Canucks Win 3-2 Over Visiting Jets; Boeser’s Impact … or Not

Given the poor play of a couple of the Vancouver Canucks top players, namely Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser, it seemed like a great time for a shift diary to break down how a certain player looks. In this case, Boeser. Unlike Pettersson, who appears to be in a funk and getting in his own way, Boeser seems to turn pucks over in odd places and also manages to break-up his own team’s momentum. It’s been weird to watch. Here’s Boeser’s shift diary for Friday night against the Winnipeg Jets …

First Period

The 4th line started. New look to the lines. Boeser, with Jason Dickinson and Pettersson was the last Canucks line to take the ice.

1:25-2:15 D-zone draw controlled by Dickinson. Gained zone. Boeser lost puck battle along RW boards. Jets rush. Shot, blocked. Canucks clear and change.

4:50-5:30 Defensive zone posture covering the point and his right wing boards. That was the whole shift. A non-factor.

7:53-8:36 RW face-off circle in O-zone but “Petey” loses the draw. Jets up ice. Broken up, but they enter Canucks zone on second try. Shot, blocked. Soft shot caught and held.

9:16-10:08 RW circle offensive zone again. This time Canucks win draw, no shot develops. Jets break-out and it immediately develops into a 2-on-1 with Boeser next man back. Shot ticks wide. Canucks rush back up ice. Boeser carrying, head-mans puck to the left wing. On return pass to him in front he knocks it wide. Not sure if it hit stick or skate.

13:00-13:51 On with “2nd” power play unit. Set up in the left wing circle. Had a couple touches, returned puck to point. Oliver eventually Ekman-Larsson scores from the point.

13:51 – Vancouver 1, Winnipeg 0 – Oliver Ekman-Larsson(2), Elias Pettersson, Visaly Podkolzin. Power Play.

15:30-16:03 Offensive zone. Passive for puck battle along the boards. To bench on Jets clear and Canucks re-group.

18:52-19:45 Offensive zone draw lost by JT Miller. Jets clear their zone. On ensuing rush, Quinn Hughes to the left, Boeser to the right. Hughes elects to shoot and hits the post behind Jets goalie Eric Comrie. Puck cleared.

End of 1st Period – Vancouver Canucks 1, Winnipeg Jets 0.

Notes: Jets outshot the Canucks 16-12

For Boeser, keeping it simple.

Second Period

2:23-3:12 Off the bench for neutral zone play back and forth on his right wing boards. Gained zone. Was third man high while teammates forechecked. Puck ended up to point man Kyle Burroughs who scored his first NHL goal from the point, off the post and in. Boeser on the ice for both Canucks goal thus far.

3:12 – Vancouver 2, Winnipeg 0 – Kyle Burroughs (1), Tyler Myers, Jason Dickinson. Even strength.

4:12 – Vancouver 2, Winnipeg 1 – Nik Ehlers (6), Unassisted

5:24-6:20 At the left point on the power play draw in left wing circle. Puck cleared. Slid to right point on next entry. Petey saved turnover breakaway at Jets line. Canucks quickly gain zone again and Petey get stopped on a wrister from the right wing circle. Comrie holds. Next unit scores.

6:54 – Vancouver 3, Winnipeg 1 – Conor Garland (5), Alex Chiasson, JT Miller. Power play.

8:30-9:50 Off the bench for a quick whistle. D-zone draw. Canucks win it but break-out pass eludes Dickinson in neutral zone for icing. Jets win draw, Canucks block shot and clear. Two attempts to gain Jets zone rebuffed. 2nd time, Boeser carries it out to centre ice and hands it back to D. Next rush, neutral zone play, puck ramps up and hits Boeser in the face. To bench.

12:15-13:45 Joined the rush off the bench. Puck knocked down on entry. 2nd attempt failed. Jets up ice with solo rush, Pierre-Luc Dubois stumbled and fell to boards. Nothing much on the next rush.

14:55-15:40 Deflected puck into O-zone from left wing boards at blueline. Possession failed. Back and forth hockey. One more zone entry, his shot attempt from the right wing circle was deflected wide. Chased back to neutral zone. Headed to bench as Jets chipped in and Canucks re-grouped.

17:30-18:45 Part of up-ice effort, gained Jets zone and set up in front of net after brief end-boards play. Puck wide, Boeser swung out to the circle. No shots, but good pressure. Jets counter-attacked and the unit got caught out for a long shift. Boeser in his spot defensively keeping an eye on the left point man.

End of 2nd Period – Vancouver Canucks 3, Winnipeg Jets 1.

Notes: The Canucks were outshot 12-9 in the period, 28-21 so far in the game.

Boeser still keeping it simple.

Third Period

1:24-2:00 Off bench for LW circle O-zone draw, won by Canucks. Hughes’s point shot was blocked and Boeser fell awkwardly trying to redirect the rebound towards the net.

3:35-4:20 His best shift of the night. Dickinson wins the D-zone draw straight to Boeser set up in the slot. He carries it out, chips and chases. Digs it out, sends to LW boards. Finds himself behind net for returned puck, centering pass to Dickinson for one-timer, shot is deflected. Kept puck in, inside blueline, worked it to Hughes. Jets eventually clear and Boeser heads to bench off re-group.

6:20-6:56-7:25 Boeser off bench just before Canucks guilty of icing. Series of clearing attempts. Boeser in neutral zone. Tracking puck but not playing it. Finally gathers inside his own line, works it back to Myers. Choppy play. Canucks guilty of offside. Whistle. TV time-out. Change.

Line comes back out for draw out of break. Guilty of icing after winning draw. D-zone draw won. Icing again. Win draw again. Clear. Change.

8:40-8:44 Off bench just as Jets’ Logan Stanley earned a minor penalty. A four-second shift. First unit, which Boeser is not presently part of, takes the ice.

9:55-11:07 – Jumps on with 2nd unit to join PP in progress. Two failed zone entries. On second, Jets break out with a brief 3-on-2, Boeser looking to hustle back. Whistle on a Jets offside just as Boeser hits bench.

12:30-13:05 – Break-out off a D-zone face-off win, turned over by JT Miller. Forwards chase back. Not much else going on. Canucks gain puck, clear. Short shift to bench.

16:00-16:29 – D-zone turned to O-zone in transition. Shot handled and held by Comrie.

17:32 – Vancouver 3, Winnipeg 2 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (10), Mark Scheifele, Kyle O’Connor. Extra attacker.

Final Score: Vancouver Canucks 3, Winnipeg Jets 2.

Notes: Jets outshot the Vancouver Canucks for the game, 39-29. Third star was Ekman-Larsson, second star was Kyle Burroughs, first star was Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko.

Boeser didn’t play final minutes while Winnipeg played with extra attacker.

His line on the evening is rather remarkable in a certain way. In 17:24 of ice time: Plus 1. 0 shots. 1 Shot attempt blocked. 0 hits. 0 giveaways, 0 takeaways. 0 blocked shots.

Some excellent related news: Pettersson seemed more like himself. Petey had an assist, had 3 shots on goal and won six of ten face-offs.