2 posts tagged “canucks vs lightning”
SHOCKING, isn't it? A game that is won by more than 1 goal? Especially a game against a team which contains the league's top scorers.
But that's not the only thing. What's even more shocking is that this same team with high scoring forwards were only allowed 17 shots on goal. Apparently, they were so concerned about the quality of the shots they got through to Roberto Luongo, and not the quantity, that someone forgot to tell them to actually shoot the puck.
That wasn't the only factor though. Our defence, as a whole, played really well. They broke up a lot of the cross ice plays and the fancy passes that they tried to make, cleared the rebounds that Luongo couldn't hold on to, and just won battles on the boards. They were just generally smart on our own end, and didn't allow the Lightning all those chances.
And another shocker to add to all that shocking revelations about tonight's game... Jeff Cowan had another 2 goal game. WHO IS THIS GUY? Loved the crowd at GM Place who started chanting "COW-AN! COW-AN! COW-AN" after he scored his 2nd of the evening. He totally deserved it, and I'm happy the fans are recognizing the effort he's been giving every night.
A few other notes...
- I swear, Jan Bulis has become a better player after Bryan Smolinski was traded to the Canucks and began centering his line with Markus Naslund. Not good in a way that he's been putting up points, but good because he's been playing well, aggressive on the forecheck, getting open to receive passes, and just showing some nice moves. Of course he still needs to polish a lot of his rough edges, mainly being able to finish the chances presented to him by Smoke and Nazzy and cutting down on risky plays that can lead to penalties. Those two can be fixed though.
- Bryan Smolinski scored his first goal as a member of the Vancouver Canucks on a funny play during a Canucks penalty kill. Holmqvist just kind of fanned on a clearing attempt from behind his net, and Smolinski was able to get the puck and just shot a backhander towards the net, and luckily it went in.
- Other goal scorers for the Canucks are Daniel Sedin, notching his 30th of the season, his first 30 goal season, and Kevin Bieksa for his 11th of the year.
- Penalty kill allowed 1 goal again, out of 6 Tampa Bay attempts, which included a 5-on-3. I don't know if this is a source of concern for the Canucks, but the assistant coaches doesn't seem to think so. They seem to think that these are just minor cracks that can be fixed, but also said that the amount of penalties we've taken is a big contributing factor. Sooner or later, the other team will score if we take that many penalties. I think we're missing Josh Green and Ryan Kesler's presence on our PK.
- I was listening to Tim Taylor's post game comments, and he said something about Vancouver being a trapping team. I don't get it. I think to Eastern teams, it's called trapping, but to Western teams, it's called defense. Their low shots on goal isn't because we trapped them to death. It was a combination of both their unwillingness to shoot and Canucks' willingness to break up their plays.
Alain Vigneault has already mentioned he will start Dany Sabourin in this upcoming 3 game road trip, he just didn't say when. We're playing Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks (Back to back with Coyotes) and Anaheim Ducks. Based on his record, I think AV won't start Sabourin against the Coyotes, and most likely play against the Sharks.
I think AV likes putting Sabby against quality opponents so he can make the most of his playing time in case we need more of him in the stretch drive.
Oh well... Next game is against Phoenix. LET'S GO CANUCKS!
So, tomorrow is the final game against Eastern Conference teams, and most notably, teams against Roberto Luongo's old division. Apparently, they're still having nightmares about him and I'm just hoping Lui will keep giving them nightmares for days to come.
Now... on to the NHL ad campaign that's made of awesome.
WATCH IT AND BASK IN ITS GLORY!!!
