VANCOUVER—For someone whose team had just earned its sixth consecutive victory—a win that moved them into the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot—Loui Eriksson didn’t look pleased as he stood at his locker assessing the Vancouver Canucks’ 4–2 result over the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena on Friday evening.
But Eriksson, who nabbed a goal in the first period, had some reason for his seeming disappointment: while the Canucks had pulled out the win, they’d hardly put on a clinic. Vancouver was outshot and outplayed, but thanks in large part to a remarkable performance from goaltender Ryan Miller—along with a good dose of luck—it had managed to stay on top of its division rival.
“We definitely take the win, but it’s not good enough,” Eriksson said. “We gave up too many shots and too many scoring chances. Millsy came up big for us again, and we owe him a lot today. But we got the win, and we know we have another tough game tomorrow against them.”
Miller stopped 44 of 46 shots, earning a save percentage of .957 on the night.
Although he's happy with the stretch, Miller still thinks the #Canucks have a lot to build on. pic.twitter.com/u7C3BD8WHD
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 7, 2017
There were other positives, too, including Markus Granlund’s two goals—the Sedins did their damnedest to get him the puck in the hopes of getting him a hat trick—and Michael Chaput’s first goal as a Canuck.
But the downsides of the night included some worrisome news: Chris Tanev left the game in the first period after blocking a shot from Flames D-man Dougie Hamilton. Tanev was officially ruled out for the rest of the game with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old defenceman has been a major factor in the Canucks’ recent success; the team is 9-2-1 with Tanev and Alex Edler both in the lineup.
While Tanev’s injury is a huge concern—he missed 20 consecutive games with an ankle injury this season and has only played 18 games in all—Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said that Tanev wouldn’t be ruled out for the team’s next game, on Saturday versus the Flames in Calgary.
“They’ll evaluate him in the morning and see where he’s at,” Desjardins said.
Despite the team’s lacklustre play, Desjardins praised his group for its resiliency.
“We didn’t play the way we wanted to play, but sometimes when you can win without your best stuff, it’s good, too,” he said. “We certainly can play better than that, but it was good we found a way to win with that. We got some breaks for sure tonight, but it was good we found a way to get those points.”
Now officially midway through their season, the Canucks are suddenly a team whose hopes of reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs are being taken seriously. But just how sustainable their success might be remains to be determined. Given how many games they’ve won by a slim margin, or when they looked outmatched, there are certainly questions.
“We need to do a better job tomorrow night,” said Eriksson plainly.
Desjardins, too, knows his team will need a better performance if it’s going to extend its win streak.
“It seemed they broke out of their end too easy,” he said. “We never got much pressure on them. It seemed they were always coming at us, so we’ve got to find a way to get some pressure in their end.”
Asked whether moving into a playoff spot means much, Desjardins was emphatic. “No, I don’t think it does,” he said. “We won’t make the playoffs playing like that.”
