The Vancouver Canucks blew their chance to lead the Pacific Division on Thursday. Could Thursday's trade help the Canucks catch up to the Vegas Golden Knights?
The Vancouver Canucks could have used a guy like Nikita Zadorov on Thursday night.
Hours after GM Patrik Allvin pulled the trigger on a deal that will bring the 6-foot-6, 248-pound defender to the West Coast, the Canucks suffered just their second regulation home loss of the year when they dropped a 4-1 decision to the bigger, stronger Vegas Golden Knights.
Looking very much like the squad that outmuscled every opponent on the way to winning the Stanley Cup last June, the Golden Knights retained first place in the Pacific Division by playing what coach Bruce Cassidy called "one of our best games of the year." They fired 44 shots on their hosts while allowing just 22 shots against them and made it virtually impossible for Vancouver's high-flying offense to gain any traction.
"I think we generated a lot because we defended well," said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. "That's kind of been our recipe, especially since Bruce has gotten here. It was taking care of our end, and that led to a lot of opportunity."
That stout defending was happening without two key players: Shea Theodore has undergone surgery for an upper-body injury and will be out week-to-week, while Alec Martinez has missed the last five games with a lower-body issue.
The Golden Knights were also playing their third game in four nights and their eighth road game in their last nine contests — an odyssey that started in Washington back on Nov. 14. But by keeping the ice time for their blueliners relatively even during 5-on-5 play, they were still able to control the game.
"We try to do that every night," Cassidy said. "We're on an 82-game schedule here, and we'd like to plan on another 20-some games after.
"So we've got to be careful. Petro's the one guy that gets up because he plays on both special teams — right now with Theo being out, he's now moved to the No. 1 power play. He's the one guy we've got to keep an eye on. The other guys, we typically can get in a good range, between 18 and 22."
With three power-play chances for each side on Thursday, Pietrangelo did finish as the high-minute man at 24:03. He was able to ease off a bit in the third when the game was well in hand. The other defensemen ranged from 16:12 (Ben Hutton) to 20:27 (Zach Whitecloud).
The Canucks were not so balanced. Quinn Hughes logged another monstrous night at 27:33, and Filip Hronek wasn't far behind at 25:42. Then, there was a big drop-off to No. 3 Tyler Myers at 18:15.
That's where Zadorov will come in. He's cut from the same cloth as those Vegas rearguards — a big guy who can skate, has some snarl and also has a bit of an offensive touch. He'll help take some of the pressure off Hughes and Hronek, who has slotted in beautifully since he was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings last spring.
For Tocchet, Zadorov can't get into the lineup soon enough.
"We need minutes," he said after the game. "We're playing some other guys too much, and you can tell it's started wear on our defense. He's a much-needed guy. It's a great trade for us."
Zadorov's addition should not only help get Hughes and Hronek's ice time down, but it should also help Myers and Ian Cole play more suitable roles, where they won't be asked to do too much.
Elite Prospects correlates each team's average heights, weights and ages each season. Vegas is one of 10 teams that averages 6-foot-2 this year, Vancouver is one of 21 that average 6-foot-1, and the Minnesota Wild are the lone group at an even six feet.
And to the surprise of no one, the Golden Knights clock into first place on the weight front, at an average weight of 208 pounds, and lead 14 clubs at 200 pounds or more.
Vancouver's average weight is 195, which puts them in 28th place. And that includes Zadorov, Myers (6-foot-8 and 229 pounds) and Carson Soucy (6-foot-5 and 212 pounds), who pull up the averages.
Myers was the only one of the three on the ice on Thursday night. And the difference in size and intensity between the two sides was clearly apparent all over the ice.
"Their top players — their skill guys — they're hard on the puck," Tocchet said. "They're not just skill guys. They play hard, and I feel a lot of times in the corners, they come up with loose pucks."
By essentially swapping in Zadorov for Anthony Beauvillier (5-foot-11, 180 pounds), traded on Tuesday to Chicago, Allvin added seven inches and 68 pounds to his team's total mass this week. And the defenseman's mean streak might also help the Canucks become more physically threatening to their opponents.
Vancouver is actually ranked fifth in the league in hits per 60 minutes (19.21), just ahead of Vegas (19.05). But that stat doesn't seem to capture the grinding determination that has become Vegas's trademark and which, in a copycat league, is the envy of 31 other clubs.
If there's something for the Canucks to hang their hat on from Thursday, it's the fact that even at the end of a long, hard stretch of games, the quality of their competition helped motivate the Golden Knights to deliver a strong, connected performance on Thursday.
"We've played eight out of nine on the road," Pietrangelo said. "To finish with, probably, the best team we've played in a long time — to finish that way and go home for a couple of days, that's a good feeling for us."
Quinn Hughes shared that Tocchet reminded the Canucks before the opening puck drop that, win or lose, it's only one game — not a permanent assessment of which side is superior.
"They were better than us tonight," Hughes said. "We've got the next 55 to 60 games to measure ourselves up against the rest of the league."
The journey continues on the road Saturday against Zadorov's former squad, the Calgary Flames. And after snapping their three-game losing streak and reclaiming first place in the league standings, the Golden Knights return to T-Mobile Arena to face the Washington Capitals, then follow up with a home-and-home against the St. Louis Blues.
