GAME RECAP #16: NUCKS WIN! 4TH STRAIGHT LOSS - Get Ducked 5-1

STATUS UPDATE: WORSE THAN EVER BEFORE!

SITREP: EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! EVERYONE TO GET FROM RINK!

If you’re just joining us from the Nucks horrible start last season, you’ll want to know that it wasn’t as horrible as first thought. Even though it was.

The start to this season was not great despite the improved ‘Playoff Bound’ roster. The early losses were mainly 1 goal losses in tight games. All many a few could have gone either way. Most didn’t.

This road trip with a depleted D-force on a D-challenged team exposed so many things. People up north can die from exposure. Like our Nucking playoff hopes.

It’s been a weird synergy of lacking.

Lack of team-D, lack of team scoring and a lack of specialness from Special Teams. The later operating in conjunction with league-sponsored jobbing from the refs - to be fair only at critical junctures when the course of the game was on the line.

That’s a whole lot of lacking for a much improved team. Another element lacking is team cohesion - partially from the Green in-game line blender - and partially because no one seemed to gel with linemates more than a couple shifts. And partially because ²⁄₃ of the 6/49 line were snakebit, shotbit, playbit and so on.

This road trip added more lacking by subtraction. Team confidence. Getting blown-out 2.5 times can do that - hey... only lost by 4 goals tonight, not technically a blow-out according to the strict NM Rules of Disengagement.

You can make your own luck in the game with over-thinking and under-performing. Also known as bad puck luck.

STARK STATS - So Special Department

Getting Killed:

62.3% PK record. Canucks have claimed the league throne for worst PK. Yes, getting Motte back this game helped the PK be perfect over 7 minutes.

165 Penalty Minutes (only less than Kraken and Yotes). Why is it that the worst teams in the division get the most penalties in the league? Just unlucky? Or not playing their defensive systems with intensity and purpose?

Top 3 in number of penalties taken, given or forced to accept. The lack of PK mojo results speak for themselves.

Fucking blow up the pk group... put boeser and petey and huggy on the PK...they’re useless on the PP and the PK squad is useless on the PK so switch it out. — Twitchy

Ok, so our PK is the worst in the league, the worst in Nucking semi-living memory, but the worst part is that Motte hasn’t transformed the worst PK to a mediocre one in a single game.

We’ve asked all the tough questions about the Nucking PK. And the easy ones. And still the freaking refs give us more penalties.

Some say the Nucks PK just needs a solid defensive strategy with some solid practice time to boost their abysmal record.

But what if they already have? And it didn’t help because the PK practices were facing the Nucking PP practice units.

Getting No Power:

102 PP Minutes granted. 98 minutes spent on PP. 15.5% effective. Which looks better than it is. Only 12.5% joy 5-vs-4. 66% euphoria 5-vs-3. So there’s that.

The Nucking power play is in the bottom 8 of the league. Remember when it was in the top 5? Me neither.

The Nucks PP can’t outscore the Nucking PK. That’s not nearly special enough.

5 on 5? They’re great there, right? That’s so last month. On this 19 GA road trip they allowed more 5-v-5 goals than Westy has rum glasses. Clean ones at least.

If it feels like I’m stalling about recapping this latest loss... well... they lost - mainly due to the Duckies going to 2 for 4 on the PP and Nucks going 0 for 1 on their solitary PP of the game. The Ducks are such thugs gentlemen.

The Hot Hoagie

The last forward on the Nucks that still has jump and has the moves - scored the lone goal for the Nucks. Yay!

What a great end-to end rush. Remember when Pete often did that? Me neither.

PETE WATCH: 3 Shots in 3 Road Games. One was pretty pretty. He’s done enough for his 16 game $1.54M fee thus far. Or has he?

The former point-a-game Alien is now looking like a rookie who could do with a few tune-up games in the AHL. Or SHL. Or a pond in Michigan.

It’s terrible to see Pete struggling with his inner demons. And his new yips-stick. Maybe he could tame some demons if he reverted to his old stick. With that stick the puck would stick to his stick until he released the demon shot. Maybe it’s just his wrist injury - took Brock the better part of a season to get his sniper-shot back. Ugh.

And Brock is snakebit, frustrated and not in a good place. We know what that feels like.

Brock got a sweet breakaway from a 100’ Diki pass - beat the unbeatable Gibby with a backhand. But not the bar.

Seems the Nucks are barred from scoring many goals, but permitted to allow lots of goals.

Even if the team is down and listless, the game thread is life-affirming on every shift.

Team isn’t showing any life. Fans are almost absent. This is kind of boring. :(

At least if we were getting absolutely thrashed we could spend time complaining about it but instead it’s got this feel of sort of casually skating around, going through the motions, just blech.. — Raddy

Replay Afternoon

We’re going through the motions of video replays with the 2 Johns. Stop playback after the 1st goal of the game. It might feel like a tiny bit of a win.

GAME STATS (Really? Haven’t we suffered enough?)

	SOG	FO%	PP	PIM	HITS	BLKS	GVA
Canucks VAN	27	45%	0/1	8	24	17	12
Ducks ANA	38	55%	2/4	2	22	10	11

OUT-SHOTTED COUNT (Shots only count when we say they do)

PLAYER STATS (Just look at Nils)

dePRESSERS

Motte returns to save the PK. Almost, kinda sort of. Still great to see him back - within [redacted] games he will revive the killer instinct in penalty killing.

Myers has been solid this season, on this road trip... next question, please.

Is this the last night in the Green room?

A nicely routine loss to end it.

Honestly, if I were Trav, I’d just graciously resign at the press conference, say you’ve done what you can but it’s time for another person at the helm. Then thank everybody for their service, and the team for its trust in him. Close by saying you hope to head coach again in the future, then walk into the Anaheim air and stay put for a month, not answering the phone.

[I’m sure this is Mrs. Travis’s opinion on the subject. And his three kids’.] — copey

Trav didn’t resign in the presser. Trav isn’t getting fired. Yet. JB would be next on the firing line if the next coach couldn’t pull the Nucks out this horrible slump - or worse, made the slump worse. Remember, as a Nucks fan, there is no bottom and it can always get worse.

With the end of this hideous road trip we can feel relief. Or disbelief. Or just numbness.

Nucks are back in the ROG on Wednesday. We know that home games are better. For the Nucks. For us.

Let’s cling to that little shred of false hope and carry it all way the down to False Creek. Where the Nucks can drown it for us.