Instant Reaction: Canucks deliver best performance of the season in historic 11th straight loss<\/p>\n
Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at\u00a0CanucksArmy<\/a>\u00a0where we give you our instant reaction to tonight\u2019s\u00a0Vancouver Canucks<\/a>\u00a0game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!<\/p>\n Starting Lineup<\/p>\n First Period<\/p>\n Lining up for your Vancouver Canucks were Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, and Elias Pettersson, who came out guns-a-blazin\u2019 against Matthew Schaefer and the Islanders. The Canucks tripled their usual shot output in the first three minutes of the game with ONE shot on Ilya Sorokin, and a helluva lot of hits thrown inside the offensive zone.<\/p>\n Evander Kane lays a heavy hit on Matthew Schaefer.<\/p>\n The rookie appeared to be in discomfort but stayed in the game.<\/p>\n A slick tic-tac-toe cross-ice passing play between Nils H\u00f6glander and Linus Karlsson yielded the evening\u2019s first goal, with Max Sasson\u2019s first of the game, and his TENTH of the season.<\/p>\n 1-0 Canucks<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8CANUCKS GOAL\ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n Max Sasson finishes off the tic-tac-toe play to put the Canucks up 1-0.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet | #Canucks<\/a> <\/p>\n Importantly (for him), the secondary assist on Sasson\u2019s goal marked H\u00f6glander\u2019s first point in 14 games since returning from injury.<\/p>\n Hysterically, the Canucks wound up on the receiving end of an eerily similar passing play that saw Tony DeAngelo give DeBrusk the old shimmy-shake at the top of the blue before driving down the left wing for an East-West pass to Anthony Duclair for the Isles\u2019 equalizer.<\/p>\n 1-1 Tie<\/p>\n The Islanders tie the game up midway through the first period.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet | #Canucks<\/a> <\/p>\n It was a less-than-ideal sequence for the Canucks\u2019 first line, who were comically slow to react to the developing play. Credit to DeBrusk for attempting to stick with DeAngelo as the high forward of the \u201c5v5 umbrella.\u201d And EP40 had the right idea, sticking close to Schaefer after his initial pass to DeAngelo, too. However, some communication would have been essential after DeAngelo worked his way down the wing. Poor Elias Pettersson (the defenceman) and EP40 had no idea who was on Duclair, with Boeser floating in the middle in anticipation of the swarm.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the Canucks responded quickly, with D-Petey capitalizing on a weak exit pass to tee up a one-timer on Sorokin, tipped by Evander Kane at the net front.<\/p>\n 2-1 Canucks<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8CANUCKS GOAL\ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n Evander Kane follows up the breakaway with a goal after tipping Elias Pettersson\u2019s point shot.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet | #Canucks<\/a> <\/p>\n A hot minute later, Matthew Schaefer responded to a long shift hemmed inside the d-zone with a vicious two-on-one breakaway and drag move that slipped under Kevin Lankinen for the game\u2019s second equalizer in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the play was as offside as offside gets, pulling Schaefer\u2019s 14th goal of the season off the scoreboard.<\/p>\n Matthew Schaefer\u2019s goal is called back for being offside as the Canucks lead remains 2-1.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet | #Canucks<\/a> <\/p>\n The two teams exchanged fun scrambles outside the goalmouth in the waning minutes, but the Canucks would take the lead heading into the second period.<\/p>\n Second Period<\/p>\n The Canucks must have remembered how their last 2nd period went, coming out hot and heavy with a Pantene-esque volume of shots on Sorokin. DeBrusk with a twisting wrister from the slot, Linus Karlsson with a shot off Sorokin\u2019s stick, Aatu R\u00e4ty with a clapper through traffic off Sorokin\u2019s blocker, and H\u00f6glander with a wrist shot off Sorokin\u2019s shoulder all within the opening three minutes.<\/p>\n The Karlsson-H\u00f6glander-Sasson trio dominated their minutes against an Isles\u2019 fourth line that featured ex-Abbotsford Canuck Marc Gatcomb. Their sustained o-zone pressure resulted in four or five shot attempts, pushing momentum in Vancouver\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n Midway through the frame, a heavy shift from EP40 & Co saw Zeev Buium draw a slashing penalty against New York\u2019s Calum Ritchie, sending the Canucks to the game\u2019s first power play opportunity.<\/p>\n Ironically, the Canucks\u2019 play on the man advantage wasn\u2019t nearly as strong as their play at 5-on-5. A shorthanded drive from Casey Cizikas would prove to be the most dangerous for either team.<\/p>\n In the dying seconds of the power play, Liam Ohgren looked to have gotten a tiny piece of a cross-ice feed from Filip Hronek at the netfront.<\/p>\n Liam \u00d6hgren gets a chance in tight on the powerplay.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet | #Canucks<\/a> <\/p>\n Adam Pelech would draw a tripping penalty against Sasson, giving the Islanders a chance to equalize on the man advantage. Initially, the Isles\u2019 best look came off a bizarre-o rebound off of referee Chris Peters\u2019 head that dropped in front of Lankinen\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n Then, Mat Barzal slipped a pass between Tyler Myers\u2019 legs to Calum Ritchie for the point-blank setup to Duclair for his second of the night.<\/p>\n 2-2 Tie<\/p>\n Anthony Duclair gets his second of the game to tie it at 2-2.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet | #Canucks<\/a> <\/p>\n Less than two minutes later, Ryan Pulock gave the Isles their first lead of the game with his second goal of the season.<\/p>\n 3-2 Islanders<\/p>\n The Islanders take a 3-2 lead late in the second.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet | #Canucks<\/a> <\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure where in the manual it states that all three forwards and the right-shot defenseman need to collapse to the puck carrier, or that the left-shot defenseman should step out to cover the opposition\u2019s right winger, leaving the middle completely uncontested for a snap shot. But it did on the Pulock goal sequence.<\/p>\n The Canucks\u2019 taketh, and the Canucks\u2019 gaveth away.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t their\u00a0worst second period. It was actually pretty good! Unfortunately, the low-to-high coverage was giving them problems, and the Isles took advantage.<\/p>\n Third Period<\/p>\n Early into the third, DeAngelo drew a tripping penalty against Drew O\u2019Connor to give the Isles their second straight power play opportunity. Then, off the opening draw, Emil Heineman drew a cross-checking minor penalty against Myers.<\/p>\n The Isles had 1:40 to work on the two-man advantage, but the Canucks\u2019 PK trio of Marcus Pettersson, EP40, and Conor Garland did an incredible job holding the Isles to just three shots on goal. Making matters worse, Marcus Pettersson\u2019s stick broke seconds into the Isles\u2019 two-man advantage, effectively turning it into a 5-on-2.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor wound up on a shorthanded breakaway after leaving the box, but the refs blew down the play due to a hand-pass.<\/p>\n Deservedly, the Canuck faithful inside Rogers Arena rewarded their team with a raucous cheer when Myers left the box.<\/p>\n After ripping a 99 mph slapshot into Lankinen\u2019s chest, Ryan Pulock went knee-on-knee with Myers, giving Vancouver a critical power play chance to equalize.<\/p>\n They did not do anything with their opportunity, short of a near-goal for Kane in the final 30 seconds.<\/p>\n Evander Kane\u2019s shot squeaks through Sorokin, but Matthew Schaefer keeps it out of the Islanders\u2019 net.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet | #Canucks<\/a> <\/p>\n Too bad, too, because Tony DeAngelo doubled the Isles\u2019 lead with his third goal of the season just\u00a0two minutes after the return to 5-on-5.<\/p>\n 4-2 Islanders<\/p>\n The Islanders score midway through the third to make it 4-2.<\/p>\n