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Vancouver Canucks Sedins, Eriksson Collect Points in Sweden's World Cup Win |
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Tuesday was a near-perfect hockey day for Vancouver Canucks fans.
First, Team Sweden moved to 2-0 in their group at the World Cup of Hockey with a 2-0 win over Finland in the early game. The twins combined to set up Anton Stralman for what proved to be the game-winning goal midway through the second period.
With Tuukka Rask out of the Finnish net for the extra attacker in the late stages of the third period, Loui Eriksson iced the game with an empty-netter. A perfect shot from the far blue line, it's a beauty as far as empty-net goals go!
Henrik Lundqvist was perfect in his return to the Swedish net, stopping 36 shots and withstanding the late pressure from the Finns. He'll be back between the pipes today as the Swedes look to lock up a semifinal berth in their final round-robin game against Team North America, starting at noon PT.
In Wednesday's late game, Canada takes on Team Europe for bragging rights in Group A at 5 p.m. PT.
Here's what's on the line today:
Interesting that, after their collapse against the Russians, the much-hyped Team North America is actually at risk of being eliminated today. I don't imagine the Swedes will blow them out by five goals, but the kids will be without Matt Murray in net today. John Gibson gets the start after playing the late stages of Monday's game against Russia, while Murray nurses a thumb injury.
Later, Team Canada gave me plenty of chances to see my goal-synced glass light up as they put away Team USA by a score of 4-2.
As a Canucks fan, it's hard not to take a certain satisfaction in seeing John Tortorella's coaching methods once again render utterly ineffective results—especially while the Sedins are thriving.
Does this look like a man with a plan to you?
Torts' decision to scratch his Columbus Blue Jackets players Brandon Dubinsky and Jack Johnson from Tuesday's game also evoked memories for me of that time when Eddie Lack earned the start in net over Roberto Luongo here at the Heritage Classic—the moment that I think set off the chain reaction that led to the tire fire at the end of the 2013-14 season. I wonder how Torts will be received by fans and in the dressing room in Columbus when he returns to his day job?
I also enjoyed Sidney Crosby's absolutely zen response to Ryan Kesler's attempt to get him off his game.
Kesler did win 70 percent of his draws on Tuesday, but he's pointless and a minus-two in Team USA's two round-robin games so far.
Now officially eliminated from semifinal contention at 0-2, Team USA will play one more meaningless game against the also-eliminated Czech Republic on Thursday.
Torts is taking plenty of heat for Team USA's disappointing performance, but I'd argue that the fault lies even more with general manager Dean Lombardi. He's the one who initially opted for the grit-over-skill approach—who brought Tortorella on board and gave him Justin Abdelkaders instead of Tyler Johnsons to work with.
It seems to me that Lombardi's still embracing the beat-em-in-the-alleys playing style that worked for the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014—but which seems to quickly be becoming outdated in today's NHL.
Meanwhile, the Canucks have perfect golfing weather today for the Jake Milford invitational out in Surrey. As expected, TSN1040 is on location and is chatting with Canucks players and management figures.
So far, we've got Doug Lidster talking about the increased competition on the blue line this year, Trevor Linden weighing the pros and cons of sending NHL players to the Olympics, and Jake Virtanen knowing that he needs to show well in camp if he hopes to avoid getting a ticket to Utica to start the season.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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