Sunday November 17 Dallas Stars 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1
Here are your highlights from Sunday's bad-luck loss to the Dallas Stars:
A weird night started out on an upside-down note when nine-year-old singer Lily Cave reversed the order of the national anthems, singing "O Canada" first and following it up with "The Star-Spangled Banner." She nailed the high notes and had the crowd on her side, but the switcheroo made it feel a bit like a home game for the Stars. That's a little too much hospitality, if you ask me.
I was keen to see Dallas' new jerseys first-hand, since the green accents stand out so nicely on TV. Strangely, they're less vibrant in person—it's like the pigment has been designed specifically to pop in HD.
I was also interested to see this new Stars team. Lots of new personnel and a new coach behind the bench in Lindy Ruff. Dallas was 2-1 against Vancouver last year and I think owner Tom Gaglardi always takes a personal interest in seeing his new team beat the one he tried to buy with the Aquilinis a decade ago.
Anyway—enough avoiding the main issue at hand. A horrible call on a disallowed second-period power-play goal cost the Canucks a chance at the game—but they need to be scoring more so moments like that don't turn out to be game-breakers.
Kari Lehtonen was named first star after stopping 42 of 43 Vancouver shots, but I thought he appeared shaky for much of the game. He looked out of position and was scrambling to make saves, though he got the job done. Despite the high number of shots going up on the board, I kept thinking that the Canucks needed just a bit more pressure, then they'd break through.
As in Thursday's game against San Jose, the second period was Vancouver's best. They dominated play, outshooting the Stars 20-6, but had nothing to show for it except the disallowed goal. The twins seemed to be feeling their oats, especially early in the game. Daniel Sedin finished with 10 shots on goal while Henrik had three, including his goal.
The lineup did seem more balanced with Jannik Hansen back in the mix, but Ryan Kesler was still the high-minute man with 25:02 of ice time, with the twins and Chris Higgins hot on his heels. Brad Richardson played 7:32—mostly at even strength—but his fourth-line mates Welsh and Sestito each played just two shifts. They were on the ice for Dallas' first goal, when Tyler Seguin broke into the zone, set up behind the net, then fed a perfect pass to enormous 18-year-old rookie Valeri Nichushkin to open the scoring.
Coach's Challenge?
Karen Thomson from TEAM1040 reported after the game that even goaltender Kari Lehtonen disagreed with the call on Vancouver's disallowed goal:
In his post-game comments, John Tortorella was as passionate as we've heard him in weeks, suggesting there should be video review for goaltender interference calls.
It's a tricky area, as there could be *so* many reviewable moments, but I like the idea of stepping up reviews on scoring plays. Coach's Challenges seem like a good approach to limit the reviews to when they're needed most.
In the end, the Canucks mustered a power play goal that did count in the third period, but not before the twins and Burrows surrendered a two-on-one to Cody Eakin and Erik Cole at the 1:42 mark, putting the game out of reach for our one-goal gang.
Vancouver got some chances in the third and pressed hard with the extra attacker, but once again allowed their opponent to play them even in the final frame after dominating for the first 40 minutes. The Canucks seem to be missing the extra gear they need to make something happen when the game is on the line.
Sunday's loss stretches Vancouver's winless streak to four games. The Canucks are now three points out of the last wild card spot in the west and just one point ahead of the surging Stars.
The Canucks' next two games against Florida and Columbus are their best chances in awhile to pick up some points, but it's not going to happen until they can start scoring.
Troubling times in Canuck-ville.
Quick Hits:
- According to Elliotte Friedman, Yannick Weber
has been placed on waivers today. Not terribly surprising—he hasn't played since the Toronto game on November 2 and saw limited minutes when he did get into games. Weber was signed over the summer as a potential power play specialist. He saw a ton of ice time in preseason but clearly didn't do enough to impress the coaches. Ryan Stanton essentially took his spot when he was picked up on waivers at the beginning of the regular season. The 25-year-old Swiss national was pointless in 10 games with the Canucks, and a minus-2.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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