canucks rip the blue jackets 1-0
He dekes, he shoots, he scores!
So what happens when the teams that are 28th and 29th in the league in terms of scoring meet?
A 1 goal hockey game, of course!
In Columbus first visit to GM Place this season, not only does it bring with it a new coach and a team with renewed energy to win, but also Anson Carter. The third twin. The long lost triplet. The brother from another mother. Well, after spending most of the season in the 4th line, with 4th line minutes, Hitchcock put Carter back in the 1st line with Fedorov and he looks like he's been making up for points that he could have made.
Of course with his return, there were fans that are obviously bitter that he signed elsewhere in the first place. At first, the boo-ing wasn't loud, just a few scattered ones all over the arena, but after a momentum swing to Columbus due to penalties at our end, the boo-ing got louder, and louder and louder. I'm sure the fan alcohol level also contributed to that, but everytime he touched the puck, he was booed. Anson thinks it's a sign of respect since to him, it's like Canucks fans recognize what he did here.
:) Way to look at it in a positive way.
Anyway, overall, the game was pretty exciting for a 1 goal game. We had 6 pwerplays, and we weren't able to capitalize on any of them, we did have a lot of scoring chances on them, as usual, but yeah. "No finish."
The goal we scored though? It was a pretty one. Very pretty. Nice pass
by Henrik, Naslund going through both defencemen, dekes, totally had
Leclaire fooled, and roofs it on a backhand. It almost reminds me of
that penalty shot he scored on Curtis Joseph, except he went forehand on that goal.
At least our defence, not to mention our goaltending, was solid all night. I think defence is the key, especially now when it looks like our offence won't be producing a lot. Jim Hughson and John Garrett mentioned on the post game discussion that it's not impossible to be a playoff team while being low in scoring. He pointed out that Calgary was second to the last (last/third to the last, forgot) in overall scoring last season, but with good defence and good goaltending by Kiprusoff, they were able to go to the playoffs. If the Canucks defence and Luongo kept playing the way they did last night, then maybe things can still turn out alright.
So what happens when the teams that are 28th and 29th in the league in terms of scoring meet?
A 1 goal hockey game, of course!
In Columbus first visit to GM Place this season, not only does it bring with it a new coach and a team with renewed energy to win, but also Anson Carter. The third twin. The long lost triplet. The brother from another mother. Well, after spending most of the season in the 4th line, with 4th line minutes, Hitchcock put Carter back in the 1st line with Fedorov and he looks like he's been making up for points that he could have made.
Of course with his return, there were fans that are obviously bitter that he signed elsewhere in the first place. At first, the boo-ing wasn't loud, just a few scattered ones all over the arena, but after a momentum swing to Columbus due to penalties at our end, the boo-ing got louder, and louder and louder. I'm sure the fan alcohol level also contributed to that, but everytime he touched the puck, he was booed. Anson thinks it's a sign of respect since to him, it's like Canucks fans recognize what he did here.
:) Way to look at it in a positive way.
Anyway, overall, the game was pretty exciting for a 1 goal game. We had 6 pwerplays, and we weren't able to capitalize on any of them, we did have a lot of scoring chances on them, as usual, but yeah. "No finish."
At least our defence, not to mention our goaltending, was solid all night. I think defence is the key, especially now when it looks like our offence won't be producing a lot. Jim Hughson and John Garrett mentioned on the post game discussion that it's not impossible to be a playoff team while being low in scoring. He pointed out that Calgary was second to the last (last/third to the last, forgot) in overall scoring last season, but with good defence and good goaltending by Kiprusoff, they were able to go to the playoffs. If the Canucks defence and Luongo kept playing the way they did last night, then maybe things can still turn out alright.
As for the other things, I'm surprised Jan Bulis didn't like create a
defensive mistake (that was noticeable anyway) last night. LOL! I think
they stopped trying to give him the puck on our zone. Too much of a
risk.
And welcome to the Canucks Jesse Schultz! He didn't play too bad, for his first game. He didn't make any costly defensive mistakes, and was even able to draw a penalty. He was put in the line with Morrison and Pyatt, and he did pretty well. He has a good shot, and I like how he's not afraid to actually shoot in the net? There was a 2-on-1 with Morrison, and he was controlling the puck, and he shot it instead of passing, didn't score, but the defenceman's stick was right there and could have easily deflected and created a turnover. Anyway, good game!
As for Pyatt..... I actually didn't complain about him this game as much as I did in other games, cause I think he's starting to handle the puck better. I think he's also facing the urgency to score a goal now because I bet he's heard that people think he has zero skill at all and the Sedin's made him. Well, Pyatt has a nice shot, nice "hands", and I really want to see him score soon. Hopefully it's a pretty wrist shot, since he does have a nice wrist shot, but the only reason he doesn't use it more often is cause he's usually the guy who screens the goalie in powerplays, etc.
Anyway, overall good game. I'm scared for the game against the Ducks after the 6-0 whooping we got from them last time. If the defence this time just elevates their game 200% maybe we have a chance to win. Score Nazzy score!
And welcome to the Canucks Jesse Schultz! He didn't play too bad, for his first game. He didn't make any costly defensive mistakes, and was even able to draw a penalty. He was put in the line with Morrison and Pyatt, and he did pretty well. He has a good shot, and I like how he's not afraid to actually shoot in the net? There was a 2-on-1 with Morrison, and he was controlling the puck, and he shot it instead of passing, didn't score, but the defenceman's stick was right there and could have easily deflected and created a turnover. Anyway, good game!
As for Pyatt..... I actually didn't complain about him this game as much as I did in other games, cause I think he's starting to handle the puck better. I think he's also facing the urgency to score a goal now because I bet he's heard that people think he has zero skill at all and the Sedin's made him. Well, Pyatt has a nice shot, nice "hands", and I really want to see him score soon. Hopefully it's a pretty wrist shot, since he does have a nice wrist shot, but the only reason he doesn't use it more often is cause he's usually the guy who screens the goalie in powerplays, etc.
Anyway, overall good game. I'm scared for the game against the Ducks after the 6-0 whooping we got from them last time. If the defence this time just elevates their game 200% maybe we have a chance to win. Score Nazzy score!
