The Canucks will wrap up the month of October with their first back-to-back game scenario of the season as tonight they're in Anaheim to take on the Ducks.
Vancouver (5-5-0) is coming off their second shut-out performance of the year last night as they blanked the L.A. Kings 4-0 at the Staples Center. Roberto Luongo will likely get the start in this game, which will be his 500th career game in the NHL. He's been sharp in his last handful of starts, now sporting a save percentage of 91.1%.
The Canucks will likely go with the same line-up against the Ducks as they did against the Kings. Mike Brown will factor into the action for a second straight night to play alongside Ryan Johnson and Darcy Hordichuk.
As for the Ducks (6-5-0), they'll make one minor change to their line-up from their 5-4 overtime win Wednesday at home against the Detroit Red Wings. Former Canucks forward Brad May suffered a leg injury against the Wings and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks. Taking his spot will be tough guy George Parros, who's chipped in with a couple of goals already this season.
Anaheim is the hottest team in the league, having won five straight. Teemu Selanne is coming off his 21st career hat-trick in the win over Detroit while Ryan Getzlaf had a franchise-high five assists in that game. The Ducks are the league's most penalized team heading into the weekend, which is a good indicator that this game likely will come down to special teams.
Here are the expected line-ups for both teams heading into the action at the Honda Center:
Canucks:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Raymond
Pyatt - Wellwood - Bernier
Burrows - Kesler - Hansen
Hordichuk - Johnson - Brown
Mitchell - Bieksa
Ohlund - Edler
Salo - O'Brien
Luongo
Sanford
Ducks:
Chris Kunitz - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Brendan Morrison - Todd Marchant - Teemu Selanne
Travis Moen - Samuel Pahlsson - Rob Niedermayer
George Parros - Ryan Carter - Brian Sutherby
Francois Beauchemin - Scott Niedermayer
Bret Hedican - Chris Pronger
Kent Huskins - Steve Montador
J.S. Giguere
Jonas Hiller
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Kings Blanked @ Home By Canucks Thursday
Solid special teams and great goaltending helped the Vancouver Canucks get back to the 500-mark Thursday night as they posted a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center.
Vancouver had pretty good control of this game after the opening 20 minutes. The Canucks were able to convert on one of their opening three power plays in the first six minutes of the contest. Daniel Sedin was able to jab in a loose rebound in the crease that had been given up by goalie Jason LaBarbera. Henrik Sedin and Kevin Bieksa get credit for the other assists on Daniel's 3rd of the season at 5:09.
For about a good 8-10 minute stretch the Kings dominated play and were a bit unlucky to have not scored. While on the man advantage, Peter Harrold had a shot through traffic hit the post. Then after being awarded a penalty shot, Alexander Frolov failed to beat netminder Roberto Luongo.
With just over a minute remaining in the frame, the Canucks built on their lead and it came as the two teams skated 4-on-4. Mason Raymond was able to dance around Kings rookie forward Oscar Moller and wound up snapping a shot past LaBarbera. Alexander Edler and Jannik Hansen helped Raymond tally his 4th of the season at 18:53.
Luongo did his part to keep the Canucks in the lead in the middle stanza as Vancouver was short-handed three times in the period. His best stop came off of Dustin Brown in close quarters just past the midway point of the frame.
Shortly after, the Canucks were able to work a power play of their own and wasted little time converting. Good work by the Sedins to corral the puck from behind the net into the slot. Eventually left all alone beside the net was Kyle Wellwood, who had little trouble snapping home his 3rd power play goal of the campaign at 12:20.
Steve Bernier was a bit unlucky not to have given the Canucks a four-goal lead heading into the intermission break but his shot that beat LaBarbera didn't beat the clock in time before the final buzzer went.
Vancouver eventually made it a 4-0 contest in the third period. Sami Salo moved the puck to the left point for Willie Mitchell who took a shot towards the net. The puck would be deflected out of the air by the stick of Taylor Pyatt and it wound up bouncing underneath LaBarbera. Pyatt's first goal of the season came at 6:13.
Luongo had to do his part down the stretch to preserve his shut-out. He best save came with Moller free at the top of the crease on the power play as he robbed the former Chilliwack Bruins sniper of a sure goal in close.
The Canucks wound up getting out-shot 28-18 on the night in a game which saw Vancouver go 2-for-6 on the power play and a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
Edler and Bieksa were far and away the most productive defensemen in this game for the Canucks. Each player was one the ice for three of the four goals and the two combined for 49:32 of ice time.
The new-look #1 power play unit wasn't too shabby for the Canucks in this game. The line of Wellwood working along-side the Sedins caused some fits for the Kings penalty killers and could have easily scored more than just twice with the extra skater.
Luongo as mentioned off the top was very strong to earn his second clean-sheet of the year. In his last three starts, he's allowed three goals on 82 shots.
Vancouver (5-5-0) will wrap up their first back-to-back games stretch of the year Friday night with a Halloween match-up against the Ducks in Anaheim. The Ducks (6-5) are the NHL's hottest team right now, having won their last five straight. They're also the most penalized team in the league, having been short-handed an average of six times per game this season. Their most recent effort was a 5-4 win in overtime at home Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings. The top guns of the Ducks were rolling that night as Teemu Selanne had a hat-trick (all on the power play) while Ryan Getzlaf chipped in with a franchise-record five assists.
Game time between the Canucks and the Ducks is 7:00pm PST.
Vancouver had pretty good control of this game after the opening 20 minutes. The Canucks were able to convert on one of their opening three power plays in the first six minutes of the contest. Daniel Sedin was able to jab in a loose rebound in the crease that had been given up by goalie Jason LaBarbera. Henrik Sedin and Kevin Bieksa get credit for the other assists on Daniel's 3rd of the season at 5:09.
For about a good 8-10 minute stretch the Kings dominated play and were a bit unlucky to have not scored. While on the man advantage, Peter Harrold had a shot through traffic hit the post. Then after being awarded a penalty shot, Alexander Frolov failed to beat netminder Roberto Luongo.
With just over a minute remaining in the frame, the Canucks built on their lead and it came as the two teams skated 4-on-4. Mason Raymond was able to dance around Kings rookie forward Oscar Moller and wound up snapping a shot past LaBarbera. Alexander Edler and Jannik Hansen helped Raymond tally his 4th of the season at 18:53.
Luongo did his part to keep the Canucks in the lead in the middle stanza as Vancouver was short-handed three times in the period. His best stop came off of Dustin Brown in close quarters just past the midway point of the frame.
Shortly after, the Canucks were able to work a power play of their own and wasted little time converting. Good work by the Sedins to corral the puck from behind the net into the slot. Eventually left all alone beside the net was Kyle Wellwood, who had little trouble snapping home his 3rd power play goal of the campaign at 12:20.
Steve Bernier was a bit unlucky not to have given the Canucks a four-goal lead heading into the intermission break but his shot that beat LaBarbera didn't beat the clock in time before the final buzzer went.
Vancouver eventually made it a 4-0 contest in the third period. Sami Salo moved the puck to the left point for Willie Mitchell who took a shot towards the net. The puck would be deflected out of the air by the stick of Taylor Pyatt and it wound up bouncing underneath LaBarbera. Pyatt's first goal of the season came at 6:13.
Luongo had to do his part down the stretch to preserve his shut-out. He best save came with Moller free at the top of the crease on the power play as he robbed the former Chilliwack Bruins sniper of a sure goal in close.
The Canucks wound up getting out-shot 28-18 on the night in a game which saw Vancouver go 2-for-6 on the power play and a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
Edler and Bieksa were far and away the most productive defensemen in this game for the Canucks. Each player was one the ice for three of the four goals and the two combined for 49:32 of ice time.
The new-look #1 power play unit wasn't too shabby for the Canucks in this game. The line of Wellwood working along-side the Sedins caused some fits for the Kings penalty killers and could have easily scored more than just twice with the extra skater.
Luongo as mentioned off the top was very strong to earn his second clean-sheet of the year. In his last three starts, he's allowed three goals on 82 shots.
Vancouver (5-5-0) will wrap up their first back-to-back games stretch of the year Friday night with a Halloween match-up against the Ducks in Anaheim. The Ducks (6-5) are the NHL's hottest team right now, having won their last five straight. They're also the most penalized team in the league, having been short-handed an average of six times per game this season. Their most recent effort was a 5-4 win in overtime at home Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings. The top guns of the Ducks were rolling that night as Teemu Selanne had a hat-trick (all on the power play) while Ryan Getzlaf chipped in with a franchise-record five assists.
Game time between the Canucks and the Ducks is 7:00pm PST.
Canucks Shuffle Combos For Kings
A little bit of line juggling will take place Thursday night for the Vancouver Canucks as they travel to the Staples Center for the first time this season to play the Los Angeles Kings.
The Canucks, coming off the frustrating 1-0 loss to the visiting Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, will see sophomore forward Mason Raymond skate on the right wing alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Head Coach Alain Vigneault hopes that Raymond, who had a five-game point scoring streak snapped against the Bruins (3g,3a), can help lift the Sedin's point production. During his post-practice media availability on Wednesday in Vancouver, Vigneault likened the play of the twins lately to that of the stock market. He went as far as to say they were "plummeting". However, like the stock market, things are bound to take a turn for the better and perhaps they will for #22 and #33 with the addition of #21.
With Raymond joining the twins, Steve Bernier now finds himself working with Taylor Pyatt and Kyle Wellwood. The other two lines will likely stay the same as Ryan Kesler continues to play well between Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen. Meantime, Ryan Johnson skated between Darcy Hordichuk and Jason Krog. However I wouldn't be too surprised to see Mike Brown factor into the Canucks roster in L.A., likely taking the spot of Krog.
As for the Kings, they've had a few days rest since being on the ice last Monday. Los Angeles blew a third period lead against the defending Stanley Cup champs and wound up falling 4-3 in a shoot-out against the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
Their bench boss Terry Murray will do some tinkering with his line combonations as well in preparation for their first match-up against the Canucks. Patrick O'Sullivan will move up to play on the first line with the club's top two scorers in Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Veteran Kyle Calder will take O'Sullivan's spot on a line with Jarret Stoll and Oscar Moller.
Here are the expected line combos and defensive pairings for tonight's game in Los Angeles.
Canucks:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Raymond
Pyatt - Wellwood - Bernier
Burrows - Kesler - Hansen
Hordichuk - Johnson - Brown/Krog
Mitchell - Bieksa
Ohlund - Edler
Salo - O'Brien
Luongo
Sanford
Kings:
Patrick O'Sullivan - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown
Kyle Calder - Jarret Stoll - Oscar Moller
Alexander Frolov - Michal Handzus - Wayne Simmonds
Raitis Ivanans - Derek Armstrong - Matt Moulson
Sean O'Donnell - Drew Doughty
Kyle Quincey - Matt Greene
Denis Gauthier - Peter Harrold
Jason LaBarbera
Erik Ersberg
The Canucks, coming off the frustrating 1-0 loss to the visiting Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, will see sophomore forward Mason Raymond skate on the right wing alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Head Coach Alain Vigneault hopes that Raymond, who had a five-game point scoring streak snapped against the Bruins (3g,3a), can help lift the Sedin's point production. During his post-practice media availability on Wednesday in Vancouver, Vigneault likened the play of the twins lately to that of the stock market. He went as far as to say they were "plummeting". However, like the stock market, things are bound to take a turn for the better and perhaps they will for #22 and #33 with the addition of #21.
With Raymond joining the twins, Steve Bernier now finds himself working with Taylor Pyatt and Kyle Wellwood. The other two lines will likely stay the same as Ryan Kesler continues to play well between Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen. Meantime, Ryan Johnson skated between Darcy Hordichuk and Jason Krog. However I wouldn't be too surprised to see Mike Brown factor into the Canucks roster in L.A., likely taking the spot of Krog.
As for the Kings, they've had a few days rest since being on the ice last Monday. Los Angeles blew a third period lead against the defending Stanley Cup champs and wound up falling 4-3 in a shoot-out against the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
Their bench boss Terry Murray will do some tinkering with his line combonations as well in preparation for their first match-up against the Canucks. Patrick O'Sullivan will move up to play on the first line with the club's top two scorers in Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Veteran Kyle Calder will take O'Sullivan's spot on a line with Jarret Stoll and Oscar Moller.
Here are the expected line combos and defensive pairings for tonight's game in Los Angeles.
Canucks:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Raymond
Pyatt - Wellwood - Bernier
Burrows - Kesler - Hansen
Hordichuk - Johnson - Brown/Krog
Mitchell - Bieksa
Ohlund - Edler
Salo - O'Brien
Luongo
Sanford
Kings:
Patrick O'Sullivan - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown
Kyle Calder - Jarret Stoll - Oscar Moller
Alexander Frolov - Michal Handzus - Wayne Simmonds
Raitis Ivanans - Derek Armstrong - Matt Moulson
Sean O'Donnell - Drew Doughty
Kyle Quincey - Matt Greene
Denis Gauthier - Peter Harrold
Jason LaBarbera
Erik Ersberg
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Missed Chances Costly Against Bruins
For the first time all season, the Canucks were held off the score board. But it certainly wasn't for lack of chances as Tuesday night, Vancouver wound up being blanked 1-0 by the visiting Boston Bruins.
The game wasn't by any means a hi-lite reel performance from a fan's perspective. It took a while to get the entertainment level up at GM Place as the visitors from Beantown weren't afraid to crawl into somewhat of a defensive shell from their own side of the red line.
The only goal of the night came just past the midway point of the first period and it occured just as a penalty was about to be assessed to the Canucks. A shot from close range would be knocked down in front of the crease of Roberto Luongo. He was able to poke-check the disc into the slot but it came right to an untouched Michael Ryder. He made no mistake snapping it home for his 2nd of the season. Marco Sturm and Marc Savard chip in with the assists at 10:16.
Before the period was out, Daniel Sedin had a clear-cut breakaway from his own blue line after he picked off a pass from Zdeno Chara. However Sedin's chance would be denied by Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, the first of many key saves he made to help his team preserve the lead.
There were not many great chances for either club in the middle stanza. The best did come to the Canucks as on a power play, Jason Krog failed to convert with wide open net staring him in the face.
Seven minutes into the third period, Vancouver had another power play opportunity. This time Daniel found his brother Henrik alone in the right face off circle, but his one-timer would be foiled by Thomas who did a great job to slide from one side of the crease to the other to make the save.
A scary moment did come in the Canucks zone with roughly nine minutes remaining in regulation. Milan Lucic, who led all skaters in this game in hits (8) let go a bullet of a drive down the left wing that wound up pinging off the mask of Luongo. Although he needed a bit of treatment, he would be alright and stayed in the game.
Eventually Luongo would be pulled to the bench for the extra attacker, but Vancouver failed to get one by Thomas, who skated away with his second straight 1-0 shut-out in as many nights.
The Canucks did out-shot Boston 31-30 in Vancouver's first home ice loss of the campaign. Neither team converted on the power play as the Canucks went 0-for-3 while Boston went 0-for-2.
Now with a record of 4-5-0, the Canucks prepare to play three games over a span of four nights. Their first two tests will be in California as Thursday they take on the Los Angeles Kings before battling the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
The game wasn't by any means a hi-lite reel performance from a fan's perspective. It took a while to get the entertainment level up at GM Place as the visitors from Beantown weren't afraid to crawl into somewhat of a defensive shell from their own side of the red line.
The only goal of the night came just past the midway point of the first period and it occured just as a penalty was about to be assessed to the Canucks. A shot from close range would be knocked down in front of the crease of Roberto Luongo. He was able to poke-check the disc into the slot but it came right to an untouched Michael Ryder. He made no mistake snapping it home for his 2nd of the season. Marco Sturm and Marc Savard chip in with the assists at 10:16.
Before the period was out, Daniel Sedin had a clear-cut breakaway from his own blue line after he picked off a pass from Zdeno Chara. However Sedin's chance would be denied by Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, the first of many key saves he made to help his team preserve the lead.
There were not many great chances for either club in the middle stanza. The best did come to the Canucks as on a power play, Jason Krog failed to convert with wide open net staring him in the face.
Seven minutes into the third period, Vancouver had another power play opportunity. This time Daniel found his brother Henrik alone in the right face off circle, but his one-timer would be foiled by Thomas who did a great job to slide from one side of the crease to the other to make the save.
A scary moment did come in the Canucks zone with roughly nine minutes remaining in regulation. Milan Lucic, who led all skaters in this game in hits (8) let go a bullet of a drive down the left wing that wound up pinging off the mask of Luongo. Although he needed a bit of treatment, he would be alright and stayed in the game.
Eventually Luongo would be pulled to the bench for the extra attacker, but Vancouver failed to get one by Thomas, who skated away with his second straight 1-0 shut-out in as many nights.
The Canucks did out-shot Boston 31-30 in Vancouver's first home ice loss of the campaign. Neither team converted on the power play as the Canucks went 0-for-3 while Boston went 0-for-2.
Now with a record of 4-5-0, the Canucks prepare to play three games over a span of four nights. Their first two tests will be in California as Thursday they take on the Los Angeles Kings before battling the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
Giants/Bruins Game Day
For the first time in three seasons, the Canucks will play host to the Boston Bruins at General Motors Place. The Canucks (4-4-0) are coming off a big offensive outburst at home last Saturday night in a 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The Bruins (4-2-3) come to the west coast after blanking the Oilers last night 1-0 in overtime.
Forwards Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler have five-game point-scoring streaks on the line going into tonight's action. Raymond, fresh off a two-goal effort against the Oilers, has three goals and three assists. Kesler, who chipped in a pair of assists in that victory, has collected two goals and four assists in that same span.
The game also marks the return to Vancouver for local product Milan Lucic. The MVP of the Memorial Cup Champion Vancouver Giants in 2007 last played a game in Vancouver in September of that year. He captained Canada's World Jr. Team in the Canada Russia Super Series that off-season. Following the morning skate at GM Place today, Milan was presented with a new Memorial Cup ring from Michelle Toigo, the wife of Giants Majority Owner Ron Toigo. Lucic's original ring was stolen from his family home in Vancouver last summer.
Here are the expected line-ups for both clubs:
Canucks:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Bernier
Raymond - Wellwood - Pyatt
Burrows - Kesler - Hansen
Hordichuk - Johnson - Krog
Mitchell - Bieksa
Ohlund - Edler
Salo - O'Brien
Luongo
Sanford
Scratches: Rypien, Demitra, Brown, Nycholat, Davison
Bruins:
Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel
Marco Sturm - Patric Bergeron - Michael Ryder
P.J. Axelsson - David Krejci - Blake Wheeler
Pettero Nokelainen - Stephane Yelle - Shawn Thorton
Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward
Andrew Ference - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy
Tim Thomas
Manny Fernandez
Scratches: Chuck Kobasew, Matt Hunwick, Vladimir Sobotka
Forwards Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler have five-game point-scoring streaks on the line going into tonight's action. Raymond, fresh off a two-goal effort against the Oilers, has three goals and three assists. Kesler, who chipped in a pair of assists in that victory, has collected two goals and four assists in that same span.
The game also marks the return to Vancouver for local product Milan Lucic. The MVP of the Memorial Cup Champion Vancouver Giants in 2007 last played a game in Vancouver in September of that year. He captained Canada's World Jr. Team in the Canada Russia Super Series that off-season. Following the morning skate at GM Place today, Milan was presented with a new Memorial Cup ring from Michelle Toigo, the wife of Giants Majority Owner Ron Toigo. Lucic's original ring was stolen from his family home in Vancouver last summer.
Here are the expected line-ups for both clubs:
Canucks:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Bernier
Raymond - Wellwood - Pyatt
Burrows - Kesler - Hansen
Hordichuk - Johnson - Krog
Mitchell - Bieksa
Ohlund - Edler
Salo - O'Brien
Luongo
Sanford
Scratches: Rypien, Demitra, Brown, Nycholat, Davison
Bruins:
Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel
Marco Sturm - Patric Bergeron - Michael Ryder
P.J. Axelsson - David Krejci - Blake Wheeler
Pettero Nokelainen - Stephane Yelle - Shawn Thorton
Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward
Andrew Ference - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy
Tim Thomas
Manny Fernandez
Scratches: Chuck Kobasew, Matt Hunwick, Vladimir Sobotka
Monday, October 27, 2008
Rypien Out Again/Salo Set To Return
Rick Rypien has to wonder what he's done to deserve so many injuries the past few years. The latest one comes as he attempted to return to the Canucks line-up after suffering a viral infection.
Following Monday's practice at GM Place, head coach Alain Vigneault confirmed that Rypien suffered a sports hernia injury during workouts over the past few days. This will indeed require surgery and he'll be out of the Vancouver line-up indefinitely. Rypien, who had scored in each of his first two games this season, has been riddled by injuries since becoming a member of the organization a couple of years ago.
One player that is likely to return to action for Vancouver on Tuesday night is Sami Salo. The veteran blue-liner suffered a groin strain in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks Oct. 19 and hasn't played since. After practice, Salo indicated that he felt healthy enough to play but said it would be up to the coaches and training staff to decide on whether he would be good to go on game day against the Boston Bruins.
Following Monday's practice at GM Place, head coach Alain Vigneault confirmed that Rypien suffered a sports hernia injury during workouts over the past few days. This will indeed require surgery and he'll be out of the Vancouver line-up indefinitely. Rypien, who had scored in each of his first two games this season, has been riddled by injuries since becoming a member of the organization a couple of years ago.
One player that is likely to return to action for Vancouver on Tuesday night is Sami Salo. The veteran blue-liner suffered a groin strain in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks Oct. 19 and hasn't played since. After practice, Salo indicated that he felt healthy enough to play but said it would be up to the coaches and training staff to decide on whether he would be good to go on game day against the Boston Bruins.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
PP Paces Canucks Against Oilers
Heading into Saturday night's game against the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks had scored just three goals on 33 power play chances. However, eveything they touched turned to gold when they had the man advantage against their Northwest Division rivals as they skated away with a 6-3 win at General Motors Place.
Mason Raymond led the attack for the home team, scoring twice on the power play. He now has two goals and three assists in five straight games. Jannik Hansen also netted a pair of goals for Vancouver, his first multiple-goal game of his rookie season.
Recent call-ups Kyle Wellwood and Jason Krog rounded out the scoring for Vancouver as both scored with the man advantage. Wellwood's goal, which proved to be the game winner, came early on in the third period to break a 3-3 tie. He has two goals and an assist since being re-called from the AHL. Krog, who appeared in his 200th NHL game, scored his first as a Canuck as he skated on the power play with Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa each chipped in a pair of assists in the victory. Kelser leads the Canucks in scoring (3g,6a) and has points in five straight (2g,4a). Bieksa wound up leading all Vancouver players in ice time (24:17) on route to collecting three points in his last two games.
Roberto Luongo did his part to help the team to snap out of a three-game losing skid. Rock solid in the first and third periods, Luongo stopped 25 of 28 Oilers shots. The biggest came with a little more than two minutes to go in the middle frame as he made a great glove-handed stop on a penalty shot attempt by Sam Gagner.
As you can well imagine, this was a pretty spirited affair between the two clubs. Rob Davison, appearing in just his 2nd game of the season, was involved in an early scrap with Oilers tough guy Steve MacIntyre. Mattias Ohlund, who took exception to a late and high attempted elbow/forearm from Erik Cole, proceeded to beat up the Edmonton forward. To add insult to injury for Cole was the fact his tie-down on his jersey popped loose, warranting an automatic game misconduct.
Vancouver wound up out-shooting Edmonton 30-28. The Canucks were 4-for-6 on the power play while the Oilers went 0-for-4.
Now with an overall record of 4-4-0, the Canucks will have a few days off for practice before entertaining the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. The Bruins feature local boy and former Memorial Cup winner with the Vancouver Giants Milan Lucic, who is coming off a hat-trick performance Saturday against the Atlanta Thrashers. It will be the one and only meeting of the season between the Canucks and Bruins.
Mason Raymond led the attack for the home team, scoring twice on the power play. He now has two goals and three assists in five straight games. Jannik Hansen also netted a pair of goals for Vancouver, his first multiple-goal game of his rookie season.
Recent call-ups Kyle Wellwood and Jason Krog rounded out the scoring for Vancouver as both scored with the man advantage. Wellwood's goal, which proved to be the game winner, came early on in the third period to break a 3-3 tie. He has two goals and an assist since being re-called from the AHL. Krog, who appeared in his 200th NHL game, scored his first as a Canuck as he skated on the power play with Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa each chipped in a pair of assists in the victory. Kelser leads the Canucks in scoring (3g,6a) and has points in five straight (2g,4a). Bieksa wound up leading all Vancouver players in ice time (24:17) on route to collecting three points in his last two games.
Roberto Luongo did his part to help the team to snap out of a three-game losing skid. Rock solid in the first and third periods, Luongo stopped 25 of 28 Oilers shots. The biggest came with a little more than two minutes to go in the middle frame as he made a great glove-handed stop on a penalty shot attempt by Sam Gagner.
As you can well imagine, this was a pretty spirited affair between the two clubs. Rob Davison, appearing in just his 2nd game of the season, was involved in an early scrap with Oilers tough guy Steve MacIntyre. Mattias Ohlund, who took exception to a late and high attempted elbow/forearm from Erik Cole, proceeded to beat up the Edmonton forward. To add insult to injury for Cole was the fact his tie-down on his jersey popped loose, warranting an automatic game misconduct.
Vancouver wound up out-shooting Edmonton 30-28. The Canucks were 4-for-6 on the power play while the Oilers went 0-for-4.
Now with an overall record of 4-4-0, the Canucks will have a few days off for practice before entertaining the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. The Bruins feature local boy and former Memorial Cup winner with the Vancouver Giants Milan Lucic, who is coming off a hat-trick performance Saturday against the Atlanta Thrashers. It will be the one and only meeting of the season between the Canucks and Bruins.
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