There seems to be a familiar trend developing for the Canucks; starting the game poorly then coming back to win the game.
It's not how coach Willie Desjardins would ideally want it to be, especially in the first three minutes, but the end result was positive and that's why this Canucks squad seems to be different than the teams of the past few years.
Vancouver was lucky to be tied after the first period, a period that was easily their worst of the season. Ryan Miller was calm, cool and collected and kept his boys in it long enough for Radim Vrbata to score his 6th goal (first in 5 games) with only 8 seconds remaining to knot it up.
The Canucks came out for the second looking sluggish, and Logan Couture scored a beauty through-the-legs tip-in on the power play to once again give San Jose the lead. Two minutes later though, Alex Edler scored his own power play marker with an absolute bomb from the point to tie the game at two. And before the end of the frame, who else but Nick Bonino scored a beauty - his third goal in two games and seventh of the season - to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead.
It was all Miller from that point on as he made save after save to salvage the win. It wasn't without a scare though, as Joe Thornton beat Miller a millisecond after the final horn blew, needing an official review to finally be determined too late and ensuring the Canucks the win. Miller ended with 34 saves en route to his league-leading 10th win, to go along with only one loss.
Vancouver hasn't fared well in the state of California the past couple years, so to get a win in San Jose was big. The Canucks travel to L.A to face the Kings on Saturday before ending their trip Sunday versus Ryan Kesler and the Ducks. Expect back-up Eddie Lack to get one of those games.
Check out the full highlights and stats of the game here.
* Alex Burrows returned to the lineup after serving his three game suspension. He finished with an assist and reclaimed his spot on the second line. Bo Horvat was originally expected to sit out, but Zack Kassian's knee was bothering him after taking a questionable hit/knee Tuesday in Colorado so he ended up sitting out after taking the warmups.
* Horvat played solidly again in a 4th line role. He played 7:18 of ice-time and had one remarkable shift where he back-checked hard, laid a hit on the Sharks forward, stole the puck from him and then made a sweet saucer pass to a teammate who exited the zone. It was a sign of what the 19 year kid brings as his defensive game and physical strength is well beyond his years. He may never score 30 goals, but he will definitely prevent a bunch of them.
* The Canucks now have the second most points in the whole league! That's right, the Canucks are the second best team in hockey right now behind only the Anaheim Ducks, their opponent Sunday night. Check the full NHL standings here.
* Nick Bonino is tied for 6th in the NHL in goals with seven. He has 12 points in all. Ryan Kesler, whom Bonino was traded for, has 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points. No one is missing Kesler right now, except for maybe some lonely girls at The Roxy.
Follow me on twitter @CanuckCityBlog
No comments:
Post a Comment