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Vancouver Canucks game Review: Winning Ugly, Hansen OK After Scary Collapse

December 21, 2014, 2:50 PM ET [420 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Saturday December 20 - Vancouver Canucks 3 - Calgary Flames 2 (OT)

Much of the game wasn't pretty, but Chris Tanev's overtime winning goals sure was. So were the two points that the Vancouver Canucks collected to snap their five-game winless slide.

Here are the highlights from a strange one:



A little luck bounced in the Canucks' direction at the 4:40 mark of the first period. With Luca Sbisa about to be whistled for a delayed penalty behind the Canucks' net, Dennis Wideman and Mason Raymond somehow managed to combine for a comedy-of-errors play that saw the puck travel the full length of the ice, into the empty net that Jonas Hiller had abandoned in favour of an extra attacker for the Flames.

After a long review—the result of which was that the play wasn't reviewable—Sbisa headed to the penalty box but Vancouver had a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, the new power-play configuration paid dividends when Alex Burrows was able to dig a puck out of the crease for Radim Vrbata, who scored Vancouver's first goal in seven games with the man advantage.

The Flames climbed back into the game, starting in the second period. After outshooting Calgary 13-7 in the first, I think the Canucks lost some of their focus after Jannik Hansen's scary collapse on the bench two minutes into the second period.

After taking an innocent-looking hit from Dennis Wideman, Hansen skated directly to the Vancouver bench, where he appeared to lose consciousness.

The players on the bench quickly got the referee's attention and had the play stopped so that Hansen could be treated by the team doctor. He accompanied Hansen to the dressing room for further evaluation.

Ed Willes runs through the incident, with all the video breakdowns, in his story in The Province.

Hansen did make a visit to the hospital, and while he's said to be "fine," he's not on the ice for the Canucks' practice on Sunday morning. Hopefully that's just a precautionary decision.

Calgary outshot Vancouver 15-10 in the second period and started its comeback with a David Jones goal at the 12:29 mark. Johnny Gaudreau potted his seventh of the season midway through the third to tie the game, then both teams turned off the jets and skated to the end of regulation, happy to get the single point.

The Canucks worked quickly in overtime, though. This time, it was Mark Giordano who made a bad pinch, and had his pocket picked by Alex Edler. After getting the puck up to the twins, it was Chris Tanev who stepped into the slot and fired home the winning goal to cap off his 25th birthday celebration.

Tanev will never be mistaken for Shea Weber, but he's getting more pucks on net these days and there's a little bit more mustard on them than we've seen in the past. He has become a valuable asset who will be looking to get paid when he becomes a free agent next summer.

As far as the standings, the win allows the Canucks to keep pace with the Sharks and Kings, who also won on Saturday. They're just three points ahead of Calgary, who now sit just outside the playoff picture. Not much margin for error going into Monday's game against Arizona—a team that gives Vancouver trouble.

Here's the lowdown on the personnel situation for Sunday's practice:




Curious about Sestito, given the timing. He has become increasingly noisy about wanting a new opportunity if he doesn't get to play here, but they can't be holding him out for a trade or putting him on waivers during the holiday roster freeze.

Whatever type of limbo Sestito's in, he'll need to stay there until at least December 27.

The hype surrounding potential trades came to nothing last week before the freeze, but the rumours continue to swirl, with the struggling Boston Bruins seem to be in the eye of the storm.

We'll have plenty of time to speculate on potential deals after Monday's game, when the Canucks get five days off before picking up their post-Christmas schedule in Anaheim on December 28th.
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