Follow me on twitter @IanEsplen to chat hockey, sports and life in general anytime


As Alain Vigneault said in the post-game presser, Vancouver preformed as expected in a tough, 2-1 shootout loss to the Blues.

A tired Canucks team was out-hit, out-checked, out-hustled and out-shot, but one positive that can be taken away is that this team can play with the tank half-full and still hang with a desperate hockey team that is playing must win games right now. Vancouver still has third place all but locked up with five games left and a four point lead, so no worries there.

Vancouver would get on the board first in this one despite being out played for the first 40 minutes. The Sedins set the play up in the zone on the power-play and then set Alex Edler up for the goal. While he didn't get a point on the play, once again, the Badger is the reason this one goes in. A perfect screen by Hansen and if he keeps setting up shop in front he may need to change his number to 96 in honour of Holmstrom.

The Blues would get that one back mid-way through the third period when Cam Barker gift wrapped a simple dump-in for Jay Bouwmeester. Once Barker missed the puck and JBo, Schneider was left to fend for himself. Come on Barker, if you can't stop the puck at least put a body on Bouwmeester. You can't make it that easy for him. All in all, this play doesn't concern me too much because come playoff time Barker will be in the press box and not the ice.

Find great deals on Vancouver Canucks Tickets at FanXchange.com

In the shootout, The Blues would score a pair of beauties and Vancouver would come up empty as usual. But again, once the playoffs start we won't have to worry about the shootout.

So should this Blues team worry Canucks fans at all? Yes, but only because if the game are anything like last night they are going to be painful to watch.

This Blues team is of no concern to me for one simple reason: they don't have it in them to win in the playoffs. Why do I say this? Because of their captain David Backes comments over the last few days. Any team that needs their captain to remind them to focus and play hard this time of year doesn't have it in them to make it very far in the playoffs.

It really is that simple for me. Either you have it in you to bring your "A" game every night this time of year or you don't. My gut tells me if Backes feels the need to tell the guys in that dressing room that it matters, then there are issues with some guys on the Blues.


Corrado

He suited up for his first Wolves game of the season and was +1 with an assist in a 3-2 loss. With the injuries to Tanev and Bieksa being banged up it may only be a matter of time before he gets his shot with the big club. And with three games to go and the Wolves sitting in tenth place (2 points out of 8th), Corrado could be in Vancouver shortly as a "black ace" regardless of how he plays.

Do you call him up?


That's a wrap

Ian


***********


If you are interested in advertising your business to people in the Vancouver area or to hockey fans across North America, you can contact me by clicking the “CONTACT” button at the top of the page.

KINDLE USERS in the United States of America only: Sign up for Canucks Buzz; a one-stop feed for all things Canucks-related on HockeyBuzz. Content is delivered instantly to your Kindle reader whenever a new Canucks-related blog is published. For more information click here.