It looks as though Canuck coach Alain Vigneault's plan to rest his team through as much of the preseason as possible was a success. The Canucks looked so rested, in fact, that there were times where I legitimately thought they were sleeping on their feet during their season opening loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins last night.
It certainly wasn't a pretty game. Anyone expecting it to have the emotional charge that the games played in April, May and June of this year did were of course going to be disappointed...but it was an extremely sluggish effort from a group of players who clearly have some rust to shake off.
They started to come to life towards the end of the game. To their credit, they found their legs, they started to control the play, and they had a few solid chances to take the lead and win the game. Even when the game was slow to start, the Canucks weren't the worst thing about it--that dubious title went to the announcing duo of Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes. (I actually don't mind Weekes--he's hilarious, if unintentionally so).
There were some things to be happy about for the Canucks. The Sedin Twins put on their usual display of brilliance--Henrik finding Keith Ballard in behind the Pittsburgh defense with a teriffic saucer pass which Ballard buried (hopefully along with the memories of last season for him). Daniel then joined in on the fun by taking another sweet pass from Henrik, outwaiting both a Pittsburgh defender and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, before deftly ripping the puck upstairs to tie the game.
There was a surprisingly nice night from the new fourth line with center Maxim Lapierre leading the way. He was 71% on faceoffs, he scored a goal that came at the end of a great forechecking shift where they hemmed the Penguins into their own zone, and along with wingers Aaron Volpatti and Dale Weise (or as Mark Lee knows them, whatshisname and whoshisface), had a strong night.
There was second line center Cody Hodgson who looked quite dangerous, and he even had a glorious chance to put the Canucks ahead in the third period. He showed excellent patience, waited until everyone had over committed to the play...and then slid the puck just wide of the net. Newcomer winger Marco Sturm had a solid game on the defensive side of the puck, but the big goose egg next to the shots on net column in his game is a bit alarming for a player the Canucks are hoping will be able to provide some secondary scoring this year.
There were some warts to this game, too. The Canucks' penalty kill clearly missed Ryan Kesler, as two of the three goals scored by the Penguins were scored on their quick-strike power play. The Canucks' net clearly missed a goaltender who was awake, when Roberto Luongo whiffed on a 44-foot-wing-and-a-prayer shot by Matt Cooke to give the Penguins a then 3-1 lead. It was an auspicious debut for Luongo, as the first goal (scored from behind the goal line by James Neal) and the aforementioned Matt Cooke goal both had a distinct odour to them. If Canuck Nation was hoping Luongo would come out and immediately start allowing them to forget his inconsistent play in the Final, they were let down last night.
In Luongo's defense, he typically has awful Octobers and rebounds with a stellar close to the regular season. But none of that is going to matter this year--for Luongo, it's all about the playoffs.
There were a smattering of veterans who looked as though they were playing together for the first time (in truth, it was the second for many of them), and so the rust will take a bit of time to wear off. The promising thing about this game is that the Canucks were able to come back, tie it, squeak out a point and at least have some positives to look back on. But in all honesty, it was a clunker of a game and a sign that maybe--just maybe--Alain Vigneault should let his veterans play together a bit during the preseason in the future, something he hasn't done to any great extent in the past, but took to a whole new level this year.
To make matters worse, it's a long wait until Monday for the Canucks' next game. But perhaps some time on the road (they are travelling to Columbus for the start of a four-game road trip) to bond together as a team will be productive. And hopefully they'll play with a little more gas in the tank than they had last night.
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