The Vancouver Canucks fell for the second straight game as they lost 5-2 to the St. Louis Blues. Kiefer Sherwood scored both goals, which included his 100th point in the NHL. As for Lankinen, he stopped 30 of the 34 shots he faced in the loss.
The Vancouver Canucks fell for the second straight game as they lost 5-2 to the St. Louis Blues. Kiefer Sherwood scored both goals, which included his 100th point in the NHL. As for Lankinen, he stopped 30 of the 34 shots he faced in the loss.
Vancouver's defensive struggles continue on Monday night. The Canucks were credited with 23 giveaways, and spent a significant portion of the night in their own zone. Vancouver also once again allowed at least 35 shots, with 17 of them coming in the second period.
Speaking of the second period, that is where the Canucks really fell apart. Vancouver was outshot 17-11 and outscored 3-2. During the second, the Canucks also allowed their first power play against, ending their run of nine straight kills.
As for the power play, Vancouver was only able to force the Blues to take one penalty. While the power play featured plenty of puck movement, the Canucks were only able to produce two shots. Vancouver's inefficient power play is becoming a concerning trend, as they have yet to score with the man advantage this season.
Monday's game also featured some line changes in the top six. Elias Pettersson saw extended time with Conor Garland and Evander Kane while Filip Chytil was centering Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser. While this switch did produce some offensive chances, neither trio was able to find the back of the net, as both goals came from the bottom six.
"Obviously not the result we wanted," said Lankinen when talking to the media post-game. But, yeah, a lot to build on. Long summer behind. Put in a lot of work. I've been feeling better than ever, and had a great camp and a couple of good pre-season games. So gotta keep building from your perspective. I can just speak from my own side here. I think I could have probably stopped one or two of those goals to help the team win, but like I said, we're just gonna keep building."
Looking at the positives, Canucks fans can spend Thanksgiving being thankful for Sherwood. As mentioned, he scored twice, which included a highlight-reel shorthanded goal in the second period. Sherwood has once again been one of Vancouver's top players this year, providing both physicality and offensive production.
"We got to be ready for the puck drop," said Sherwood post-game. "It's probably constant theme here and everything. It starts with our just seeing structure in our systems, and from there, just executing our passes. When we don't execute, then we're chasing, and then we lose possession, and we got to work twice as hard to get it back. So, we know they're a rush team, and we just gave them too many looks tonight."
While Monday's effort was better than the one on Saturday night, this game showed that the Canucks still have a long way to go this season. Vancouver is not crashing the net enough and are struggling to clear pucks out of the defensive zone. The Canucks also need their top players to pick up their game as Pettersson, DeBrusk, Kane and Garland have yet to find the back of the net during the first three games of the season.
Stats and Facts:
- Kiefer Sherwood becomes the 12th player from Ohio to record 100 career points
- Kiefer Sherwood scores the 417th shorthanded goal in franchise history
- Quinn Hughes led all Canucks with five shots on net
- Aatu Räty and Kiefer Sherwood each had five hits
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
8:48- STL: Jimmy Snuggerud (1) from Pius Suter and Mathieu Joseph
2nd Period:
2:10- STL: Brayden Schenn (1) from Jordan Kyrou and Philip Broberg
5:33- VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (2) from Aatu Raty and Arshdeep Bains
8:13- STL: Jimmy Snuggerud (2) from Pavel Buchnevich and Brayden Schenn (PPG)
12:12- VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (3) (SHG)
13:45- STL: Nathan Walker (1) from Alexandre Texier and Nick Bjugstad
3rd Period:
17:47- STL: Jake Neighbours (ENG)
Up Next:
Vancouver hits the road for five straight, starting with a matchup against the Dallas Stars. The Stars have started the season 2-0-0 and have scored at least five goals in each of their games. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 pm PT from the American Airlines Center and can be viewed on Sportsnet.
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