GAME RECAP #10: NUCKS WIN!!! No Really. Drop Rags 3-2 in Miller Time

Wow! So this is what a win on home ice looks like. Feels like it’s been more than a year since we’ve seen one. Because it’s over year since we saw the Nucks win in the ROG - March 2020 for those still in lockdown.

Pre-game, the precogs in the game thread had no worries.

Guaranteed win... — Twitchy

We never doubted the Nucks when they went down 1 goal 2 goals in the 2nd.

damn.. going to win the “That was so close!” game again today too? — Raddy

Well...

and again.. — Raddy

But, only a couple more times, until the Comeback Kids reap the Garland reward.

THE GOOD

Demmer is the gutsiest one handed goalie in the division league.

Good thing for the life-expectancy of the refs the rags didn’t score on that makeup call PP sequence.

It’s finally Miller Time in the ROG - with a great setup from Garland and Pete. The 1st 5-on-5 goal in way too many games. But not the last.

Garland takes a smart feed from Myers and Podz ziings it into the net. Cue the rocking ROG.

After Thatcher ‘the Scorpion’ kept the tie into OT, Miller’s breaks-away to the bank of ROG hysteria with his two thirds of a hattie.

J.T. extends his winning record over his former employers to 8-0.

And helped restore faith in Nucks life, the game and the universe.

Dang, this game of hockey is much more enjoyable when the team actually, you know, plays as well as they should or something. — Raddy

THE SO NOT GOOD

Nucks PK was not good early, but late in the 3rd saved NucksNation from extreme drinking games.

Poolman gets the tip on Panarrin’s soft shot on the PK. Not so good.

Giving up 2 early goals and trailing by 2 going into the 3rd is a pattern that worried the game thread - not just about the Nucks, but the game itself.

hockey sucks :( — Raddy

Nucks went 160 min without a 5 on 5 goal. That is a very long time. Some might say way too long. And they’d be correct.

Brock didn’t have a good game. Had 3 shifts and 2:50 in the 3rd. That’s ok, because Garland took up the slack.

THE FUGLY

The Nucking PP had 6 chances at futility. Even tho his job was saved tonight, we could still fire Green on a technical fault. Such a big fault. Get Garland on PP1 for FFS! He knows how to create havoc. Lose the static easy to defend setup. Put Chase on PP3.

Sure, the PP got looked better as the game went on... but PP practices are like that. Only needed another 4-6 calls before a sure goal.

Nucks have gone 24 minutes without a PP goal. Wait until 30 at your peril Nucks special teams braintrust. Nucks have too much talent up front to be wasted on a static display of momentum loss.

GAME STATS (that escalated quickly - not real quick, but still...)

	SOG	FO%	PP	PIM	HITS	BLKS	GVA
Rangers NYR	25	48%	2/5	12	24	18	2
Canucks VAN	36	52%	0/6	10	24	12	5

SHOTTLED COUNTS (Ignore the PP - like the Nucks did)

PLAYER STATS (Pete, Garland & Millsie the new 849 line)

BEST Video Recap of the night

TEAM TALK

Team Stache at the mic. They stashed it real good on the night.

Demmmmmers!!! Sustaining NucksNation bare-handed.

Over in the (tentative) job security Green room, the mood is much more desirable than ever before.

Nucks are definitely making the playoffs. Win 1 home game in 4 is all it takes. We can discuss this using stupid math formulas, but we’re gonna just savour this FIRST Home WIN of the year. For a couple hours.

What looked like certain doom for us, the team and possibly Green, was turned back by the daring move from Trav putting Garland with Pete and Miller. Daring? You decide.

Not in 37 years has a Canucks team lost 4 in a row at home. If they had lost tonight, that little twinkle of Nucking hope we had could have been crushed. For decades.

So... no big deal. But a huge freaking pivotal game in the Nucks march to 500. And (possibly) beyond.

Pete is playing better - his defensive zone stick check in OT led to JT’s goal. So good defensive play that leads to scoring chances at the other end is the EP know. And desperately need.

The 849 line looked sharp - Miller is a great leader when he leads with his effort and play. Maybe next game we whisper to him that Nashville is fully (not) owned subsidiary of NY.

A great gutsy comeback win. Couple games late, but still... with that fully engaged 3rd period, the Nucks need to build to fully engaged 1st and 2nd periods. That includes elephant on the ice. The seemingly never-changing, easy to defend Nucking PP1.

Since the Nucking HQ reads NM comments looking for answers - or should be looking everywhere - please leave some suggested options to making the 1st unit the scoring threat we know is lurking in the sticks of young men and their staches.

If the Nucks had scored on just 2 of their 6 power plays, it would have made victory more certain. And so much earlier. It’s fun to watch an entertaining comeback in the 3rd and OT win. You know what else is entertaining?

A home win streak assisted by a creative and effective power play.