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Have you ever gone on a road trip, dozed off at the wheel, and found yourself on the rumble strips, about to go off the road? The Vancouver Canucks found themselves in that situation on Tuesday night, as they started out fast, almost drove into the ditch, but recovered enough to make it home safely.
For most of the first two periods, Vancouver was the better team and looked well on their way to winning the game easily. They were firing on all cylinders and when the Lightning did try to strike, Schneider was the lightning rod that sucked everything up. The D was good and made smart plays, and the Forwards were winning most of the races for the pucks. Then the third period started and the Canucks looked like they were out of gas and bracing themselves for a crash.
The team started out fast once again, with Hank winning the face-off to Lil Alex, who passed the puck across to Big Alex and he hammered the puck past Roloson, who was screened by his own guy. I really like how the team has been coming out of the gate fast and scoring early. It seems like every game the Canucks are getting a goal in the first five minutes and putting a team behind the eight ball early. That's such a nice change from the first month of the year when they seemed to sleepwalk through the first period.
The Canucks would get their second of the game from Jannik Hansen while killing a penalty. Hansen out worked two Lightning players and move the Puck to Hamhuis at the point. Hamhuis blasted the shot on net and Hansen banged home the rebound as three Lightning players watched. While a lot of credit has to go to Hansen for working so hard to get the goal, The Lightning have got to be better in their own end. They were the ones on the power-play, and it was the Canucks that owned the puck for that portion of it. Teams also need to realize that Hansen isn't a third line plug like he was last year. He's a player that can score and you have to pay attention to him at all times. I think the biggest difference in Hansen this year is his confidence. Last year he looked like when he had the puck he was hoping to score. This year when he gets the puck he knows he can score.
The Lightning would start out the second period buzzing the Vancouver net, but Schneider would have all the answers. Around the mid-way point of the game, Steven Stamkos would sneak free in front of the Vancouver net and tip home a Ryan Malone centring pass, 2-1 Canucks. Less than three minutes later, the fourth line would score for the second game in a row. Mike "the new guy" Duco would feed Manny Malhotra in front, who would get a couple of whacks at the puck before banging it home.
The line of Duco/Malhotra/Weise is playing fairly well right now. My only issue, is with Dale Weise didn't hit anyone for the second game in a row. He is on the team to finish his checks. I don't expect to see him Phaneufdafy someone every game, but he needs to be getting 2-3 checks in every game and be harder to play against. Duco has been outstanding his first two games and is providing exactly what the Canucks need out of him. He brings speed, decent skill, and grit to the line up. I've especially liked how he doesn't pass on hits ever, but is still smart enough to not go out of his way to run guys (ala Chris Neil). Manny seems to be getting his game back finally and has actually been a scoring threat in the last few games. If he plays like this the rest of the way Vancouver will be very tough to beat.
As the period was coming to an end, the Canucks D would fall asleep at the wheel and leave the league's leading goal scorer all alone for a breakaway. Schneider would stop him but no one would pick up Vinny, who followed up the play for his 16th of the year. I though the D was pretty bad last night. The Lightning had way too many prime chances in close and if it wasn't for Schneider the Lightning would have won this game. With Salo out, it is glaringly obvious that this team needs to add another top 4 D at the deadline. If we lose Salo in the playoffs, we could be done real early.
The Canucks would answer back right away to re-gain their two goal lead. Cody Hodgson would carry the puck in and control the play, feed Raymond who was streaking to the net for the first shot. Roloson would stop that one, but when no one took Ryan Kesler, he jammed the puck home with two seconds to go, 4-2 Canucks. I thought this play show just how good Cody is and how much respect he is getting around the league. He gained the zone with ease and setup the play perfectly. The pass he put on Raymond's stick was the kind of pass that few player in the game can make, and he showed a ton of patients to not force the play. Add to his play making skills, the amazing shot he has shown as of late and this kid is going to be a good one. He's already way ahead of where Kesler and the Sedins were at his age, so the sky's the limit for this kid.
The third would see Vancouver D completely collapse and go into full scramble mode. The Lightning would turn it on and out shoot Vancouver 9-4 with Schneider keeping the team afloat. The Lightning's Third goal would come when a rebound off the post would come to a wide open Steve Downie in front for an easy tap in. The controversial tying goal would come with one minute remaining, when Ryan Malone would guide the puck into the net with his skate blade.
It's really hard for me to tell whether this should be a goal or not because I've seen so many similar goals called off on this exact play. I really wish the NHL make a rule that if the players skate is on the ice fully (like Malone's) it's a good goal no matter what. That way we can get rid of all the controversy around these types of goals and toss out all of the guessing if a player did it on purpose crap. All in all, I can live with the goal. Canucks won and didn't lose a point on the play, so let's move on.
Overtime would solve nothing and was pretty boring to boot, so it was on to the shootout, where Cory Schneider and Mason Raymond would steal the show. Schneider stopped or made Tampa's shooters miss and Raymond pulled off his spin-o-rama move. Martin St. Louis must have been so proud seeing the spinning backhand he made famous being used to perfection by Raymond.
While it wasn't a pretty game for Vancouver's D, I felt that the forwards and Cory Schneider were very good. The Canucks got one goal from each line, which is about as balanced of an attack as you're going to get. They still hold the largest lead in hockey at 7 points and are cruising towards what will likely be a top 2 finish in the division. 44 games down, and 38 more until the real season starts.
Canucks 3 Stars
1- Schneider
2- Edler
3- Raymond
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy your day.
Ian
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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