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GAME RECAP #62: NUCKS WIN - A HORRIBLE MUST WIN GAME LOSS! Get Winged 1-0

Must score first in Must WIN games

By jimmi.cynic
/ new
NHL: Detroit Red Wings at Vancouver Canucks
.971 Demmers with the loss?! That’s not right
Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

Imagine you’re watching a team desperate to win - a team with a longshot to make the dance - playing at home against a bottom-feeding eastern team.

Imagine that desperate team can’t seem to play fast and hard and get the 1st goal of the game in the 1st.

Then imagine the bottom-feeder team gets a fluke goal in the 2nd - the first and only goal of the game - a fluke goal off of Huggie’s stick - during a Nucking PP!

Ok, don’t imagine that.

Let’s imagine your Nucking team came out in the 1st and scored 2. Came out in the 2nd and scored 2. And score another 2 in the 3rd.

You don’t have to imagine that - just read this recap and skip this one.

In this game, the Nucks played lazy in the 1st and Demmers bailed them out.

Bo and JT played great last game - had an off night - needed another Nuck to step up. No other Nucks could step that far up. Garland tried, but that was a step too high.

To be fair, the ‘arrogant’ Nucks had already won this game pre-game. That’s the power of arrogance.

Bruce doesn’t believe arrogance wins hockey games - effort and focus, not lazy casual play. The Tuesday Nucks had their hard forecheck game going. But casual St. Patty Thursdays... not so much.

Despite not winning puck battles, despite not making clean passes, despite poor defensive gaps, despite getting out-chanced, we knew when the Nucks got on the PP mid 3rd, that all would be redeemed with a goal.

However, the Winged goalie had the Nucks number - and the 0 for 3 Nucking PP couldn’t hang in the dirty areas up close in the goalie cage craw.

This offensive travesty was made worse by wasting another stellar game from Demko.

See own foot. Shoot own foot. 43 times.

This was an undisciplined loss with lots of loose playing, lack of backchecking, and so on. Look for a far tighter effort against Calpuke. — copey2

Oh well... going 500 at home isn’t so bad.

If you enjoy golfing more than hockey.

LAZY VIDEO EVIDENCE OF LAZY HOCKEY

Not even the 2 Johns can find some good Nucking goal highlights.

GAME STATS (Ugh. Just Ugh)

SOG FO% PP PIM HITS BLKS GVA
Red Wings
DET
 35 47% 0/1 16 25 16 5
Canucks
VAN
 43 53% 0/3 2 18 16 10

SHOTS (why bother)

Period DET VAN
1st 18 12
2nd 13 17
3rd 4 14
Total 35 43

PLAYER STATS (no points for no one - streak over JT)

# Forwards GP G A P P +/- S PIM PIM SOG HITS BLKS GVA TKA FO% TOI PP TOI SH TOI PP GW
6 B. Boeser 0 0 0 0 -1 2 0 2 1 1 0 2 19:57 4:26 --:-- 0
7 N. Petan 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 11:21 0:20 --:-- 0
8 C. Garland 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 8 1 0 1 2 20:15 0:19 --:-- 0
9 J.T. Miller 0 0 0 0 -1 4 0 4 3 1 0 1 58 21:53 5:54 0:54 0
15 M. Highmore 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 3 0 0 100 8:21 0:06 0:33 0
39 A. Chiasson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11:12 --:-- 0:05 0
40 E. Pettersson 0 0 0 0 -1 6 0 6 2 0 1 0 55 21:39 5:27 0:34 0
53 B. Horvat 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 58 21:38 5:26 0:37 0
64 T. Motte 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 13:12 0:11 0:46 0
70 T. Pearson 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 16:37 1:27 --:-- 0
91 J. Lammikko 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 36 8:54 0:13 0:32 0
92 V. Podkolzin 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 13:20 --:-- --:-- 0
# Defense GP G A P P +/- S PIM PIM SOG HITS BLKS GVA TKA FO% TOI PP TOI SH TOI PP GW
2 L. Schenn 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 12:44 --:-- 1:09 0
23 O. Ekman-Larsson 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 2 0 19:54 0:17 0:50 0
27 T. Hamonic 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 15:03 --:-- --:-- 0
43 Q. Hughes 0 0 0 0 -1 4 0 4 0 1 0 2 27:24 5:43 1:01 0
57 T. Myers 0 0 0 0 -1 2 0 2 1 2 1 2 21:36 0:03 0:59 0
77 B. Hunt 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 15:06 0:08 --:-- 0
# Goalies GP REC GA SV SA S EV PP SH SAVE-SHOTS SV% PIM TOI GAA
35 T. Demko -- 34 35 32–33 1–1 1–1 34–35 .971 0 57:39

DE-PRESSERING

Great to see Pete back on the ice. Woulda been better to see him hit the net.

Bruce wasn’t singling out a single player for sloppy play (Brock, OEL), because he had just enough fiery words for the entire team - but Demmers.

Casually arrogant? Or arrogantly casual?

The season’s Motown 2-step ends without a single win over a bottom feeder. Ouch.

That’s gotta hurt. It did at the beginning of the end of the JB/Green era and hurts even more now in the beginning of the beginning of the Bruce/JR/Alvin era.

this game

ug — Raddy

Oh well... could be worse... how so?

At least we’re standings counting - which in early December, no one, other than Westy, dreamed was possible in March. Oh wait, Westy was never going to call the Nucks at the dance.

Oh well... we’re not out of the math pool yet. But, damn! Speedo is getting really tight.

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