Thursday night’s game didn’t go the distance to a shootout. Instead, the Canucks handily won in regulation, shutting out the Panthers for the first time this season. The match was a defensive battle where the Canucks blocked way more shots than the Cats did (7-18) while Florida outshot them 27-19. Lankinen was dialed in all night, and the Panthers failed to solve him while getting very few chances from the slot and near the crease. Turnovers gave Vancouver all the opportunity they needed to score. The Cats have struggled when giving up rush chances, and that was well on display Thursday night. The second line for the Panthers had the most impact and the best chances to score.
Defensive Fight:
Despite the final score being 0-4, HC Paul Maurice said in his post-game presser that neither team had much going offensively. The Panthers didn’t get enough traffic in front of Lankinen, so despite the shot volume, he had eyes on the puck all night. Although Bennett had a couple of plays where he practically bulldozed his way to the net, the Canuck defensemen were still all over him, preventing any serious shot attempts. After allowing ten shots on goal in the first period,d Florida only allowed nine in the following forty minutes. However, the Canucks were just as physical as the Panthers were, and they had the edge in the faceoff dot 25-32. HC Paul Maurice said that he didn’t want to attribute the loss to something like unlucky bounces like what happened on the Heinen goal or how Ekblad’s stick tipped the puck but it didn’t go high enough to clear the net, instead, it went in for the opening goal of the night. He also said that Florida’s shot selection was unusual at times, so I’d expect that to be something he talks to the team about before they play in Calgary.
Burned By Turnovers:
It’s been a problem for Florida so far this season, giving up turnovers. The way that the Cats play defense puts them in a bad spot when they give up a lot of them during a game. HC Paul Maurice said that turnovers make it hard for the Panthers to close gaps or get back into position because they are in an attacking position. The uptick in turnovers could be due to the new players in the lineup now with Balinskis, Samoskevich, A. Boqvist, J. Boqvist, and Schmidt. This is Balinskis and Samoskevich’s first full year in the NHL, so there are bound to be some growing pains with that, especially with Balinskis stepping in to help fill the holes left by OEL and Montour. Three out of the four Canucks goals came off the rush. The only one that didn’t was the power play goal scored by DeBrusk off a shot following a faceoff win. Maurice said that nothing is a quick fix in the NHL, and it’s only December, so there’s plenty of time for this problem to improve and become less of an issue. The style of hockey that Florida plays is very demanding, and in an 82-game season, it’s not realistic to think that they’ll play their very best every single night. That said, they’ve struggled against the Canucks dating back to last season and have gone 0-3-1 in their last four meetings, as they don’t play each other often.
Second Line Driving:
While no one got on the scoresheet, the line that had the best night was easily the second line. They had the most success getting to the Canucks’ net and generating offensive plays while not getting hemmed in their own zone often. Bennett had a great game despite not converting anything. He drove to the net hard and was able to skate around the Vancouver defense. Tkachuk got blocked more a couple of shots and made good plays when the Panthers had the man advantage. He’s been on a points tear lately, so it’s no surprise that he was a driving force in this game, too. Rodrigues was on the second line for this game and led all Panthers’ players with five shots on goal. If anyone was going to get a goal, Rodrigues would have the best chance to do so. Tkachuk and Rodrigues combined for six hits so the physicality for that line was there too. Rodrigues is a utility player that Florida can move up and down the lineup, but he looked good slotted in alongside Bennett and Tkachuk, so that combination might be worth keeping for a while.
Up next the Panthers take on Calgary.
ITR 31: Let Them Fight – Inside The Rink
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