Vancouver Canucks Hockey Stuff

Huge goal by Sami Salo with less than two minutes left in the third period stopped a rally by the Chicago Blackhawks in game one of the second round of  the Stanley cup Playoffs.  The Canuck win game one 5-3. 

The Vancouver Canucks looked a little slow out of the gate in tonights game against the Chicago Blackhawks, but the continous line-up by the blackhawk players to the penalty box ended up helping the Canucks beat the Blackhawks tonight.  Vancouver ended up ahead of the Blackhawks by a margin of 3-0 by the start of the third period.  The Sedin line looked amazing through the first two periods, making dazzling plays, finding each other and Burrows all over the ice.  Henrik potted the 2nd goal in for the Canucks after a nice feed from daniel on the sideboards.

Fast forward to the third and the Blackhawks score one only 2 minutes into the period, and the young guns in the Chicago line-up were set on fire.  Chicago dominated the third period, finishing their checks, getting pucks on Luongo, and tying up the game.  GM Place was dead.  You could hear a pin drop.  That was until 2 minutes left, when the Canucks broke out of their zone, with a  four on one.  Khabibulin made an initial save, and the rebound came out to Salo who popped it into the wide open net.  Mayhem was about again in GM Place. 

Three stars for tonight, third star was Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhakws, second star was Kyle Wellwood, and first star, Sami Salo, who had the game winner tonight.

The Canucks take a 1-0 lead in the series, and they will play again Saturday May 2nd 2009,  in Vancouver at GM Place, game time is 6pm and you can watch the game live on CBC, or listen live to streaming online radio at the Team1040.ca

Popularity: 47% [?]

For the first time in Vancouver Canucks history, they have won a playoff series 4 games to 0.  They completed their first ever playoff sweep tonight with an overtime win against the St Louis Blues.  Alex Burrows scored his second goal of the night with 19 seconds left in the 1st overtime period, to give the Canucks the 3-2 win.  Vancouver will now have to wait for around 7 days to begin their next playoff series, which has yet to be determined.

Roberto Luongo is now 7-0 in his last 7 starts, which include 3 shut-outs and only 6 goals allowed in those seven games.  Though it appeared he may have been injured in the second period of tonight’s game, he battled through it and got the win.  He seemed to be slow in getting to his feet throughout the remainder of the game, so hopefully it isn’t serious, though I highly doubt it was just “cramping” that he told to Scott Oakes of CBC Sports.

Willie Mitchell also battled through pain, an Henrik Sedin, who left the 3rd period in significant pain, also battled through and got the win for Vancouver. 

What will we remember this series as being?  One where the Canucks literally shut down their opposition.  One where the St Louis Blues special teams didn’t hurt Vancouver.  A goaltending duel between Chris Mason and Roberto luongo, who were the hottest goalies coming down the last stretch of the regular season.  A record setting four game sweep.  A precedent of things to come?

The Canucks are on top of their game right now.  If there is a team to beat in this league, it is the Vancouver Canucks.

Popularity: 50% [?]

Canucks Beat Wild 2-1

It was a long boring game, but the Canucks pulled through with an overtime goal by Henrik Sedin to take 1st place in the northwest division tonight with a battle against the Minnesota Wild.  Pavol Demitra was given credit for the Canucks lone goal in the 2nd period, after he banked it out in front from behind the net and the puck bounced off a Wild player and went in behind Wild netminder Niklas Backstrom.

Though killing off a late 3rd period penalty that stretched into OT from a puck that was cleared over the glass by Sami Salo, the Canucks battled through and finally got a couple shots on Backstrom (after not getting a single shot in the 3rd period, the 5th shot-less period in Canucks history),  and one of them counting, with a pass from Daniel to Henrik, and the puck was in the back of the net.

2 months ago the Canucks were 13 points behind Calgary in the northwest, and tonight they are leading the northwest.  It’s been a great turn-around for the Canucks.  With the Canucks leading the divison, they are sitting at 3rd in the Western Conference.  They play again Thursday April 2 2009, at home against the Anaheim Ducks.  The game is available on Sportsnet Pacific and is available on live streaming online radio at team1040.ca

Popularity: 9% [?]

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

Popularity: 24% [?]