SAN JOSE — When referees turned the game into a power-play shootout, the San Jose Sharks pulled out a rocket-launcher while the Vancouver Canucks tried a Nerf gun. Even David couldn’t have defeated Goliath with that firepower.
The Sharks got two goals from their power play and another from the National Hockey League’s command centre in Toronto and beat the Canucks 3-2 on Friday to halt Vancouver’s winning streak at one game.
The Canucks haven’t counted to two straight wins since Oct. 19.
That they lost by only one goal Friday is indicative of how much better Vancouver was at even strength in a game when shot attempts were 65-43 for the Canucks.
The struggling team has lost a bunch of games this season on special teams, but it’s usually the penalty killing that sinks the Canucks, not their power play.
Against the Sharks, who turned the game around in the second period on a five-on-three power play made possible by referee Garrett Rank’s unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty against Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes, the Canucks failed to generate a goal over 11:37 of power-play time and, officially, eight advantages.
San Jose’s power play went 2-for-6, although the Sharks’ winning goal at 15:17 of the second period came on a review initiated by the NHL’s Situation Room, which utilized X-ray technology to determine that the puck inside Vancouver goalie Nikita Tolopilo’s glove was completely over the goal-line.
“I don’t think so,” Tolopilo said after ex-Canuck Adam Gaudette’s game-winner. “I don’t think my glove was behind the line. . . but I haven’t seen the replay from upstairs. My glove was right on the post. I don’t think they could clearly see if the puck’s, like, fully behind the line. But they made a call and (there is) nothing you can do.”
Referees Rank and Riley Brace made a lot of calls.
Of the 60-minute matinee, which wasn’t especially physical, 19:58 was played on special teams.
After William Eklund blasted a puck under Tolopilo at the back post to tie the game 2-2 on the Sharks’ five-on-three at 14:03 of the middle frame, the referees did what NHL officials usually do when they’ve become a factor: they started looking for San Jose penalties.
The Sharks were shorthanded six times in the last 25 minutes, although the final Canuck power play lasted less than two seconds due to a melee at 19:58 that saw Sharks Barclay Goodrow and Ty Dellandrea each knock over Elias Pettersson from behind.
But the Canucks’ eighth-ranked power play (23.8 per cent), which was on a 10-for-30 heater the last seven games, couldn’t score. It failed to generate enough close-range chances against Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askarov, who had daylight in front of him to see, catch and hold a bunch of late point shots from Vancouver.
“We seemed a little bit out of sorts,” Canucks coach Adam Foote said of the power play. “It looked like the emotions got into it, involved, and we were just out of sync. You’ve got to reel that back in; it’s a game to win. We had them all night (at five on five). There was a lot going on with the calls. . . on both sides, so I don’t know what to tell you on that one.”
Foote added later: “I didn’t like our shots. We’ve got to take a hard look at that and maybe. . . when it’s going like that, we throw two D on and get Fil (Hronek) shooting to the net. I think we’re getting a little bit too predictable, and they were just jumping on it. We’ll talk about it and figure it out.”
The Canucks visit the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night before finishing their difficult four-game trip Tuesday against the rampaging Colorado Avalanche.
“They scored power play goals, we didn’t,” Canuck Brock Boeser said. “So that’s what it comes down to.
“I think we had some good looks; we just didn’t score. I think we’ve got to bear down when we get a power play late in the game and find a way to score.”
Boeser, who finished with five shots on net and 10 attempts, did score at even strength to put the Canucks ahead 1-0 at 4:28 of the first period. The lead lasted only until 9:25 when Will Smith scored at the backdoor with Hughes in the penalty box for interference.
That soft call for a shove against Eklund, who was jumping for a high puck and reacted dramatically to the contact, is context for the unsportsmanlike penalty Hughes was assessed at 12:28 of the second period.
Before that call, Pettersson scored one of the most impressive goals in the NHL this season, using his deft hands to bunt the puck around Shark Tyler Toffoli at speed, then go wide around Askarov before scoring from one knee at 3:04.
Pettersson later took a holding penalty, so the Canucks’ two best offensive players, Pettersson and Hughes, were assessed a total of three minors in one game after amassing only six penalties all season.
The second call against Hughes became especially damaging when Canuck defenceman Marcus Pettersson tripped Macklin Celebrini during the Sharks’ five-on-four power play, putting Vancouver two players down.
Asked post-game if had been assessed an unsportsmanlike minor during his first six years in the NHL, Hughes told Sportsnet: “I’m not sure, I can’t remember one.”
But the captain added: “The refs do a really good job in the league, so I’ve got nothing to say about that. And it doesn’t really matter what happened (for) their power plays because it’s not like we didn’t have our power plays and didn’t have our looks. So I’m not going to blame them on that (call).”
“I know what was said (and), I mean, I’ve heard worse that didn’t get called,” Foote said. “But I also don’t know what led up to it. You never know.”
Foote said the call may have been due to the “last couple of games,” which suggests some history between Hughes and Rank or at least Hughes and the referees.
A senior official, Rank worked the Canucks’ 5-4 win Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks, who had a 6-3 advantage in power plays. (And we will take this opportunity to state, for the 83rd time, that NHL referees should not call consecutive games involving the same team).
“Throughout the league, I think there’s a pretty good back-and-forth with the refs,” Marcus Pettersson said. “I mean, they can take a lot and we can take a lot back. I don’t know what was said. . . but I don’t think Quinn said anything vile or anything like that. There should be a little more leeway.
“It was a weird game, you know, momentum swings both ways with a lot of penalties. So, yeah, that one stinks. We thought we’d play a pretty solid game, especially in the second period. . . and then, bang, bang, they have a five-on-three.”
There was no “bang” from the Vancouver power play.
“There definitely was a lot of penalties,” Boeser said, “but I’m not going to say anything bad about those refs. You know, they see the game right in front of their eyes. It comes down to our power play finding a way to score a goal.”
ICE CHIPS – Lukas Reichel returned as the Canucks’ fourth-line centre after being healthy-scratched the previous three games, but barely played (4:59) due to the 14 power plays. . . Beyond his spectacular goal, Pettersson had five shots and won three late faceoffs in the offensive zone to finish 14-15 in the circle. The rest of the Canucks went 12-25. . . Four years after the Sharks terminated his contract, Evander Kane was booed each time he touched the puck for Vancouver. He assisted on Pettersson’s goal. . . In his second game since Kiefer Sherwood’s name went on trade billboards, the fiery winger had four shots, eight attempts, four hits, one block and two faceoff wins over 17:57 of ice time.
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