Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra was pretty blunt after Game 2 on Sunday, a 3-2 overtime loss that left the series at 1-1.
First on Malhotra’s list was his team putting Charlotte on the power play five times.
“It comes down to the things we discussed before the game in terms of making sure we stay out of the box, our discipline,” Malhotra said. “Took far too many undisciplined penalties to be able to be successful.”
Malhotra has also emphasized strong starts with his players, and he did not see enough of that for the second consecutive game against the Checkers.
“The way we lost doesn’t sit well. We didn’t start the game on time once again,” Malhotra continued. “Give them credit. They come out with a ton of pace, and they make it difficult for you. We’re going to have to find a way to be more assertive early in games to make sure we’re not playing on our heels.”
One of the significant effects of those slow starts is the workload that it places on goaltender Artūrs Šilovs, who has faced 96 shots already in the series. After a 51-save showing in Game 1, he had to handle 16 shots – several of them grade A opportunities – in the first period Sunday afternoon.
Will Lockwood’s name does not show up on the scoresheet for the overtime goal in Game 2, but his work helped to set it up nonetheless.
With the Checkers trying to shut down an Abbotsford power play 16 seconds into overtime, Lockwood and defenseman Mike Benning teamed up to wrestle a loose puck out of the defensive zone. They worked it into the Abbotsford zone, got a stoppage of play, and the Checkers then drew a power play of their own that set up Benning’s eventual winner. Lockwood’s diligent, unheralded work impressed head coach Geordie Kinnear.
“(He’s) full of energy,” Kinnear said of Lockwood. “An elite athlete. If you look at the player that played a lot of minutes, never really lost a step at all, it would be him. But it’s because of the hard work he puts in. He just loves the game, loves to compete. He’s a very fit athlete, so he’s able to do that.”
For the second game in a row, the Checkers had to go with five defensemen after Tobias Bjornfot exited the contest injured.
“We played shorthanded pretty much for half the game,” Kinnear said. “So we’re going to have to reassess some of the lines and lineup. I’ll address that to see how the guys are.”
No matter who is in the lineup for Game 3, Kinnear expects the same from his players.
“There’s no adjustment,” he said. “If you look at it throughout the year, these guys have done it all year. They know what the recipe is. We just have to make sure we go and execute.”
Both teams made lineup changes for Game 2.
Abbotsford brought in forward Ty Glover for Dino Kambeitz. For Charlotte, forward C.J. Smith and defenseman Dennis Cesana were out, replaced by Brett Chorske and Marek Alscher.
― with files from Patrick Williams
