The Canucks snowboarded their way down an Avalanche, 4-3
Wow, that was a really fun game to watch. Especially the first period. It seems like we took a more offensive approach to the game in the first period, and it payed dividends.
Our top lines were able to control the puck and win the puck battles for most of the game, especially the first period. They were able to carry the puck in the zone and support it, and if they weren't carrying it in, they displayed a good forecheck during the dump ins.
Special teams clicked tonight, especially the powerplay. 1 goal on the 2 man advantage by Daniel Sedin and another goal on the 5 on 4 by Brendan Morrison.
The penalty kill only allowed one goal, but what really was impressive was their ability to kill 2 straight penalties in the first period, tipping the momentum on the Canucks side which allowed Markus Naslund and the Twins to work it on the offensive zone and scoring the first goal.
We did allow that short handed goal; I don't even know what happened there... just horrible play on our end. Didn't play smart defense, trying to lazily swipe the puck away instead of being stronger on the guy.
In other news, Ryan Kesler has been nothing short of impressive to begin this season. He's finally showing the fans that there's more to him than a defensive center. He's been tenacious on the forecheck, great on the PK, and amazing puckhandling skills that drew a penalty that allowed us to score 5 on 3. He scored a goal, too.
I'm just really glad and proud of Kes because he has taken a lot of heat since accepting that Flyers offer sheet; now he is just proving that he is worth it.
Markus Naslund and the Twins were impressive tonight, but Nazzy is also impressive with Taylor Pyatt and Ryan Kesler. Maybe AV needs to double shift Nazzy sometimes between those two lines. Naslund with the Twins has resulted in 4 goals thus far, but Naslund with Pyatt and Kes has also resulted in a few goals in the past few games they've played together.
As for our D... Alex Edler is like a Sakic killer or something. He rocked Joe Sakic in his NHL debut last season, causing all the fan's eyes to open and just be impressed with him, this time, he was lined up against Burnaby Joe again and was very solid. Solid enough that he had the 2nd most ice time in the team, after Ohlund?
As for Luc Bourdon, he didn't get a lot of minutes, but he also played solidly. I thought he looked great in the second unit of the powerplay with Kes, Fatty, Hansen and Edler. I just regret that they weren't able to set up Luc for a one-timer. Anyway, even with the low minutes, he did his job quietly and efficiently, I did not notice any boneheaded plays, so he should just keep this up and work his way up the defencemen hierarchy.
And speaking of D... Mike Weaver? Whoa! Definitely impressing the Coach after being benched for the past couple of games. Nice comeback game. Too bad we didn't hear "GREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAT SAVEEEE WEAVER!" :P
All in all, the past 4 paragraphs, including this one, began with the letter 'A'. LOL. But I just want to see this kind of effort from the Canucks each game. It is this style of play that has been missing all season. The hard work, commitment to defense, timely saves by Luongo. The next few games will be tough against divisional rivals. 3 of our top D won't be back for a while, so everyone just needs to chip in like they did tonight.
