Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Nucks Fan Rebuild & Retool Center - Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Welcome to the undefeated in 2024 Vancouver Canucks! Enjoy it while it lasts.
After the greening Nucks took before the Taco Tough practices of the new year - we all hoped, while clutching our steely-eyed pearls of wonky wisdom, that stinker of zero-compete game was the result of home-cooked chocolate crepes of self-satisfied gorging. Or something.
No worries. Canucks played their best period of hockey we've seen all year. This year.
Cole opened the scoring, just 2 mins and a couple steamboats in. Good omen. The Nucks have won every game when Cole scores. Also, it was Cole's 1st goal as a Canuck.
Doesn't matter. The Nucks are making moves, getting bounces. All kinds of bounces.
The next goal was a great bounce that Suter caught, put it on the ice and put it in the net. 2-0 Nucks.
Then sneaky Pete banks the puck off Fosberberg-to-be-PulledMan, then skates around the net and swipes it past the startled goalie. 3-0 Nucks.
The next goal, was a ricochet from Zav that Miller tipped sideways to the nearest available Sen that bounced off him into the net. Thereby ending Fosberg's night of pinball goal tending. 4-0 Nucks.
Then it's the Nucks lucky bounce PP goal to make it 5-0 Nucks to end the 1st. Pete is shooting wide, but catches a great tip from a Sens stick and the next-up goalie is as surprised as Pete.
Sweet Jesus, everything goes in.
Atty
Some say the 5 goal lead is the most dangerous lead in hockey.
They're not wrong when it's the Nucks leading 5-0 after the 1st. Early in the 2nd Myers is waving off something hidden in the ROG's invisible D-space and Giroux has the Sens on the board.
The rest of 2nd expired without any Nucks own goals or anything really horrible. Gotta save something for the 3rd.
We won the first, the Sens won the second.
Atty
Who will win the third?
Early in the 3rd, most of the Nucks are up ice, expecting/hoping for another lucky bounce. But it bounces the other way. It's a 2 on 1. The one on the Nucks side is Ronnie. Who has trouble with 2-on-1 defensive strategy. The best thing in that case is fall to the ice, slide around and spread those strategic wings. Or something.
Apparently they did not practice defending 2 on 1s.
Slippy slide to nowhere.
copey
5-2 Nucks. And it's still early in the period. Far too early to let the Sens get any hope of a comeback. Even if it's false hope, it's still a dangerous tactic.
As the period of Sens pushback wound down, they scored another goal 6-on-5 while the Nucks were mentally distracted by the odd-man mathematics. It's 5-3 Nucks. And more than 2 minutes and many nervous looks to play.
Fortunately, with 150 excruciating seconds left to play, Suter stole the puck at the Sens blueline, caught the unsuspecting replacement goalie with a very fitting lucky bounce shot that bounced beautifully past the startled goalie.
Nucks win 6-3. Wooo!
Technically, game was won in the 1st. However, might have been a more commanding win had the Nucks played as well in the last 40 as they did in the first 20 minutes. Would have helped Demmers - maybe not get the SO, but reduced the number of 5 alarm saves he had to make. And he made a lot of them.
Doesn't matter. Demko gets his 99th Nucking win! Nucks extend their lead in the division with a 24-10-3 record. 51 points puts them at the top. Prefer they keep it lonely at the top.
ROG REELING HIGHLIGHT BOUNCES
Shortie and Ray Ferrari are enjoying themselves. As we did. For the 1st 20 minutes and the last minute.
GAME STATS
SHOTS
| SENS | Period | CANUCKS |
| 9 | 1st | 15 |
| 12 | 2nd | 6 |
| 17 | 3rd | 5 |
| 38 | TOTAL | 26 |
PLAYER SCORING
| GOALS | ASSISTS | +/- | |
| SUTER | 2 | 1 | +4 |
| COLE | 1 | +1 | |
| HUGHES | 1 | -1 | |
| MILLER | 1 | 1 | +1 |
| ZADOROV | 1 | +3 | |
| LAFFERTY | 1 | +1 | |
| BOESER | 1 | +1 | |
| MYERS | 2 | +2 | |
| JUULSEN | 1 | +1 | |
| PETERSSON | 2 | 2 | +2 |
| KUZMENKO | +1 | ||
| MIKHEYEV | 1 | +1 | |
| EV | PP | SV% | |
| DEMKO | 34/37 | 1/1 | .921 |
TACO TALK
Taco loved the Nucks 1st period. Surprise. Didn't love the next 2.
JT wasn't gushing too much about those other 40 mins either...
Felt like we totally sat on the 5 goal lead after the 1st period... have to play the 2nd and 3rd like it's nothing nothing.... I thought we played worse after the 1st period.
That was fun. At first. In the first. A win is the best way to start a new year. A new month. Because...
On Thursday the Nucks begin a grueling 7 game dinner theatre campaign through the eastern provinces.
Nucks need to beat some in the east. Maybe it will be the Blues on Thursday. And if revenge dreams can come true in Jersey, womp the Devils on Saturday. That would be a good start.
