The wheels of the American Express are turning, but the train has yet to leave the station.
For the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Canucks all-American line of Ryan Kesler, Chris Higgins and newly acquired David Booth, the former Florida Panther whos now played two games with Vancouver, the second line is progressing despite an inability to score so far.
In Wednesdays 3-0 loss at home to the St. Louis Blues, the Canucks trailed 25-15 in shots through two periods, but returned to outshoot their opponent 17-6 in the third.
Kesler's line registered seven shots, the highest of the night's offensive lines. Booth picked up four of the seven, more than any other offensive Canuck on Wednesday.
Still, a shot is not the number that counts most on the scoreboard.
Despite the shutout, Booth said it's a good time to be a Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Canuck.
"Obviously I was hoping for a win but, man, it's a great place to play and [there's] lots of enthusiasm there," Booth said after his first home game at Rogers Arena. "I'm definitely excited to be a Canuck and to be in the city of Vancouver."
The Canucks acquired Booth in a four-way deal Saturday that saw Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm leave for Florida in exchange for Booth and Steve Reinprecht. The latter was sent directly to the Canucks' AHL affiliate in Chicago.
As for why none of Wednesday's shots managed to get in net, Booth said he couldnt explain the goose egg.
"I keep getting chances but I don't know that they'll go [in]. You can't let yourself get down.
"I get those rebounds," Booth said of his plans for the Canucks' next game Saturday against the Washington Capitals, currently the league's top team. "I think there are a lot of pucks laying there. Just seems like [I'm] at the wrong spots."
While Booth had plenty to say in terms of how he can improve his contribution to the Am/Ex line, Ryan Kesler remained more at ease.
"Didn't go in, plain and simple. Sometimes you get those bounces and sometimes you don't," said Kesler, the second line centre. "[Booth's] good. Obviously he's a big power guy and each game we're getting better and that's a good sign."
The overall results at this early point in the season are not a good sign for as the Canucks now fall below .500 to 4-5-1.
The Blues Alexander Steen beat starting goalie Cory Schneider twice, while Patrick Berglund sealed the game with a third goal.
Steen put the Blues on the board at 8:29 of the middle frame with a goal off his own rebound from the right circle. He then followed up with at 6:17 of the third with a long shot on Schneider's short side.
Berglund capped the Blues at 17:09 in the third period with a glove side shot from the slot.
Alain Vigneault expects more.
"I think we could be better in a lot of areas, but I think our biggest obstacle right now is our execution and basically our execution offensively," Vigneault said. "We are making some mistakes, not finding ways to find the back of the net. We are not generating the type of chances I think this group is capable of generating and that has a lot more to do with execution than anything else."
"It's early," Booth said as a reminder, "I know that the team has resilience and we will come back. There's no sense of panic right now."
Twitter: @kimiyasho
