First Star, Worst Star: January 24th, 2016

We’ve reached the All-Star Break, or as Oiler fans like to refer to it “a full of not having to watch any Oiler games!” We’ve also reached the end of the week, so it’s time for First Star, Worst Star!

The Vancouver Canucks are in a weird transition period; the stars they still have on their roster are getting older and older, and they don’t really seem to have any young guys who appear ready to take the team over any time soon. But they do have a decent selection of younger players on the roster, Linden Vey among them. And Vey showed his worth on Saturday scoring a HUGE goal in the Canucks’ Saturday afternoon tilt against the Penguins. 

Clearly Vey has a real nose for the net, and was able to find some open ice and accept a text book tape to tape pass from Evgeni Malkin. Ryan Miller had NO CHANCE on this goal, almost as if he was caught completely off guard and didn’t expect a shot to even come from Vey. I’m sure he’ll have much more respect for Vey’s goal scoring prowess from here on out. 

This goal was huge as it sparked a third period comeback from the Penguins that saw them score 4 straight goals, winning the game 5-4. It was a nice play by Vey and I, for one, hope to see him do this over and over again while wearing a Canucks jersey. 

Louis Domingue is a young NHL goalie who has gotten off to a hot start early in his career so far, helping the Coyotes stay in the thick of the Pacific division playoff battle royale. However he still has a lot to learn about being an NHL goalie. 

There’s a lot going on during this play; We’ve seen goalie interference called for MUCH LESS than what Tanner Pearson does on this play, so you could easily argue this play should have been blown dead and the goal shouldn’t have counted. There are also 4 Coyotes on one side of the ice for some reason, and one of them just straight up blows the zone as soon as it looks like the Coyotes have possession. That’s Oilers-esque defensive coverage. 

But my biggest problem with this whole thing is how Domingue handles having a loose strap on his mask. You don’t just calmly take your mask off as if you’ve just sat down in the room between periods. You do what Dwayne Roloson mastered doing his career, and you fling that mask into the 8th row! Even if Rollie didn’t have time to catapult his mask into the sun in order to get a whistle, he stayed with the play and continued to make saves!

Domingue is still young, and has plenty to learn about being a goalie in the NHL. But if can’t master even the basics of having a strap come loose on your mask then I don’t know how long of a career he’ll have. Also, Louis if you could learn that Rollie baseball bat pass thing that would be rad. More goalies should do that!