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They were still a little rusty looking at times, but last night the Vancouver Canucks looked about as good as they have looked in about a week.
Despite falling behind 35 seconds in on a goal that I’m sure Cory Schneider would like back, the team competed hard and played as a team. While the win wasn’t a pretty one, the team worked hard in all three zones and a couple of players got a monkey off their backs.
Kassian, had been in the dog house for a couple of games looked like the player Vancouver fans know he is. He handed an ass-whopping to Roussel in the second and set up Garrison in the third. He may have only logged just over nine minutes of ice-time, but it was about as impactful nine minutes as you will see.
Stat line- 9:08, 4 hits, 1 fight, 1 assist, 100% on faceoffs and zero turnovers.
Someone is playing their way back into AV’s good books.
Garrison, a lot of people have harped on him because he hasn’t been turning his shot loose as much, but last night he didn’t hold back. He scored the Canucks third goal and he logged more PK time than any other Canuck. Add to that, his five blocked shots and you’ve got a very good game for Garrison.
Schneider was good, not great, but good. I think he’d like to have the first two goals back, but once those were behind him (literally) he played really well. While I’m still a little more nervous with Schneider starting over Lu, he is winning games and giving his team a chance to win. Hopefully he finds his game sooner, rather than later.
Is the Canucks defence the best offensive defenceman unit in the NHL? They sure looked it last night accounting for two goals and two assists. Bieksa and Edler now sit in second and third in goals by defenceman with five and four (tied with 5 others). As a group they have accounted for 13 of the Canucks 48 goals (27%) and have put up 34 points. Those are some pretty impressive numbers so far.
Question- Who has the best offensive defenceman as a group in the NHL?
Well that’s it for now. On to Smashville tonight.
That's a wrap
Ian
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