Okay, I know what everyone’s going to be talking about with tonight’s loss against the Calgary Flames.

Yes, Dion Phaneuf, along with the rest of the Flames were getting away with murder out there, with the referees turning a mostly blind eye to their antics. Yes, there were a number of blown calls out there, including the blown icing call with Alex Bolduc and Dion Phaneuf and the Tanner Glass non-call/call in the third. Yes, Canucks fans should be ticked at the officiating in general.

BUT…

No, and I have to make that an emphatic no, that did not cost the Canucks the game. What cost the Canucks 1 point and the NW division lead tonight was a deviation from their game plan.

The Flames should have had absolutely no reason to have been in this game. Should have, which is the rub. Full marks have to be given to the Flames for putting up a fight and winning this game: they were playing their fourth game in five nights and the second of a back to back game which saw them lose to the Blue Jackets. By all accounts, they should have been easily handled by the Canucks.

Unfortunately, the Flames did a great job at getting the Canucks off of their game plan, which allowed Calgary to creep back into the game and slowly take it over, which resulted in the eventual ‘grind it out’ win that is a hallmark of Flames hockey.

What am I talking about here? Well,

The Canucks were badly outhit and outshot by the Flames, yet they dominated in the faceoff circle and were getting a ton of quality scoring chances against the Flames. Had they stuck to a skill game (did anyone see that Daniel Sedin goal? How beautiful was that?) and focused on winning the hockey game, things may have been different. Unfortunately they decided to mix it up with the Flames and the results speak for themselves.

The two dumb penalties from Shane O’Brien. The elbowing call early in the game and then the later delay of game were more in tune with the O’Brien of old, the one who would let his emotions get the better of him and sit in the penalty box as a result. It was an uncharacteristic characteristic night for him.

There was Willie Mitchell focusing more on trying to start something with Jarome Iginla rather than simply going about his job at defending. Mitchell is one of the team’s leaders, you can see the letter on his chest, plain as day. Running around beaking at the Flames and playing a chippy game is a distraction and is something the Canucks shouldn’t have been indulging in what was a close game.

Ryan Kesler’s hugging match with Dion Phaneuf and the huge scrum at the end of the second period which saw Mason Raymond sit for 10 minutes are other examples. In Kesler’s case, I can sort of excuse it, as Dion Phaneuf was running around taking liberties all night long and someone had to answer to him, but again, he’s a leader on the team and shouldn’t be letting his emotions cloud his judgment. There’s a fine line to walk between being ‘passionate’ and ‘over emotional’ and I think that both Mitchell and Kesler crossed that line tonight.

There was Tanner Glass’ retaliatory penalty. This might be a little contentious for some people, as it was proof of the shoddy officiating that was going on tonight at GM Place. That said, even though Glass was thrown into the boards earlier by a Flames player, he shouldn’t have let his temper best him and respond in kind.

Worst of all, though, was Rick Rypien’s decision to drop the gloves against Brandon Prust not once but twice. Perhaps it needed to be done and I am sure that there are arguments that could be made in favor of it. That said, I don’t think that indulging the Flames with fisticuffs not once but twice, in a game where the Flames were looking for a way to get into the game, was the most sound of decisions. The Flames clearly fed off of those fights, especially since there was no clearcut winner in either matchup (I’d argue that Prust got a slight edge to Rypien, as he made him bleed in the first dustup, though.) The fact that the Canucks decided to respond to the Flames chippy play in the worst possible fashion is what ended up with the loss.

That said, I will give Rypien full credit for dropping the gloves and answering the bell. That’s what he’s supposed to do and he did his job tonight twice. Given the success he’s enjoyed as a fighter, you also couldn’t fault him for not getting a convincing win. Still…

Even Roberto Luongo didn’t come out of this unscathed…while I love the fact that he mixed it up ever-so-slightly with Flames captain Jarome Iginla in that aformentioned huge scrum near the end of the first, I think that he also got into the heat of the moment and became more interested in retaliating or one-upping the Flames than he was focused on winning the hockey game. Going an uncharacteristic 0 for 3 on the shootout is what makes me think that his mind wasn’t 100% focused on the game. (Although if Luongo ended up coming up huge in the shootout, I probably would’ve been singing his praises and for being an awesome captain. Welcome to the world of sports blogging.

It’s frustrating, too, because Luongo played a really, really good game against the Flames and made a number of amazing saves throughout the game. Both goalies, actually, were putting on a clinic and it was a treat to see.

The other annoying thing was the idiot with a laser pointer who thought it’d be hilarious to try and shine it into the eyes of Kiprusoff. Beyond the fact that it was a completely tasteless and juvenile thing to do, it was also dangerous, as those things are capable of causing permanent eye damage…as demonstrated with Bill McCreary’s eyesight issues for most of the game. Pretty surprised that the Anti Fun Brigade at GM Place didn’t jump on him earlier, but them’s the breaks.

Other bright spots on the night included Brad Lukowich, who I thought had a great game in his debut as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. A big hit, some great positioning to keep the puck from escaping the Flames zone in the third and keeping the play alive and playing mistake free hockey was nice to see. Had the entire team played like this we probably would’ve had a win.

Evan Oberg also looked okay in his debut as a Canuck, although he had very limited icetime, so it was hard to get a handle on how he was doing.

The Canucks PK continues to improve, as they killed off all penalties tonight. That said, the PP seemed to be having some problems as this marks 2 games in a row where the Canucks couldn’t get anything going on the man advantage.

The Canucks will square off against the Nashville Predators Monday. Recent fan favorites The Green Men should be in attendance for Monday’s game. Too bad Dave Scatchard won’t be, as he was placed on waivers.