Suddenly-good goaltending is threatening to ruin Canucks tank
The Vancouver Canucks’ fortunes have changed in the past three weeks, and it’s making “tank nation” nervous.
With their playoff hopes long gone, many Canucks fans are now hoping for their team to lose down the stretch in an effort to pick up a high draft pick. Sliding down the standings also offers the best chance at Connor Bedard, a generational talent from North Vancouver who will be chosen by whichever team wins the NHL’s draft lottery.
And they were doing a pretty good job of it, until recently.
Winners of two in a row for the first time since December, the Canucks are showing signs of life.
Vancouver leapfrogged Montreal on Monday into 26th place. They’ve got a five-point cushion on Arizona, are seven points clear of Anaheim and San Jose, and are pulling away from Chicago (8 points) and Columbus (11 points) too.
With just 19 games left, the Canucks are unlikely to climb any higher than 24th place. They’re also unlikely to drop much further without an epic collapse.
Consequently, the Canucks currently have the seventh-best odds (6.5%) to win the first overall selection, and realistically, that number isn’t likely to change much by season’s end.
The odds of sinking to the bottom of the standings have taken a big blow lately, with the impressive play of Thatcher Demko and surprise AHL call-up Arturs Silovs.
The play of Spencer Martin and Collin Delia were contributing factors to the Canucks posting the second-worst goals-against average (4.02) in the NHL prior to February 15, when Silovs made his NHL debut.
Martin has been relegated to the AHL since then, while Delia has started just once.
Silovs, meanwhile, has a 3-2 record in five starts, with a .908 save percentage. Demko has returned to form after missing nearly three months due to injury and is 2-1 in three starts with a .937 save percentage.
Since February 15, the Canucks have posted the NHL’s 10th-best goals-against average (3.00). The Canucks have the 13th-best points percentage (.611) during that span, with a 5-3-1 record.
Will it continue?
The Canucks are playing more dependably defensively in front of their goaltenders, even with a decimated blue line.
Silovs was sent down today, but he can be recalled from Abbotsford when needed.
Demko is the bigger story. The 27-year-old has the ability to steal games, as he did on many nights last season.
It will be hard for the Canucks to up their odds much with him playing at the top of his game.
The current NHL draft lottery odds (Tankathon.com)
Just how low the Canucks can go remains to be seen, but along with Chicago, they’re the only teams in the bottom-third of the NHL standings with a winning record in their last 10 games.
Coaches and players don’t tank, but management can. Vancouver did weaken their roster with most of their recent future-looking trades, with the one big exception being the Filip Hronek deal.
Rick Tocchet could also be to credit/blame for the team’s recent turnaround, as the Canucks aren’t bleeding chances like they did earlier in the season under Bruce Boudreau.
Regardless, there are likely going to be some bittersweet feelings in the next six weeks from many Canucks fans, who want to see their team perform well, but still lose.
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