Burning it to the Ground: Reliving the post-2011 Cup loss Canucks

[CanuckJohnny]

Statistics through two rounds

[CanuckJohnny]

Round 3 Game 1

Canucks 2 @ Blackhawks 1 (2OT)
(Vancouver leads series 1-0)

A rematch of last year's conference finals, which Chicago won en route to their Stanley Cup win. Patrick Kane returns to the lineup for the Hawks. Both teams were playing tight defensive hockey through one period, with the shots 8-6 for the hometown Blackhawks. Ryan Stanton and Jake Muzzin had a fight, as this rivalry is already firing on all cylinders. Kane shook off the rust in the second, firing a nice pass to Jonathan Toews who snapped it in past Markstrom for the lead. It was looking like Vancouver's offense would be frustrated against Corey Crawford (who already has 5 shutouts this postseason) when Captain Henrik tied the game with twenty four seconds in the period. The third period saw Chicago press a bit, but Markstrom held them off and we would go to overtime with Chicago leading the shots 26-20 but the scoreboards all even at one apiece. The first overtime saw continued solid goaltending and nobody broke through as the hero. Vancouver came out much more assertively in the second overtime, drawing a penalty thirty seconds in and controlling the play until their fifth shot of the period (to zero for Chicago) found the back of the net as unlikely hero Patrick Zackrisson banged in a goal in a scrambly net front scrum on a fourth line energy shift. Vancouver takes game one on the road in double overtime! The Blackhawks got some physicality out of Frolik (5 hits, including three big ones) and Pirri (six hits, including two big ones). Hamhuis played a solid game, with two shots, four blocks, two hits and a takeaway in thirty five minutes. Damien Brunner looked rough with five giveaways. Patrick Kane looked every bit his electrifying self in his return, with four shots on goal, a hit and a two takeaways to go with his assist. Crawford made 29 saves in the loss, while his counterpart Jacob Markstrom made 33 saves.

Rangers 2 @ Red Wings 3
(Detroit leads series 1-0)

Brad Richards scored on the powerplay in the first from Scheifele and Gaborik to give the Blueshirts an early lead. Detroit tied it up in the second on a Brad Stuart goal (from Franzen and Nielsen). After Xavier Ouellet gave the Red Wings a third period lead (Helm, Franzen), it was Mark Scheifele who tied it back up for the Rangers with his seventh goal of the playoffs (Callahan, Alzner). With five minutes to play Val Filppula scored the game winner from Tatar and Matt Greene. Mrazek looked good with 27 saves on 29 shots, while Henrik Lundqvist looked mediocre by his standards, stopping 29 of 32 in the losing cause. Tomas Tatar had an assist and five shots on net as well as a near perfect defensive game.

[CanuckJohnny]

Round 3 Game 2

Canucks 1 @ Blackhawks 0
(Vancouver leads series 2-0)

What a difference a year makes! After getting slaughtered in last year's conference finals, Vancouver has turned the tables on Chicago with two road wins to start the series. An incredible, cohesive defensive effort held the dynamic Hawks to 20 shots, and Markstrom did the rest, stopping all twenty to earn the shutout. Dan Hamhuis' powerplay maker midway through the second frame stood as the only goal of the game. Andrew Shaw fought Dale Weise in the second, putting the series at three fights through two games. These rivals don't like each other much. P.K. Subban played a noticably good game, taking five shots on goal, being credited with a blocked shot, throwing three hits and getting a takeaway as well. Duncan Keith played a solid game for Chicago with a shot, three hits and two takeaways in twenty three minutes.

Rangers 1 @ Red Wings 7
(Detroit leads series 2-0)

Henrik Lundqvist has gone from looking like the best goalie in the league through two rounds to being shell shocked by a potent Red Wings offense. They seem to have his number, and after the sixth goal he was finally chased in favour of backup Rick DiPietro. King Henrik saved only 21 of 27 shots, while Petr Mrazek saved 27 of 28 between the pipes for Detroit. Tatar scored first (Sheahan, Ouellet) for the Wings, and Stepan answered (Zuccarello, Dubinsky) within two minutes for the Rangers as we looked to be having another close back and forth game. In the final five minutes of the first the wheels started to come off for Lundqvist and the Rangers though, with Filppula (Stuart, Tatar) and Nyquist (Zetterberg, Datsyuk) scoring to give Detroit a clear advantage. Zetterberg (Stuart, Nyquist) and Franzen (Stuart, Porter) added to the lead in the second and Sheahan scored twice in the third (Datsyuk)(Tatar, Filppula) as the Wings ran away with it. New York looks to come home and bounce back with a strong effort in game three to get back into the series.

[CanuckJohnny]

Round 3 Game 3

Blackhawks 2 @ Canucks 3
(Vancouver leads series 3-0)

The Canucks had another very solid defensive effort, allowing only 19 shots the entire game and never trailing. After Marchessault opened the scoring with his seventh of the playoffs Patrick Sharp tied it up. In the second period, Henrik's seventh of the postseason gave the Canucks the lead. Ryan Kesler added an insurance marker early in the third which would turn into the game winner when Patrick Sharp's second of the game, shorthanded, brought Chicago to within one. Markstrom held strong through the remaining six minutes to achieve victory and move to within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2011. P.K. Subban was a force, with three shots, plus one, two blocks, five hits and a takeaway. For the Hawks, Sharp not only scored their only two goals of the game, he also got two hits and two takeaways in only thirteen minutes of icetime. Kevin Hayes, the postseason leader in goals, has yet to score in this series and Chicago will need to see him return to the form he showed in the first two rounds if they want to make the improbable comeback in this series.

Red Wings 1 @ Rangers 2
(Detroit leads series 2-1)

The current leading scorer of the playoffs is Gus Nyquist, coming into this game with five goals and eleven assists. He opened the scoring on the powerplay, assisted of course by Datsyuk and Zetterberg. In the second, Derek Stepan evened it up (Dubinsky, Staal). Midway through the third Nyquist took a hooking minor and Callahan capitalized on the powerplay, assisted by Anisimov, to give the Rangers the lead, which they would hold onto to win their first game of the series. Lundqvist had a bounce back performance after being pulled in game 2, saving 33 of 34 shots en route to victory. Kronwall threw four hits and blocked three shots and played an overall stellar defensive game in twenty three minutes of icetime. Zetterberg took three shots on goal, also played amazing defensively, with three takeaways, a hit and a blocked shot. Nyquist attempted nine shots, seven of them on goal. Marc Staal was plus one with two hits and two takeaways for New York.

[CanuckJohnny]

Round 3 Game 4

Blackhawks 1 @ Canucks 2
(Vancouver wins series 4-0)

P.K. Subban, who's been relatively quiet offensively all playoffs, opens the scoring in the first on a fourth line shift. It was incredibly tight defensively in the first, with the Canucks mustering only six shots and Chicago only four. In the second things opened up a bit and eventually Andrew Shaw beat Markstrom for the equalizer. In a fairly locked down third period which looked like it could head to overtime, the Canucks third line had an attacking zone shift where Bozak dug out a puck and moved it to Brunner, who sent it to Muzzin on the point for the one timer goal past Crawford! Things got chippy at the end, with Bertuzzi and a frustrated Toews exchanging slashes, and Vancouver would hold on to win it. A year ago they were swept by the Blackhawks in the conference finals, tonight they completed the sweep to get back into the Finals. It's a good day for an exorcism! Third pairing defenseman Shawn Lalonde had a decent defensive game for the Hawks, with 4 blocks, three hits and a takeaway in sixteen minutes. Besides his goal, P.K. Subban had a block, a hit and six shots on net in twenty five minutes.

Red Wings 3 @ Rangers 1
(Detroit leads series 3-1)

In the first period it was Tomas Tatar who opened the scoring (his 7th of the postseason) on a play from Meszaros and Datsyuk. The lead was extended by Darren Helm's first of the playoffs (from Zetterberg and Kronwall) in the second frame. Ryan Callahan drew the Blueshirts to within one (Gaborik, Sauer) before the period ended. Abdelkader took an ill advised slashing penalty for the Rangers at the close of the period though, and Riley Sheahan scored his eighth on the ensuing powerplay (Nielsen, Porter) to give Detroit some insurance. They wouldn't need it, playing solid defense and seeing good netminding for Petr Mrazek, who finished the night with 33 saves as Detroit moves to within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Kronwall had an awesome night, going plus two with an assist, a shot, three blocks, three hits and a takeaway in twenty four minutes on the ice. Nyquist was held off the scoreboard but still managed five shots on goal, a hit and two takeaways. Callahan had a goal, three shots and five hits for New York. Gaborik had eight shot attempts (five on goal) an assist and a hit. Andrej Meszaros left the game with an upper body injury and the prognosis is not good - he is expected to miss the rest of the players and probably the start of next season as well recovering from a ruptured tendon in his arm.

[CanuckJohnny]

Round 3 Game 5

Rangers 2 @ Red Wings 3
(Detroit wins series 4-1)

Star sophomore Mark Scheifele would miss this game for the Rangers, still suffering from a hand injury that he played through in game 4. Riley Sheahan continues his hot series with his ninth of the playoffs, from Val Filppula, to open things up in the first. Marian Gaborik would tie it up early in the second (Stepan, Callahan), but a few minutes later Filppula pulled Detroit ahead again (Tatar, Sheahan). Gaborik responded with his second of the game (Callahan,
Alzner) only a minute later to keep things knotted up. With a few minutes to go until the second intermission it was Henrik Zetterberg who again gave Detroit the lead with his eight of the postseason, assisted by Nyquist. After a hard fought third period that saw New York test Mrazek ten times but fail to score on him that goal would stand as the winner and Detroit is through to the Finals. Detroit's third pairing of rookie Richard Nedomlel and veteran Brad Stuart were plus three on the night in spite of only playing eleven minutes together at even strength. Besides his game winning goal, Zetterberg also had a hit and two takeaways in a noticeably strong defensive performance. Gaborik played an incredibly motivated game and was the Rangers' best forward by a mile, with two goals, eight shot attempts (six on goal), three hits and a takeaway in twenty four minutes of icetime.

[CanuckJohnny]

Stanley Cup Finals Preview

Regular Season:
Vancouver 48-25-9
208 GF (18th)
173 GA (2nd)
14.7% PP (26th)
85.7% PK (7th)
Henrik Sedin 22-38-60
Jon Marchessault 25-23-48
Michael Grabner 23-23-46
Ryan Ellis 10-31-41
P.K. Subban 10-26-36
Markstrom 36-14-7, 8 SO, 1.94 GAA, .920 SvPct

Detroit 49-25-8
224 GF (10th)
187 GA (5th)
21.5% PP (1st)
84.5% PK (9th)
Henrik Zetterberg 30-54-84
Pavel Datsyuk 27-46-73
Tomas Tatar 39-32-71
Xavier Ouellet 8-21-29
Matt Greene 6-20-26
Petr Mrazek 37-21-6, 7 SO, 2.24 GAA, .917 SvPct

Playoff Scoring:
Vancouver
H.Sedin 7-7-14
Marchessault 7-5-12, +12
D.Sedin 2-10-12
Bozak 2-10-12
Grabner 5-6-11
Kesler 6-2-8
Brunner 4-4-8
Muzzin 4-6-10
Subban 2-5-7
Bieksa 1-4-5, +8
Rundblad 0-5-5, +7, 6 GP
Markstrom 12-2-3, 4 SO, 1.46 GAA, .938 SvPct

Detroit
Nyquist 6-12-18, +11
Zetterberg 8-8-16
Sheahan 9-4-13
Tatar 7-6-13
Datsyuk 2-10-12, 11 GP
Emmerton 4-6-10
Filppula 3-5-8, 14 GP
Ouellet 4-5-9, +12
Stuart 1-6-7
Kronwall 1-3-4
Mrazek 12-5-0, 1 SO, 1.85 GAA, .933 SvPct

Injury Report:
Vancouver
Alex Burrows (Lower Body Injury) 2-3 Weeks

Detroit
Andrej Meszaros (Upper Body Injury) 7 months
Brendan Smith (Upper Body Injury) Day-to-Day
Jerred Smithson (Upper Body Injury) Day-to-Day

Lineups:
Vancouver
DSedin-HSedin-Marchessault
Grabner-Kesler-Weise
Conacher-Bozak-Brunner
Thoresen-Zackrisson-Bertuzzi
Hamhuis-Subban
Muzzin-Tanev
Ellis-Bieksa
Markstrom
Lack

Detroit
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Nyquist
Filppula-Sheahan-Tatar
Porter-Emmerton-Franzen
Miller-O'Reilly-Nielsen
Kronwall-Ericsson
Ouellet-Greene
Nedomlel-Stuart
Mrazek
Howard

Preview:
Both teams dominated their conference finals matchup, Detroit dismissing a Rangers team that was overachieving and Vancouver surprising many by taking out a dominant Blackhawks team with their stars all back from injury. Both netminders have been lights out, posting sparkling numbers and carrying their teams. Mrazek stole the crease from incumbent Jimmy Howard early in the regular season and hasn't looked back. Markstrom has had a couple of off nights but truly showed his quality in the conference finals against the offensive juggernaut that was Chicago. Both teams are 12-5 to get here. Detroit's offense has shown firepower, both at the top of the lineup (as they have all season) and from unexpected depth players rising to the occasion. Two such players are Riley Sheahan (the playoff goals leader with nine) who had only 16 points the entire regular season but has 13 this playoffs and Cory Emmerton, who has ten points in the postseason after producing only 14 all year. Gus Nyquist leads the playoffs in scoring and in assists. Niklas Kronwall hasn't been productive on the score sheet but he anchors their top pairing with physical play and defensive instincts. They will miss Andrej Meszaros, who was a key feature in the top four until his injury in game four against the Rangers. Without him the blueline looks shallow, but they should have Brendan Smith returning to the lineup soon and the next man up mentality has been working for them all playoffs so far. The Canucks have seen steady production from their top line since moving Marchessault up the lineup to play with the twins. They have three lines that are scoring and balanced contribution from the blueline. Jake Muzzin, acquired at the deadline from the Coyotes in exchange for a draft pick and underwhelming first round pick Nick Jensen, has been a pleasant surprise, especially after inking his new five year, $1.08M/yr deal just before the playoffs. Not only has he been solid in his own end, but he has shown more two way acumen and offensive upside than expected, leading all Canucks defensemen in points this postseason with ten. These teams are so close it's almost too close to call, but with Vancouver's blueline depth and Markstrom's track record of elite playoff hockey, the pick is Vancouver in seven.

[CanuckJohnny]

SCF Game 1

Canucks 6 @ Red Wings 3
(Vancouver leads series 1-0)

A sloppy first period from Markstrom saw him allow three goals on just eight shots, as a host of unlikely suspects beat him - Porter, Greene and Stuart, and the Canucks went into the first intermission down three and looking shaken. They righted their ship with a tight, defensive second period that saw Jake Muzzin finally beat Mrazek late in the period. In the third, the wheels fell off the Winged Wheel as Vancouver came out motivated for a comeback. Who knows what Trevor Linden said in that second intermission, but it worked and the Canucks overwhelmed Detroit and rookie goalie Petr Mrazek to the tune of five straight goals in fifteen shots. First it was Henrik with an early period goal, then after Franzen took an ill advised holding penalty Dan Hamhuis made them pay on the powerplay goal, assisted by Bozak and Daniel, to even things up. With all the momentum on Vancouver's side, it was the third line that scored next, with Bozak getting the eventual winner assisted by his linemates Conacher and Brunner. After that Ryan Ellis, who continues to play well since returning from injury, scored his first of the playoffs from Bertuzzi and, again, Bozak. Ellis would add an empty netter with fourteen seconds to go in one of the most convincing comeback wins of the year. The Canucks steal one on the road. Subban had an assist, plus 2, five shots on goal, two blocks, a hit and a takeaway in 22:30 TOI. Todd Bertuzzi threw four hits in his twelve minutes of icetime. Nyquist threw five hits for Detroit and blocked a shot, but was not a factor offensively. Niklas Kronwall left the game with a lower body injury early in the first and did not return. The post game prognosis is not good, and he is expected to miss up to 5 months in what will be a huge blow to their blueline.

[CanuckJohnny]

SCF Game 2

Canucks 3 @ Red Wings 1
(Vancouver leads series 2-0)

Some big lineup changes for Detroit this game, obviously on defence with Kronwall out where Nick Jensen steps in on the third pairing and Stuart and Ouellet move up a spot, but also up front after the loss head coach Babcock has shuffled his lines, shuffling out Cal O'Reilly and bringing in Darren Helm. Helm will be centering the first line and Datsyuk, Filppula and Porter all drop down one spot each, also, Tatar will be up on the top line tonight while Nyquist moves down to the second line. The line changes didn't seem to inspire much as Detroit came out flat without Kronwall. Tatar did score first, from Datsyuk and Nyquist, but with only four shots generated all period, that was the lone offensive bright spot for the Wings. P.K. Subban evened it up on the powerplay from Bozak and Henrik after Frans Nielsen was whistled for slashing, and the ice continued to look very tilted in Vancouver's favour for the duration of the night. Grabner scored on a rush in the second from Kes and P.K. to give the Canucks the lead and Detroit just had no answer. In spite of Mrazek's efforts to redeem his previous outing (and by all accounts he had a stellar night, stopping 35 of 38 shots), Jake Muzzin added an insurance marker in the third (his sixth goal of the playoffs to lead all defensemen). Dan Hamhuis had a whopping eight shots on goal from the blueline tonight, as well as a hit and two blocked shots in almost twenty seven minutes of icetime. Muzzin blocked three shots, threw a hit and took five shots on goal to go with his goal and plus-2 rating. Grabner had a goal in five shots on net and also threw three hits. Datsyuk played valiantly in the loss, with an assist, plus-one, a shot on goal, two hits and a takeaway. Xavier Ouellet, playing on the first pairing in Kronwall's spot, looked a bit over his head, but did block a shot, get two hits and a takeaway and mostly hold his own, other than his minus-one, in twenty six minutes of icetime. Detroit's depleted blueline may lead to a shorter series than originally expected.

[CanuckJohnny]

SCF Game 3

Red Wings 2 @ Canucks 6
(Vancouver leads series 3-0)

The first period was a busy, back and forth affair. Daniel opened the scoring just eighty two seconds into the game, but shortly thereafter P.K. Subban took a five minute major for boarding and Tomas Tatar capitalized on the powerplay to tie it up. Chris Tanev would put Vancouver back ahead midway through the frame, but Darren Helm answered to tie it up again, making the most of his opportunity on the first line between Zetterberg and Tatar. Before the period ended, Tyler Bozak put the Canucks up a goal, assisted by Bertuzzi and Conacher. In the second Vancouver really ramped it up, firing 17 shots on goal to Detroit's four, but Mrazek kept his team in the game, not allowing a single goal to keep it at 3-2 Vancouver headed into the third. Unfortunately for the rookie keeper, the final frame also belonged almost completely to the home squad, and this time he couldn't hold off the onslaught. Brunner scored a shorty assisted by Bozak in the first minute, then the fourth line added on another insurance marker when Patrik Zackrisson got on the board, and only a minute after that Cory Conacher and the third line scored to really ice the game. A shell shocked Detroit squad just had no answers for Vancouver's relentless attack in the final forty minutes of play, managing only 11 shots over two periods playing from behind. This series looks all but in the bag for the Canucks, and they could take it home at home in game four if the Red Wings have another showing like this. Bozak had a goal and two assists, four shots on goal, a block and a hit. Kes had a good game in the circle, going 9-5 for 64.3%, and adding two assists, a plus-2 rating, three shots on goal, a hit and a takeaway. He took a puck in the face and had to get fifteen stitches and is currently day-to-day, with the Canucks hoping he can suit up for game 4. Chris Tanev had a goal and an assist, was plus-5 (wow!), took two shots on goal, blocked two shots and had a takeaway in 21 minutes. Jonathan Ericsson had four blocked shots for Detroit.

[CanuckJohnny]

SCF Game 4

*P.K. Subban was suspended for FOUR games for his hit from behind last game, taking him out of the remainder of the series. It wouldn't be a proper Canucks Final without a starting defenseman being kicked out for the series by the league I suppose.*

Red Wings 0 @ Canucks 2
(Vancouver wins series 4-0)

David Rundblad steps into the lineup for P.K. Subban. He was productive in earlier rounds while filling in, hopefully he can elevate his game and have success in the Cup Finals as well. Detroit shuffles their lines again, moving Emmerton to the first line to center Zetterberg and Tatar and dropping Helm into the 3C role.
First period is scoreless. Vancouver outshoots Detroit 13-6 but Mrazek looks good in there. Nedomlel and Bertuzzi get into a scuffle and get offsetting minors. It's chippy out there. Second period is smart, tight hockey from both sides, shots are even at 9-9 and nobody can break the deadlock on the scoreboard as both netminders play well. Fourteen minutes into the third, the tide is turning towards Vancouver and they are carrying play and outshooting Detroit, even succesfully kiliing off a rare penalty. Eventually it is fourth liner Patrik Zackrisson who breaks through and scores on Mrazek to give the Canucks the first goal. Detroit presses hard to even it up, but Markstrom holds firm and another fourth liner, Patrick Thoresen, adds the empty netter to seal it (Todd Bertuzzi gets an assist on the play). CANUCKS WIN! CANUCKS WIN THE STANLEY CUP! Redemption for the Sedins, Kesler, Bieksa (and BUrr, even though he's injured, is still part of the team). A member of the West Coast Express gets his cup with the Canucks in probably his last season. The captain of that '94 team that came oh so close orchestrated it all from behind the bench and behind his desk. Congratulations Trevor Linden. And Henrik Sedin will receiver the Stanley Cup. Your 2013-2014 Stanley Cup CHampions, the Vancouver Canucks!

[CanuckJohnny]

Playoff stats

[CanuckJohnny]

Offseason update


CONTRACTS

The Canucks have come to terms on ELCs with five prospects, Victor Arvidsson, Linus Ullmark, Markus Nutivaara, Ben Hutton and Cedric Paquette

[CanuckJohnny]

Awards


Congratulations to Jacob Markstrom on his well-deserved Conn Smythe Trophy. His stellar play and five shutouts carried our franchise to its first ever Stanley Cup win.

[CanuckJohnny]

I'm thinking I'll call this a wrap here. My goal after all was to win a cup with the Sedins, Kes, Burrows and Bieksa and we did. I did realize when all the staff renewals came up that I had a lot of very good assistant coaches I had signed that I forgot about. So that was a bit unrealistic and maybe it gave us an edge to win with a less than elite lineup? (Like, Darryl Sutter, Marc Crawford, Ted Nolan, etc were all happily toiling away together as my assistants... )
Seems like a good ending and once the new game is out I expect I'll be pre-occupied with that and if anything I'll wanna do a new story with that one. Thanks for following and happy managing!