Canucks 4 Leafs 1
Is it possible this win that the Canucks had against the Leafs could have been easier? Yes I think it could have been. The Canucks power play is ranked #2 in the league and Toronto's PK is ranked #29. You would think this would be an advantage for the Canucks however they did not use this part of their game to take charge of a close game. They went 0 for 6 on the night including a four minute gift by Versteeg in the 2nd. These are the times in a game against a bad opponent where the Canuck's can make things a lot easier on themselves and kill the other team right away.
Although I was disappointed in the PP the team did play a solid game. The SSB line got it going and the key to that line being dominant (Alex Burrows) put one in the back of the net early. This will hopefully set Burrows in the right direction as he can be a difference maker for the Canucks moving forward.
Again the 2nd line led by Ryan Kesler has been dominating teams on a regular basis. Also what can you say about Tambellini, last night he used his speed to make Luke Schenn look silly, not only did he blow by Schenn he made a smart heads up play at the same time to spot Kesler streaking who hit Hands of Stone Hansen who actually converted the easy tap in. What a pick up by MG has Tambellini been to the team this season.
Led by Malhotra (14/20) all the Canucks do is win faceoffs. As a team they went 41/63. This is huge for a puck possession team like the Canucks and has been a great key to the Canucks success.
Props to the fourth line, other than the first shift the line played fairly well in limited minutes. Bolduc doesn't have many faceoff jobs but when the fourth line has to ice the puck it is nice to have a centre that can go 3/3 in the circle. Volpatti played pretty good for a first NHL game. He wasn't afraid to jump in on the rush and throw the body around. Good to see and hopefully he can improve on this game moving forward. There were a few times I saw him a little flat footed against the boards, hopefully that is something he'll see on the tape and be able to work on.
Roberto Luongo, if you haven't seen his December stats take a look at what he's done in seven games. 7 GP 6 W 1L 1.83GAA .924SV% 1SO. That's something that will start being very scary for other teams moving forward. He had one mistake last night that cost him his shutout and I'm sure he wanted that one back. He got handcuffed by a shot from the outside that everyone including himself knows he should have had. He did make up for it though with some big saves including the early one on the 5 on 3 off Versteeg from right in front of the net. Those kind of saves are the saves that win games for teams and if Luongo can play the way he is in December come playoff time, watch out.
The defense played good in front of Luongo, it was good to see Ehrhoff back in action although he did look rusty. With this defense no player has to play more than 16 minutes/game. It's nice to spread out the minutes on the defense it keeps them all fresh. Edler and Ehrhoff played more than 5:30 on the PP, if they are going to be out that much they need to produce. The Canucks have other offensively capable dmen that can put up points who should be getting shots on the PP.
All in all good job by the Canucks for getting over the tough timing of the game (4PM start) and their apparent weakness against bad teams by finally beating a team they should easily beat.
Check in tomorrow for the Pre game for the Blues game.
Twitter me @bmah03
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