Moral of the Story: Don’t Take Stupid Penalties

I’ll admit I’ve defended Andrew Alberts during his short and adventurous stint with the Canucks so far. He adds some size and a physical element to the team’s blueline, and in a limited role, he was playing better as he became more accustomed to new teammates and a new system.

At least I thought he was playing better until last night.

Alberts played only 8:25 last night before he was ejected in the second period for boarding Brad Richardson. For his transgressions, he earned a 5-minute major and a game misconduct, and effectively took away some of the momentum the Canucks had from taking the lead just 3 minutes before that. Fortunately, the Kings only scored once during the major, though the Kings’ other goal also came while Alberts was in the box for interference. His ejection also forced the Canucks to play with just five defensemen for the final 40 minutes of the game and OT.

If Alberts wants to stay in the lineup, he can’t afford to make bad decisions and stupid plays, especially if the Kings are going to connect on the powerplay like they did last night. 5-on-5, the Canucks outshot the Kings (32-22); shorthanded, the Canucks surrendered 2 powerplay goals to the Kings. The Canucks held a definite edge in play on even-strength; Alberts needs to be smarter and not take this advantage away.