Canucks lose special teams battle in 3-2 loss to Sharks

First Period

The Sharks were throwing everything they could towards Nikita Tolopilo in the opening minutes of the game. He didn’t have to make many otherwordly saves, but he did turn the Sharks’ chances aside, giving the Canucks a chance to find their legs. That’s exactly what happened, as after a couple of shifts with sustained pressure in the Sharks’ end, Brock Boeser pulled the trigger on a shot that beat Yaroslav Askarov blocker side.

1-0 Canucks 

Quinn Hughes took the game’s first penalty, giving the Sharks a chance to go to work against the Canucks’ struggling penalty kill. They made good on that chance, as Will Smith took a shot that Tolopilo really had no chance to stop:

1-1.

The game became a lot more scrambly as the first period progressed. There were broken plays all over the ice as neither team seemed capable to complete a pass. Before the end of the first, the Sharks got their second power play chance of the game after Arshdeep Bains took a high-sticking penalty.

Second Period

The Canucks killed off the remainder of the penalty to open the second period, and shortly after that, Tom Willander nearly had his first career goal. With an open net to shoot at, Willander whiffed on his shot attempt. Fortunately for the Canucks, Elias Pettersson made a phenomenal play when he batted down Tyler Toffoli’s clearing attempt and drove the net. After getting knocked down, Pettersson refused to give up on the play, banking the puck off of Askarov:

2-1 Canucks. 

Tolopilo kept making the saves he needed to make, and Askarov matched him at the other end. Brock Boeser had two great chances to score but couldn’t beat the Sharks’ goaltender:

The Canucks got a power play attempt right after, and again, Askarov made himself the story, turning aside multiple grade-A Canucks chances.

The Sharks got the game’s next power play when Quinn Hughes was given two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. It was a penalty that Ray Ferraro said would never be called by a veteran official, and I — having played 1,258 fewer NHL games than Ferraro — would have to agree. Marcus Pettersson took a real penalty just moments later, giving the Sharks a good chunk of time to work on the 5-on-3 man advantage.

During that stretch, Elias Pettersson showed some confidence and creativity when he flipped the puck in the air, retrieved it himself (with a quick cross check on Macklin Celebrini mixed in between), and got a solid chance off on Askarov:

William Eklund then tied this one up for San Jose:

The Sharks got their first lead of the night shortly after, as Adam Gaudette took a backhand shot that was determined to have gone past Nikita Tolopilo after a league-initiated review.

3-2 Sharks.

The Canucks got another power play with 48 seconds left in the second.

Some takeaways from the second:
-Filip Hronek’s shift five minutes into the second where he calmly broke up two separate Sharks scoring chances perfectly embodied how solid he’s been for this team.

Third Period

The Canucks couldn’t convert on what remained of their power play opportunity, and losing the special teams battle was quickly becoming a theme in this game. The Canucks’ fifth power play came in abbreviated fashion, as the Canucks’ PP had 1:11 to work with at about the halfway point of the third as they tried to tie this game up. Askarov was the Sharks’ best penalty killer for most of this game, and that continued as the Canucks’ PP moved to 0-for-5 on the night.

With 4:23 remaining, still down by one, the Canucks got their sixth power play of the game. They struggled to get set up on this one, testing Askarov just once, and with 20 seconds left on it, Evander Kane took a slashing penalty to put them back at 4-on-4.

This became a moot point in a hurry, as Filip Hronek sold some Macklin Celebrini cross checks to get the Canucks back on the power play. Celebrini was assessed an additional two minute minor for unsportmanlike conduct. I can’t remember the last time I saw two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties called against players from both teams for directing their frustration at the officials.

This meant that if the Canucks could just tie it up, they’d have a power play heading into OT. With their net empty, the Canucks cycled the puck around in the San Jose end, and after one more beautiful glove save from Askarov, this one came to an end.

There were some extracurricular activities at the end, but this one ended with a 3-2 win for San Jose.

Some takeaways from the third:
-The Canucks’ 5v5 play was fine in this game. Nikita Tolopilo played well. Today’s game was one defined by special teams. The Sharks went 2-for-6 on the power play, while the Canucks went 0-for-6. Hard to win when that’s the case.

-Didn’t like Quinn Hughes’ body language at points during this game! More on that coming in The Stanchies, I’m sure.
-Brock Boeser with some beautiful work in the clinch and a smooth transition to side control.
-Awful, awful officiating today.

What’s your instant reaction to this game? Let us know in the comments section below!