When the Vancouver Canucks quickly built a 3-0 lead against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday (Oct. 9), it appeared fans were going to see a rerun of last season’s home opener when they blitzed the Edmonton Oilers 8-1. But the Flames had other ideas, as they stormed back and shocked the 2023-24 Pacific Division champs in overtime by a score of 6-5. If not for the heroics of captain Quinn Hughes and JT Miller’s 94.86 mph slapper in the final two minutes, they would have walked away with zero points in the standings. Not exactly a hallmark of a team that is supposed to be a Stanley Cup contender this season (from ‘Vancouver Canucks have the on and off ice talent to be Stanley Cup contenders,’ The Globe and Mail, 10/6/24).
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Full marks to the Flames for putting on their workboots and sticking with it, but the Canucks allowed them to get back into the game with their sloppy and lackadaisical play after the first period. If they had continued to play with pace and speed, they likely would have repeated the feat of a year ago. But alas, that wasn’t the case, and they are now facing questions heading into their second game of the season against John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers, who as we know from last season, bring their lunchpails to every game.
Canucks Need to Get Back to Their Identity
As mentioned, the Canucks dominated the first period against the Flames, building a lead of 3-0 before the game was 13 minutes old. They entered the middle frame with a 4-1 advantage after overwhelming their division rivals with speed and the trademark forechecking that has become a staple of their identity. Their power play was 2/4, Brock Boeser had two goals, and the newbies were on the scoreboard with Daniel Sprong scoring his first (Danton Heinen assisting) and Jake DeBrusk picking up a sweet helper on Boeser’s power play goal. Everything was rosy for the Rogers Arena faithful – until it wasn’t.
The Flames, seemingly motivated by head coach Ryan Huska’s speech in the dressing room, were a different team in the second period. They were the ones dictating the pace of play, aggressively forechecking and putting the Canucks on their heels. They basically flipped the tables and shoved the Canucks’ identity down their throats. Tocchet said it perfectly in his postgame press conference, “We got away from our identity…the play without the puck was not good, that’s a year and a half ago hockey.”
The Canucks are at their best when speed and forechecking are at the center of their game. They have one of, if not the best transitional defenceman in the NHL in Hughes and a lot of quick forwards up and down their lineup this season, so they can definitely play that identity and overwhelm teams with their speed. The key will be doing it for an entire 60 minutes and not letting the other team (in this case, the Flyers) start slowing the game down and limiting their attack.
Better Goaltending & Defence
Another part of the Canucks’ identity last season was good defensive hockey, turning solid defence into potent offence. They were one of the best two-way teams in the NHL, finishing with a goal differential of plus-56. They also only gave up 223 goals, down from 298 the season before. Furthermore, they rarely gave up a lead, going 42-1-4 when they had the advantage going into the third period. In the first game this season, they had a 4-2 lead heading into the final stanza and allowed three unanswered goals to trail 5-4 before Hughes and Miller’s heroics to tie it at five.
Bottom line, the Canucks needed to dig in defensively in the third and didn’t. While you could blame rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs’ difficulty tracking the puck, the fact is, they allowed way too many chances and shots to come his way in the final 40 minutes. In the end, they were outshot 21-9 and outscored 5-1 after the first period. Not good at all, and definitely not a trademark of the team that won 50 games last season. If they want to win tonight, they need to play more like that team rather than the one that ultimately got Bruce Boudreau fired in 2022-23 – no matter who is in the crease.
Watch Out For Matvei Michkov
Turning away from the home opener and onto this one, the Canucks will have to deal with one of the most dynamic rookies in the NHL in Matvei Michkov tonight. He has already burst onto the scene, and he hasn’t played a regular season game yet. In the preseason, he had three goals and seven points in four games, with a few of his tallies being highlight-reel beauties. They can’t allow him to get loose and make his mark on the league at Rogers Arena. We all know the Canucks’ history of giving players their first goal in the NHL, but this cannot be the night that happens for Michkov. I have a feeling one goal will turn into way more given his talent level and goalscoring ability.
The Canucks don’t have a “shutdown” defenceman, so they will have to defend Michkov by committee – possibly by matching JT Miller’s line and the defence pair of Tyler Myers and Carson Soucy against him. They did this against Connor McDavid in the playoffs and were relatively successful. While I am not saying Michkov is McDavid, he has the ability to take over a game, and the Canucks have to be wary whenever he is on the ice.
Canucks Hopefully Learned Their Lesson
If anything, Wednesday’s loss was a good lesson for the Canucks early in the season. They cannot let up even when they have a multi-goal lead. Any team, no matter the talent level or predicted finish in the standings, can beat you on any given night. The Flyers will present a bigger test since they almost made the playoffs last season and have a top sniper capable of breaking open a game. It will be Canucks’ job to have their stars come to play (Elias Pettersson, I am looking at you), and bring their elite two-way game that became a staple of their identity last season. If they can do that, they will be walking away with their first victory of the season.
