just a **sigh**

Or did it? No, it didn’t. It got tragicomedy or comagicedy or just real weird.

First, Stech’s stick is stolen. There are no on-ice police to police these sorts of thefts, so play continues. And...stop me if you’ve heard something like this before...the Blues score another goal. Or as the gamethread revealed...

Nice work from Jaskin to pull the stick out of Stecher’s hand. I assume that was what he was annoyed about.

by Canta on Mar 23, 2018 | 7:34 PM

To add comic sympathetic jersey justice, Nillie makes a stop by trapping the puck inside his jersey.

Nillie

Swallowing the puck now. Better late than never

by jimmi.cynic on Mar 23, 2018 | 7:35 PM

Finally...in the final 50 seconds of the game, the Nucks are granted a last moment chance to get 3 goals on one powerplay. And those seconds went zipping by without a zippy goal.

Blues get the valuable, to them, 2 points and the Nucks minus 8 players roster get the valuable lesson about road back-to-back games. The lesson was about something and then something else. Speaking of something else...those 3 shots by the Nucks in the 3rd - they were something else. Two consecutive periods and a combined 7 shots.

The second night of B-2-B games an issue? Nah. The Blues are just that good, being the best team in the division, which is why they’re in...uh...9th place.

Final tallies:

• STL 4 VAN 1
• Shots: STL 25 VAN 20 (at least they hit double digits in the first)
• Hits: VAN 17 STL 12
• Power Play: VAN 0/3 STL 0/3
• Nilsson SV% .840 (Ouch)

We’ll just have the gamethread summarise the game, because I’m all out of words and excuses.

Two goals in the first minute of play in two periods; one goal on a shorthanded breakaway shot from past the circles. That… not great.

I know the Canucks are a high-incident team, but it’s going to be nicer when the talent level catches up to the playing style. 8-)

by Thursday on Mar 23, 2018 | 7:07 PM

And in the tradition of keeping Tanev healthy when he returns from a long spell with the Faeries...uh-huh...gets hurt again and leaves the game. More faerie time? Tune in later to find out.

At least we got a goal and that means we get to hear about this 150th Gags order.

So...because it’s a road loss..a Sedin must speak to us. (Who will speak for them next year?)

Painful to watch the Sedins explain the pain so many times these past few many seasons. Deserved better ‘golden years’ in the league than what the Nucks have supplied. I blame Mr A. If only he had bought another dozen (or two) NHL teams and gutted them, we’d be watching Cup run after Cup run, year after year.

And that’s it. Road trip is over and the guys can rest up and think about booking tee times.

And...that’s not it. Instead, the road trip is going to mess with/in Texas. Nucks twinkle the twine for the Stars in Dallas on Sunday. 4PM PDT start time, so probable early indigestion for Sunday dinner.

Tune in and tune out. Have a scatological Scaturday and a SuperSundae!