Canucks 4 Lightning 5 (SO)
Well what can you say about that game? It started out awesome, what a great tribute to #19. Naslund deserves all the respect he got, he did everything in Vancouver except win a cup and he provided a lot of great entertainment for the fans in Vancouver. It was great to see all the former Canucks around, Bmo, Ohlund and even Bert throwing on the Canuck's jersey one last time.
The game was a strange one, lots of weird bounces like the tip by Stamkos. However it was another game with a team coming to Vancouver after playing the night before in Edmonton. These are the types of games the Canucks need to get up for an come out guns a blazin'. They did score first but they let TB back into the game.
With the injuries the Canucks have had lately I have been stressing the fact the Twins need to be dominant and have a good +/-. Last night the SSB line was a combined -3. This cannot happen for the Canucks to win. They are the leaders of the team and in times when other lines have injuries they need to step up even more.
The Canucks PK didn't have a great game, although in fairness the 4 on 3 in OT is such a tough PK. Still they need to be flawless when the team has injuries, special teams will be a key for the Canucks. Their PP did have a good game going 2/4. If you were watching the Canucks on the PP they do their best when the D man are blasting away from the point and getting tips in front. Most of the Canucks forwards are very skilled when it comes to deflections and this needs to continue being a key to their PP. They seem way more successful shooting from the point. Once other teams start taking away the defence it will open up space for Daniel and Henrik to work the puck down low.
Cory Schneider had a rough game on the stat sheet with only a .783 SV%. However he did make some keys saves. The save to start off the game from right in front of the net was a big one to get the Canucks going. In all fairness to Schneider he hadn't played since Nov. 20th. All in all he did a pretty good job at giving the team a chance to win. Which is all you can expect in that situation. He should know he will have a chance again soon to get back out there and shouldn't hang his head at all. He's young and will go through some growing pains. He still hasn't outright lost a game this season so hopefully he can keep that going.
Ballard is once again showing why he is a top 4 D man. Yes he was on the ice when TB scored but he is playing physical good defense and recently he's been learning how the Canuck's defense plays by jumping up into the rush and getting on the score sheet. His goal wasn't pretty but it's the fact that he's up there taking the shot that's important. Sometimes they go in. This injury to Ehrhoff (hopefully not a bad one) will be a blessing in disguise if Ballard can show AV show good of a player he is.
If you have back to back games and you can get three points out of the two you should be happy. Tonight they have a chance to do that after last nights go so tonights game will decide if last nights game was a success.
Pre game blog coming up for tonights game in the next few hours (watching the Pats game right now)
Follow the twitter @bmah03 for blog updates.
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Thanks everyone.
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