Tuesday October 15 Vancouver 3 - Philadelphia 2
The Vancouver Canucks flirted with disaster when they faced the struggling Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. In the end, a deft coaching move from John Tortorella helped give the Canucks a win to kick off their seven-game eastern road trip.
In the early going, it looked more like we were watching rec hockey than a game between top-tier professionals. Both sides appeared to be lacking in confidence, having trouble executing and trying not to lose.
Trailing 2-1 in the third period, Tortorella made his big move and split up the Sedins—with instant results. On their first shift in the new configuration, Henrik set up Chris Higgins for his first goal of the season. The captain posted up, Gretzky-esque, behind the net, then fed Higgins in the slot for the tying goal at 7:31 of the third.
Ten minutes later, the pair combined again with good pressure down low. Henrik fed Higgins for a good shot, but Mason's big rebound landed right on the stick of the third member of the line. Ryan Kesler blasted home the winner for his second of the night.
Tortorella
admitted to Brad Ziemer of the
Vancouver Sun that it's nice to be able to change the look of his offense by splitting up the twins when a late goal is needed.
“Sure it does,” he said. “I think it changes the mindset of the other coach, too, as far as who do you check? Listen, they play really well together. It’s very tough to split them up, but I think at times that is going to happen. I think as you go through the games those are calls we will make, but it’s awful tough to keep them away from one other because they play so very well together.”
The game was Kesler's best of the young season. In addition to his two goals, he had six shots, two blocks and led all forwards with 22:15 of ice time. Jason Garrison was the top minute-man on the blue line with 28:29.
The win moves the Canucks' record to 4-3-0 and puts them in a tie for third place in the Pacific Division with Anaheim, Calgary and Los Angeles. The Ducks and Flames have two games in hand.
Shots on Goal: Vancouver 25 - Philadelphia 22
Blocked Shots: Vancouver 18 - Philadelphia 17
Penalty Minutes: Vancouver 9 - Philadelphia 7
Hits: Vancouver 26 - Philadelphia 23
Quick Hits:
- Jordan Schroeder was not especially prominent in his return to the Canucks' lineup, but did manage to eat up 10:52 of icetime in a third-line role. Schroeder went 3-4 in the faceoff circle, with a missed shot and two hits.
- Schroeder was the only Canuck centre not to dominate at the dot on Tuesday. Santorelli, Kesler, Richardson and Henrik all won more than 70 percent of their draws as the Canucks went 35-15 overall.
- After the embarrassment of the own-goal against Montreal on Saturday, the Canucks got some luck of their own on Tuesday. Just ten seconds after the Flyers had opened the scoring in the first period, the puck took a funny bounce off the end boards. As Steve Mason watched helplessly behind the Philadelphia net, it landed on the stick of Ryan Kesler, who deposited it calmly into the gaping net to tie the game 1-1.
- For all the talk of the Flyers' undisciplined play, special teams were a non-issue on Tuesday. All five goals were scored at even strength and the Canucks took just two minor penalties to the Flyers' one. Zack Kassian and Luke Schenn were awarded fighting majors in the first period for their scrap after Schenn hit David Booth in the defensive zone.
- The Flyers remain 29th in the league in goals-for and still haven't managed to score three in one game. On Tuesday, both Philadelphia goals came from AHL callup Tye McGinn, who has stepped in due to injuries to Scott Hartnell and Vincent Lecavalier.
The Canucks' next game is on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres, who put up their first win of the year with a shootout victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday. I'll be back with a full preview tomorrow.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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