VANCOUVER – Nothing bugs a westerner like being dictated to by an easterner. Even something as pragmatic as an earlier start time for the Vancouver Canucks when the Toronto Maple Leafs and their pilgrims make their annual visit to Rogers Arena bothers a lot of people on the West Coast.
But Canucks fans should stop complaining about the bias towards Eastern Canadian television viewers for National Hockey League start times because it was the Maple Leafs who weren’t ready to go Saturday when the puck dropped early at 4:19 pm local time.
The Leafs started playing around 5 p.m., and by then it was too late. The Canucks scored two in the first 12 minutes and hung on to the beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 to ruin what had been a perfect Western Canadian road trip for Toronto.
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"We didn’t get ready," Leafs’ coach Mike Babcock admitted. "The first period cost us obviously. We spent the whole night playing catch-up. We had lots of opportunities. Their goaltender was good and they made some blocks and all that. But in saying all that, we weren’t ready to go at the start. When you play catch-up hockey, it’s usually losing hockey."
As good as the Canucks were in the opening period, the Leafs were that good in the final 40 minutes but could put only one puck – James van Riemsdyk’s deflection with 2:52 remaining – past Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom.
Unfortunately for the Leafs, the Canucks refused to score on themselves, which is how Toronto beat the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday to sweep two games in Alberta.
"The bottom line is if you want to be a real good team, you’ve got to play every day, you got to play every night and you’ve got to start on time," Babcock continued. "There was nothing wrong with our effort in the second and third… but you’ve got to start on time."
Markstrom finished with 35 saves and through 57 minutes appeared ready to rectify an embarrassing blemish on his resume by finally recording an NHL shutout. He has gone 128 games over nearly seven years without one.
But the 27-year-old, who was better than the Leafs’ Frederik Andersen, happily took the two points. At least we think he was happy, if a little bit defiant, when asked after the game about losing the shutout.
"Huge win," he answered. "At home (after) a long road trip. Great buzz in the building. Saturday night. When you play a Canadian team, it’s a little extra special. Huge win."
Yes, he spoke in fragments, which is how the Canucks played over the final two periods. By then, the mental and physical exhaustion after a six-game road trip and 20 nights away from home in November appeared to set in. Of course, the Leafs, when they skate and press, can do that to teams, too.
But the Canucks survived on first-period goals by Markus Granlund, whose wrist shot from left wing was whiffed by Andersen, and defenceman Alex Edler during a delayed penalty that capped what was one of Vancouver’s best shifts of the season.
The Canucks were buoyed at the start by a pre-game ceremony acknowledging Daniel Sedin’s 1,000th point in the NHL. The presentation included an emotional appearance in street clothes by teammate Derek Dorsett, who gave Sedin a silver puck two days after the sudden end of Dorsett’s career due to back injuries.
Sedin didn’t know Dorsett would be part of the ceremony.
"It was awesome to see him," Sedin said. "He has been a big part of our team. Hopefully he can still be around (because) I think he can still teach us a lot of lessons."
Driven by the emotions surrounding Dorsett’s retirement announcement on Thursday morning, the Canucks rallied that night with three third-period goals to beat the powerful Nashville Predators 5-3.
The Canucks’ first period against the Leafs was nearly impressive.
You can debate whether the Maple Leafs or Winnipeg Jets are Canada’s best team, but the Canucks have been the most surprising in a positive way. Picked to finish near the bottom of the standings for a third straight season, Vancouver is instead battling for a playoff spot at 13-10-4. And the Canucks’ pelts include the Leafs, Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals.
"It shows that when we play our best, we can beat anyone," Sedin said. "But if we have a bad game, we’re going to lose against a lot of teams. We need every guy each and every night. Tonight, Marky stepped up big time."
Edler said: "This (Toronto) team tonight, they have so much skill up front. It was a battle all the way through. We battled hard in Nashville, we battled hard tonight and we beat two good teams."
Two more good teams.
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