Vancouver Canucks Hockey Stuff

This game went back and forth all night like a yo-yo with a bad attitude.  The first period saw the Canucks go down by a goal early, when Luongo was caught out of position and former canuck Brendan Morrison threw the puck into the wide open net.  The Canucks would tie it up on a goal by Ryan Kesler on a sweet pass from Mats Sundin.  Later in the first there was one heck of a scare when Daniel Sedin was clipped by a high stick in the face, and lay bleeding on the ice.  He stayed on the bench, and got a goal on a skate deflection on the ensuing powerplay.  He then left the bench to get repairs in the dressing room.  The Canucks finished the first period up 2-1.

The second period was a rough and tumble period, featuring lots of hits and lots of penalties for both teams.  It started off with a goal 1:38 into the second period by Henrik Sedin, putting the Canucks up 3-1. Highlight hits were Steve Otts hit as he walked out of the penalty box, taking out Taylor Pyatt who ended up laying on his head.  Pyatt was fine but took a penalty.  Later in the period, Darcy Hordichuk was chasing a breakaway pass into the Dallas zone, when Marty Turco came out to play the puck.  Hordichuk plastered Turco into the side boards and a riot ensued.  Co-incidental penalties were called against both teams.  Another scary moment when Ryan Kesler was knocked down onto the ice and one of the Dallas players hopped over Kesler and caught his skate along the back side of Keslers head.  Kesler looked to be in considerable pain, laying on the ice grabbing the back of his head.  He later returned to play in the third period.  No scoring in the second period.

Early in the third Turco made a huge save to stop a weak backhand attempt by Alex Burrows, trying to make it 4-1.   Not much after, Kesler breaks into the Dallas zone, Darryl Sydor plays Kesler for the puck, but Kesler makes a great move around him and slides the puck in past Turco, to make it his second of the night and a 4-1 lead for the Vancouver Canucks.  Ossi Vannanen gets his first point as a Vancouver Canucks with an assist on Kesler’s goal.  With 11 minutes left in the third period, Oneill gets a nice blueline pass, breaks past the D and after Roberto Luongo fails on his poke check, O’Neill pops the puck into the net.  Dallas keeps the game close at 4-2.  Shortly after the Dallas goal, Willie Mitchell takes a bad retaliatory penalty to put the Canucks on the penalty kill.  After a few shots, the Canucks penalty kill went to work and they successfully killed it off.  The Stars pressured heavily with less than two minutes left in the third period, but Luongo made a few huge saves to keep the Canucks in front.  Henrik Sedin made it 5-2 with an empty net goal with less than 30 seconds left in the game.

Ryan Kesler was the first star, and Daniel was the second and Henrik the third star.

The Canucks continue their road trip with a game on Thursday against St Louis Blues, in St Louis.  they are 1-1-0 on this road trip so far, and the Thursday game will be broadcast on Sportsnet and live online radio via Team1040.ca

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Vancouver Canucks try to go 11 and 2

Another big home game tonight for the Vancouver Canucks, against the Minnesota Wild.  The Wild will try to come in and break their curren losing streak, and gain 2 points to make it into the 8th and final playoff spot in the western conference. Meanwhile, the Canucks will look to gain the 2 points to stay in 5th spot, and ahead of the Wild who would then be on the outside, looking in, on the playoff standings.  If the Canucks pull out another win tonight, they will be 11 and 2 in their last 13 games, after getting points in 16 of their last 20 games.

Hopefully the Canucks can get more offensive production from their defensive corps tonight against the Wild, as Kevin Bieksa has gone 4 games without a point, yet still leads the Canucks defenseman in points.  Mats Sundin had two assists against Columbus, so look for him to produce again tonight as well.  Ryan Kesler has been on fire, and hopefully can start a consistent string of points during the next few games.  The Wild have lost 3 of their last 4 meetings against the Canucks, and have lost their last 3 consecutive starts.

The Wild have a much more defensive oriented game than the Canucks, so look for Vancouver to hit hard and hit early, to try to get on the scoreboard, and make the Wild pay for their defensive play. 

The big question with this game, is the fact that this could be the last game with the current roster, heading into tomorrow trade deadline.  Several Canucks have rumours swirling around them, the biggest being around Alex Burrows, who may be shipped if he can’t sign a contract extension.  Hopefully this rumour, is just that, a RUMOUR, as Burrows leaving the Canucks would throw a large wrench into this teams on ice chemistry.  One big development heading into tonights game is the fact that Brendan Morrison has been placed on waivers by the Anaheim Ducks.  Will the Canucks pick him up?  He would be a great third line center, pushing Wellwood down to the fourth line, as Wellwood sure hasn’t been producing.  We will know by tomorrow morning if the Canucks pick him up, I think it would be a SMART move for the Canucks, bringing back local BC talent that has a proven ability to play and put up big numbers.

Make sure to see the Canucks game live on Sportsnet Pacific at 7pm.  You can also listen to the game on live streaming online radio at The Team, team1040.ca.

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