Canucks 5 Ducks 4 (SO)
Well that was ugly, but ugly is sometimes good and to me last nights game will be huge moving forward. Although the Canucks are the best team in the third period, until last night they had yet to come back and get a W when trailing in the third. Not only were they trailing 3-2 going into the third they gave up a goal to go down 4-2. Last night they fought and battled and came back. The Canucks are going to dominate their fair share of games this season and will get their points that way, but two points earned this way are the points that go a long way in winning a division.
Don't get me wrong the two points are great but the team didn't come and dominate like they should have. Anaheim is a good team but not an elite team. They usually play the Canucks tight but the Canucks need to take advantage of tired teams coming into Roger's Arena.
Last night Luongo did not have a great game, however he did make a few timely saves. He seems to not be 100% prepared for shots and needs to work on his mental game. When he is in the zone pucks simply do not get past him. When his brain wanders the puck slides past him. Even the goal Selanne scored (a very good shot) Luongo should have the ability to push off and get over on a cross ice pass that travels that far. He's a huge goalie and if in the right position should be able to take away all the net from that angle. When he's on his game that puck hits him in the shoulder.
Ryan Kesler, what can you say about him last night other than he took over the game. He put the team on his shoulders and willed them to the win. If he plays every game this way watch out. If he and the Twins can get going together in the playoffs the Canucks will have two lines that will be very hard to control. His line along side of Raymond and Tambellini look dangerous on almost every shift. Raymond's hand seem a half second slower than they were last season, but I think that will catch up again and I expect this line to continue to improve. Tambellini (the sniper) has really brought this line together, he's speed and shooting skills bring another dimension to the line. Not only is he a good shooter he has the ability to back off into the high slot and find a good shooting lane, or he can crash the net hard. Also, what a shot in the shootout. The goalie will never save a shot like that. Haven't heard any updates on Raymond, but I'm assuming he was just rattled yesterday.
The Twins were good, but I'd like to see them finish more 5 on 5. They had a lot of chances and Henrik started to shoot more which was nice to see. He made some crazy dangles and had some great chances. The line looked dangerous and if they keep playing this way they will keep putting up good numbers. Not only do the twins play good but they create so much space for the 2nd line by taking on the opponents top defensive players every night.
Hansen has been doing his job every night, when Raymond got hurt I was surprised Glass got moved up over Hansen. Not that it was a bad decision just a little surprised to see. When Hansen is on the 4th line the Canucks are full of depth.
I liked what I saw from Andersson. He seems defensively responsible, has good speed and will throw his body around. He's a good backup option on the wing for the fourth line because of his experience playing hockey. He hasn't played much in the NHL but he's played in a lot of the European leagues.
Bieksa continues to play with good aggression. If he is going to be traded I expect the team to get a good return for him. I still have an issue with his break out passes. Last night there was an instance in his own zone where he had a clear passing lane from behind the net to the winger on the left side. If he steps out two steps to his left his right handed shot makes an easy forehand pass tape to tape to the winger and they break out with speed, but he decided to whip the puck around the boards and make the winger come back to the puck. To me this is something Bieksa needs to work on and if he could figure this out he would be a lot less frustrating to watch.
All in all the team wasn't great, Luongo didn't have a good game, but when push came to shove they jumped on a leader (Kesler) and scrapped their way back into the game. Luongo showed up in the shootout and hopefully this changes his mindset in this setting. They need to be able to finish off teams they should beat with a little more ease but they still got two points and that's what matters. Time to regroup and focus on back to back games on the weekend.
Check in tomorrow I will be writing my opinion on Luongo and Schneider's roll and the amount of games they will play throughout the year.
Moose update: Cody Hodgson
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