A 5-2 loss to the Flames to end the home stand.

Going into tonight’s game, some would say the Canucks have lost two in a row. Not us at NucksMisconduct though. I truly believe that the Canucks will learn from those games and become better because of them. That makes them winners in my book. I know the loss of Alex Edler will be hard to fill…..but I’m sure sticking in some other guy will lead to another victory. I think the other guy is called Pouliot. I made you say poo. I apologize. That was childish. I wonder if Jake still makes immature jokes up in the press box, because that where he was during this game.

1^st period

The first thing that popped into my mind while watching the opening minutes of the game was, could you imagine if we had a 6’6 defensemen that is willing to go after the puck. Well, we do. His name is Jacob Markstrom and Travis Green has done a terrible thing putting him net. Markstrom skated out quite fast to stop a potential breakaway 2 minutes in.

Soon after Loui Eriksson put one in the net. And by one I meant himself. It’s a good thing they invented movable goal posts.

Daniel Sedin felt the Flames need an advantage as he tried to score while falling down. Mike Smith was able to stop that shot but the Flames decided that the Canucks should be punished and gave the Nucks a PP. (12.5% is atrocious) The Canucks couldn’t convert on that one either. Calgary doubled down and Freddie Hamilton gave the Canucks another PP. And then the Flames just got cocky and gave the Nucks a 2 man PP for over a minute. Hey….there were no shots on that PP. Once that 2 man was killed, the Flames went down and scored a shorthanded goal.

At that point I walk over to the wall and banged my head against it. I did. The Canucks were still on the PP, but we know how that went. Johnny Hockey got himself a breakaway but tripped over himself and decided to give the Canucks another PP when he covered the puck with his hand. I wish Edler was playing as he would have taken a penalty to negate that PP. It’s like the whole team has Sedinitis. Pass….pass…pass….sho….no, pass again.

I disagree with the statement above.

This is more like it.

And then we got this news.

Burmistrov had a shot on Smith in close and drew a penalty. It’s like a cruel joke when a team decides to play almost a whole period shorthanded and you can’t score against them.

The Sedins out with Boeser seems good on paper and in your dreams, but when all the plays are set up for one guy to take all the shots and he misfires….things don’t work out so well.

Just when I am about to drive my head through the wall, Derek Dorsett saves the period for the Canucks. After getting tripped up at the bench by the Flames, Dorsett cooly skates down and puts one by Mike Smith to tie the game.

The period ended 1-1.

2^nd Period

I started off the period with a dram of Bruichladdich to calm my nerves. I am hoping someone from their company reads this and sends me free bottles for the year. I think I may need them.

There was new line of Boeser/Bo/Sven that should have caused a Twitttergasm. Tkachuk drove to the net and Guddy gave him the what for which cost him 2 minutes and gave Calgary their first PP. The good news for Vancouver is that their PK is at 90%. The Nucks were able to kill it off. Derek Pouliot was playing in his first game as a Canuck and decided to make the score sheet with a penalty. Nice job. But then the Flames decided to take another penalty with a faceoff violation with a leg move. Weird rule, which led to 4 on 4 hockey. Hutton missed a glorious chance on an odd man rush but then the Flames took another penalty. I have to give the Flames credit as their PK is aggressive and they are willing to get their body and sticks in the way. I think when you face a team like this you don’t try and make the extra pass, instead you shoot really low and get after the rebounds. This is where the Sedin unit is weak. The Sedins have never been great collecting the garbage.

With all the penalties the Flames have had, their best offensive players had barely played. When Gaudreau was on the ice, he was dangerous. And so when Johnny Hockey brought the puck in and drive towards the net, he lost his stick but kept the puck alive and it bounced out to Harmonic who put it between Markstrom’s legs. 2-1 Flames.

I took a nap during a Sedin shift, but I knew I wasn’t missing anything. I woke up in time to see Boeser get stopped by Smith’s glove hand. And then moments after the Flames score off an icing faceoff. 3-1 Flames.

At this point I was almost ready to erase all of this and just post Canucks win. I decided to meditate for the rest of the period.

3^rd period

I think for Christmas that someone should get Bo a set of horse blinders, so he can really focus on his rushes and not give any thought to passing the puck to his teammates. Speaking of giving, Henrik decided to give the Flames a PP early in the third. The Canucks killed that penalty as easily as they killed any chance of scoring on a PP. Remember Matt Bartowski’s mom? Her son took a penalty and sent Van to its 7^th powerplay which had managed 1 shot so far.

Henrik Sedin decided to become a goon and took his second penalty of the game. And for the second time in 2 nights, Del Zotto had one go off him and past Markstrom. Michael, you looked forward to more minutes and now you reap the rewards.

Just seconds after though, the man, the myth and new legend, Brock Boeser puts one in on Mike Smith to make it 4-2.

But then the same line gets caught out there for far too long chasing the puck, which Dougie Hamilton put through Markstrom. Flames 5-2

Whoever draft Henrik Sedin in their fantasy draft got more points as he took another penalty, to make it three for the night. Hat trick!

Hey, do you know what happens when you defense shoots the puck, they score sometimes. Three of the Flames goals tonight were by Flames Dmen. When you shoot, you could score? Wow!

With 4 minutes left the Canucks had the shot advantage 27-26. That will be the win I take away from this game tonight. The Nucks had all that extra time on the PP and dominated the shot total by…..one. And no matter what the Nucks record is this year, they will win that 5^th pick overall. You can’t deny history. Those wins will keep coming this year, I promise. #Canuckswin