The Vancouver Canucks were once again unable to put together back to back wins as they lost 2-1 to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. Steve Bernier got the Canucks on the board early in the 1st, banging in a rebound off a Kyle Wellwood shot. Patrick O'Sullivan tied the game up only 26 seconds into the 2nd period off a nice feed from Denis Grebeshkov then Sam Gagner scored midway through the third on a terrible Alex Edler turnover to put the Oilers up 2-1. Nikolai Khabibulin stood on his head throughout the whole game, stopping 39 of 40 shots. Kyle Wellwood actually put the puck in the net after a gorgeous end to end rush late in the third, unfortunately the time had just run out and the puck went into the net about a second too late.
Our take: Is it just me or have the Canucks run into a hot goalie in every game so far this year, except against the Canadiens? Khabibulin was miraculous tonight, but clearly Vancouver is also lacking finish and aren't capitalizing on their chances. They are however averaging close to 40 shots a game and have outchanced their opponent's in most of the games this year.
Alex Edler and Kevin Bieksa have been god awful so far this year with their terrible pinches and brutal turnovers. What happened to the Kevin Bieksa that used to smash everything in sight, and used to love to punch people in the face? The Kevin Bieksa that came out of nowehere to become a fan favorite, and a tough guy to play against? Apparently he thinks now that he has a big contract and is an everyday NHLer that he can coast through games and get away with it. It's time Alain Vigneault grows some balls and sends some messages to some of these guys before it gets too late - which is sooner than later.
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