The Vancouver Canucks got back on the winning track Saturday night with a 2-1 win against the Minnesota Wild. In familiar fashion, the Canucks got behind early on a Mikko Koivu shot that deflected off of Kyle Wellwood's skate and slipped past Roberto Luongo to make it 1-0 Minny. The score would remain that way until the 2nd when Ryan Kesler banked one in off a stickless Niklas Backstrom to tie the game 1-1. Early in the 3rd period, Mikael Samuelsson collected a rebound off of an Alex Burrows attempt, and quickly went backhand to forehand and roofed one passed a sprawling Backstrom.
Backstrom single-handedly kept the game close as the Canucks peppered him all game finishing with 39 shots. It was easily Vancouver's best performance of the year, playing a solid game for nearly all 60 minutes, something they haven't been able to say all year.
Our take: About time!! Good to see the boys finally put it all together and play a solid game. I don't think it's a fluke that for the first time all year we were the more physical team, and it resulted in a win. Roberto Luongo was sharp when he needed to be (which wasn't often), especially with a point blank save on Brent Burns with just over a minute remaining.
Another positive in this game was the play of Michael Grabner. He seemed to try and keep things simple, and he along with linemates Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond were buzzing all night. It will be interesting to see how this line can produce in the next couple games, and to see if Grabner can hold onto his spot in the lineup.
Next up for Vancouver is a date with the Oilers in Edmonton Monday night. The Oilers are coming off a 5-3 drilling of the Wild in their last game, and seem to be turning the corner themselves, so this could be a very interesting game.
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