THIS IS WHY WE DON'T LIKE ROAD HOCKEY
To Nucks fans, an early eastern road trip is the stuff of legend dread. Legendary dread.
Oh well... at least the Nucks got this 3rd consecutive loss out of the way early. No loser point, just a pointless road game, like we enjoyed for years.
T-Bay open the scoring early. Early in the 1st.
1-0 Bolts after 1. Nucks will have to wait and wait to open their own scoring.
In the 2nd, T-Bay and Guezentall don't wait to make the Nucks look old, slow and incompetent. Move the puck up ice nearly effortlessly and score just as easily. Bet Taco is happy spending so much time on breakouts.
Nucks PK were perfect thru 2 periods. Nucks picked up the pace in the 2nd, Gnarly beat Vaski, but not the post. 2-0 T-Bay after 2.
In the 3rd after the Bolts got their 2nd game winning goal, the Nucks PP went to work and Gnarly popped the sole Nucking puck past Vaski. 3-1 Bolts. Yay!
T-Bolts score again... but pushing Arturs' pad in the net with the puck is considered poor form, even in CoTU. Still 3-1 T-Bay, until the Nucks net is evacuated due to a storm surge of shots, probably. And the Nucking 6-on-5 gives up the EN goal, as if we didn't see that coming.
Great 1st home game for T-Bay, who were lucky to even have a home game. Not great road game for the Nucks who were unlucky to not have the game postponed. Until 2026.
T-Bay wins 4-1. Good clean road loss for the Nucks. Just like the bad old days were though were finally over.
OBSERVATIONS
How was Pete and his new linemates after the extra hours Taco and coaches spent working with him... early game observation...
Pete finished the game with no points and only a minus -1. But still, played better as the game went on... or his attitude improved or something.
Some say we shouldn't be so hard on Pete so early in the season. They're probably right. Need to save some stink-eye for the spring. Still... must be nice to be in the top 5 of NHL player contracts, while delivering at the level expected of $8M per center.
The good news to take out this 3rd straight loss? At least we're not Oil fans.
Anything else? Sure. Special teams. Nucks PK were perfect against 10 minutes of odd-man chances. And the Nucks PP scored a single vital goal 5-on-4, when their 5-on-3 couldn't.
Video Replay
Shortie and Dave on the road to watch the Nucks get struck by Lightening. Repeatedly.
GAME STATS
PLAYERS 'N TACO TALK
Only one Canuck scores a goal, only one scores a presser.
Taco Talks Tough about being ready to play early. And playing with more grit and focus. And probably scoring.
Nucks get a couple days to try and get better, before they head south to play the current Cup champs. Another reason we're not having as tough a time as Oil fans.
Sure be nice if the Nucks could get a win on this road trip, get their 1st win of the season. Because waiting until the 26th back in the ROG for their 1st win, might make some of us ask some questions.
What questions? In a few games, the questions will ask themselves.