Canucks in FEBRUARY
W 2-0 vs CBJ - A defensive matchup saw Jacob Markstrom shine for the 23 save shutout. Darren Archibald set the tone early in a fight with Andrew Desjardins. Two second period goals lifted Vancouver over Columbus, with Higgins and Williams both beating Bobrovsky.
SOW 4-3 vs CGY - Yannick Weber and Henrik Sedin both had two assists and Williams scored for the second straight game to get the Canucks to a shootout where Higgins and Horvat both scored while Markstrom was perfect to seal it. Joffrey Lupul sustained a knee injury and will miss at least a couple weeks.
OTW 3-2 @ COL - Kassian replaces Lupul on the top line. This may be one of his last opportunities to prove himself as a Canucks as the coaching staff seem to have soured on him this year. Gragnani, who was picked up off waivers from Vancouver earlier in the season, opened the scoring against his former team but Chris Tanev answered. Stefan Elliott gave the Avs the lead again in the third but Letestu scored to even it up and send us to overtime, where only twelve seconds in it was Letestu with his second of the game, from Horvat and Holden, for the overtime winner.
L 1-0 @ ARI - Toby Rieder scored the only goal in a snooze fest. Yannick Weber did not look good on the goal or all night really. Dan Bylsma looked frustrated in the post game presser and promised changes for the next game.
L 4-3 vs TOR - Bylsma shuffled his lineup, calling up Dustin Jeffrey and Nicklas Jensen and plugging them in for Burrows and Kassian, while also putting Kevin Bieksa in for Yannick Weber. Vrbata was moved back to the top line with the Sedins. Third liner Brad Richardson had a good night but the Canucks were outclassed by a Toronto team that had scoring from Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov.
W 3-1 vs MIN - Daniel opened the scoring on a powerplay, assisted by who else but Henrik, and Nick Holden and Nick Bonino added goals to bring Vancouver to victory. Only Jason Pominville managed to beat Markstrom, who was solid, making 28 saves on the night.
OTL 4-3 vs ANA - Following a trade that moved out Kassian and Weber and brought in Brad Hunt, the Canucks played a competitive game but lost in the end. Daniel had a goal and an assist but Rakell scored the OT winner for the Ducks and Sami Vatanen had three assists on the night.
W 2-0 @ CGY - Markstrom's thirty save shutout earned him first star honours and Henrik had a goal and an assist. Brad Hunt had a promising night on the powerplay, and he attempted eight shots, seven of which were on net, albeit without results.
L 5-3 vs COL - An uncharacteristically poor showing from Jacob Markstrom saw him allow five goals on just 25 shots while in the opposing crease Semyon Varlamov staved off 44 Vancouver shots allowing only three for the win. Henrik Sedin had a pair of assists to bring him to 40 on the year, but Colorado converted too many of their chances with goals from Duchene, Iginla, Tanguay, O'Reilly and Blunden to go home with the victory.
L 3-0 vs OTT - Craig Anderson gets the 32 save shutout as Ottawa continues their run of good play climbing the standings in the Atlantic. Mark Stone, who is having a tremendous season at both ends of the ice, netted his 24th of the season. Vancouver's second line of Bonino, Higgins and Williams was on for all three goals against.
L 4-1 vs SJS - After struggling early in the season the Sharks are hitting their stride and after this game are only three points back of the Canucks. The lone Vancouver goal was Henrik from Daniel on the powerplay. Thomas Greiss was in net and made 29 saves but was outduelled by fellow backup Michal Neuvirth who made 20 saves on 21 shots for the victory.
Record (February): 30-24-7 (5-5-1), 67 points, 2nd in Pacific
Player Stats:
Goals - Vrbata (19), Williams (16), Daniel (15), Bonino (13), Higgins (12)
Assists - Henrik (40), Vrbata, Daniel (21), Bonino (20), Higgins (18)
Points - Henrik (50), Vrbata (40), Daniel (36), Bonino (33), Higgins (30)
Plus/Minus - Letestu (+13), Hamhuis (+5), Bonino (+4), Tanev, Bieksa (+2)
PIM - Hamhuis (64), Vrbata, Richardson (26), Bonino (25), Holden, Higgins, Williams (24)
Shots - Vrbata (170), Daniel (142), Williams (126), Bonino (122), Henrik (108)
Hits - Bonino (108), Richardson (99), Holden (92), Henrik (87), Hamhuis (84)
Takeaways - Tanev (38), Bonino (32), Hamhuis, Russell (27), Holden, Henrik, Michalek (21)
Blocks - Tanev (192), Russell (157), Michalek (110), Holden (101), Hamhuis (86)
FO% - Horvat (53.2), Henrik (51.5), Bonino (50.5), Higgins (50.0), Richardson (49.9)
Goalies:
Markstrom - 24-15-3, 2.11 GAA, .934 SvPct, 22.32 GSAA, 5 SO
Greiss - 6-9-4, 2.64, .922 SvPct, 2.90 GSAA, 1 SO
Injuries:
none
Summary:
A mediocre month for the Canucks maintained their second place position in a mediocre division. Henrik and Daniel returning somewhat to form has been a good story so far, but Vancouver needs more scoring depth, especially on the blueline. It is hoped that Brad Hunt will help with that, but so far it has been a futile search to find an effective and consistent offensive defenseman. Justin Williams continues to have a great bounce back season, proving to be one of Linden's best acquisitions so far. Archibald has looked decent in a bottom six role since being brought up. He has been a physical presence, leading all Canucks in hits per game, averaging almost two per game despite limited minutes. The versatile and skilled Mark Letestu leads the team in plus minus and in relative Corsi (+7.67), seeming to thrive wherever Bylsma plugs him in. Questions abound moving forward as to whether this team is going to do anything in the post season this year, they seem to be fading out early. Maybe they can turn it around for a stretch run and inspire some hope in the fan base though.
Prospect Watch:
RW Conor Garland (QMJHL) 48gp, 17-32-49, +12, is growing in strength and leadership
D Gustav Forsling (SWE) 39gp, 5-25-30, -4, is getting smoother in his puckhandling and is doing better at getting in shooting lanes on defense
C Ross Colton (NCAA) 31gp, 15-16-31, +1, has shown a lot of improvement in the dot and in his playmaking, also working together well with his teammates and sticking up for them as well
D Will Butcher (AHL) 59gp, 4-31-35, +6, is showing better speed through the neutral zone and crisper passing, making better reads defensively
D Vince Dunn (OHL) 48gp, 5-33-38, +2, in spite of his low goal totals, his shot is getting markedly better and more accurate