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Tired and emotional drained, Vancouver went is to New Jersey last night and played a solid road game. The team was gassed from the game last night, and travel problems, but one Canucks was fully fresh and ready to go. That Canuck was Cory Schneider. Schneider played excellent, the team play as good as they had to play, and Vancouver snuck out of Jersey with two points and the NHL lead.
Vancouver would strike first in this one as Aaron Rome would notch his 4th of the season. On the play is was Burrows feeding Tanev at the point, Tanev firing one on net and an unchecked Rome tucking it in. While the goal was nice, it was the play of Tanev and how he controlled the game from the point that impressed me the most.
Just before the goal, Tanev made a great pass to setup Kesler. Then on the goal, the shot he got through was a lot harder than I thought he could shoot the puck. I also think this play showed just how much his teammates trust Tanev. Tanev has played what, 40 games in his life and Rome just leaves him all alone, back at the point? To be honest, I was a little worried for Vancouver on the play, because if that shot is blocked, it’s a 2 or 3-on-1 coming back the other way. But No, Tavev calmly got the puck through, and Rome put the rebound away.
Vancouver would add to their lead in the second when Raymond popped in his 7th of the season. Hamhuis started the play by moving the puck Raymond who made a nice pass to Booth. Booth carried the puck into the zone and dropped it to Raymond. Raymond flipped his patented weak wrister on goal, and the puck deflected of the D and by Marty. A bit of a lucky goal but they all count the same, 2-0 Canucks.
Midway through the period, the Devils would pull to within one. Off the face-off, Elias would chip the puck past Bieksa and break into the zone. Once in the zone, Elias would throw a centering pass to Clarkson and the puck would go in off his skate. As much as fans want to jump on Juice for this one, I think this goal was more dumb luck than anything.
While some fans want to jump on Juice for every goal he is on the ice for, I’m not sure this one was his fault. Sure Elias beat him n the boards, but Bieksa recovered nicely and kept him to the outside. Bieksa gave Elias very little on the play and Elias got luck and had the puck go in off a skate. Some will say that Bieksa should have hit Elias on the way in or held him up in some way. But the fact is in today’s NHL that gets called as interference all the time. Putting his team down at that point in the game would have been a selfish play.
All in all, even though Vancouver was outshot in this one, I never felt like they were being out played by New Jersey. Vancouver played an excellent team game and kept New Jersey to the outside all night. I might even go as far to say this was Vancouver best game in their own end in a long time. I also liked that Vancouver was fairly physical, which isn’t that easy to do when you’re a drain hockey team. 14 player registered at least one hit in this one and I think that stats shows just how much this team wants first again.
It would have been easy to mail the game in last night and use the “we were tired excuse”. No one would have faulted Vancouver if they lost 6-1 and didn’t show up. But this team did show up, and they did what good teams do. They went on the road and won a game that they shouldn’t have.
The trade deadline is now a couple of days away and as much as I want to see pieces added to this team, I believe this team is good enough to win as it is. We have the forwards that can score. We have two of the top 10 goalies in the world (in my opinion). And last but not least, our D is good and deep. If Gillis stands pat at the deadline because teams get greedy and try and fleece the Canucks. I have no problem going to war with the guys who got us where we are today.
Canucks 3 Stars
1- Schneider
2- Tanev
3- Team defence
Schneider
How good was Cory Schneider last night? I thought he was the best player on the ice and just wanted to address a few things here. The other day, when I suggested it would take at least two 1st round picks to land him, there were a few people who said his numbers were inflated because of the team that is playing in front of him. I don’t believe that to be the case. While Vancouver is a great team and has won more game in the last year and a half than any team, Schneider gets shafted on a regular basis by this team.
While Schneider gets some starts when the Canucks are fresh, his starts are generally made when the team is gassed. The majority of Schneider starts are on back-to-backs and the team in front of him is lucky to generate 25 shots. I would even go as far to say that Schneider has been the best player on the ice in 2/3 of his starts this season. Schneider isn’t winning because of the Canucks, the Canucks are winning because of Schneider.
Last night, once again, Schneider was the first star. He’s won his last 7 starts and would likely be in the Vezina conversation if he wasn’t stuck behind Lu. On draft day, two 1st’s might be a steal for Schneider.
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy your day.
Ian
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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