Saturday March 28 - Dallas Stars 4 - Vancouver Canucks 3 (OT)
Saturday's overtime loss to Dallas was not a game that can be summarized in a few words. The game had some key plot points—some good, some bad—but lacked a cohesive storyline. Here are your highlights:
An eerie tranquility echoed through Rogers Arena when I arrived last night—there was a problem with the audio system which meant that there'd been no music during the warmup and pre-game.
Silent pre game skate tonight with the audio system down! #canucks #stars pic.twitter.com/x1UGLZZ8fm
— Paul McLellan (@McLellanPaul) March 29, 2015It took a minute to adjust, but was actually quite marvellous. So nice to be able to speak at a normal volume and listen to the sounds of the crowd and the action on the ice.
The arena crew got the P.A. working (mostly) by the time the teams hit the ice for the opening face off, but a few odd glitches recurred throughout the night.
A game without music would have been an excellent addition to the game presentation program for Vancouver Millionaires night last Thursday, adding to the ambience of 1915.
I thought we'd see a feisty effort from the Canucks on Saturday, looking to avenge the pot-shots taken by Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin against the Sedins. Both teams showed good energy in the first period, which featured a fight between Derek Dorsett and Antoine Roussel, and Kevin Bieksa led the team with five hits but the final hit total came out to just 20-14 for Vancouver—and while the Sedins had a quiet night, Benn and Seguin were hardly neutralized.
Benn opened the scoring just 1:54 into the game on a slick shot from close range, and Seguin put the Stars up 3-2 on a sweet breakaway with 5:35 remaining that made it look like the game was going to slip away from a Vancouver team that hasn't given up many leads this season.
Radim Vrbata saved the day on a 6-on-4 hustle play with 1:32 remaining, earning the Canucks the single point, but Dallas' rookie defenseman John Klingberg ended the night when he hammered a perfect shot from the high slot over Eddie Lack's shoulder at 4:13 of overtime.
The goal was Klingberg's 11th in just 59 games—he didn't get called up to Dallas until mid-November. Now with 38 points, Klingberg is three points ahead of Florida's Aaron Ekblad among rookie defenseman—and Ekblad has appeared in 74 games. The 22-year-old Swede is looking like a fifth-round steal for the Stars.
The officiating was also a big plot point last night—most especially, an icing call on Vancouver that led directly to Dallas' second-goal. I wasn't too up-in-arms about that—I thought Eddie should have held the post better on Patrick Eaves' shovel job.
I did think the Canucks were gypped, however, on the Bo Horvat goal that was disallowed in the first period. The referee ruled that Jannik Hansen had made incidental contact with Kari Lehtonen when, in fact, it was Lehtonen's defensemen that were impeding him:
problem for lehtonen wasn't hansen. He got his stick caught behind his own dman. pic.twitter.com/ppkF3hX6do
— Jason Botchford (@botchford) March 29, 2015One other moment that I could barely process—the second power-play unit scored! Higgins from Hamhuis and Tanev—like clockwork.
The Minnesota Wild did the Canucks some big favours this weekend, beating Calgary on Friday, then L.A. on Saturday. With their single point, Vancouver moves three points ahead of Los Angeles and four points up on Calgary in the Pacific Division playoff race. The Flames are in Nashville at 2 p.m. today, while the Kings' next game is Monday in Chicago.
This morning, the Canucks hopped on the plane for their final road trip of the season. Hopefully they'll get back on the winning track as they face some Central Division playoff-caliber competition: St. Louis Monday, Nashville Tuesday, Chicago on Thursday and Winnipeg on Saturday.
This is all the intel I have from the flight. No word if Zack Kassian or Brad Richardson are on board.
As Air #Canucks prepares to takeoff, the players dish up. "Maaaan, just let us get our food!" Sorry, Bo. pic.twitter.com/JprurwhCvK
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) March 29, 2015To wrap up today, a quick thanks to everyone who chimed in yesterday in response to my queries about your online identities.
In case you missed it, I was asking about everybody's Avatars—what your screen name means and how your chose your photo. It's been great getting to know you all a little more so if you haven't chimed in yet, please feel free to do so.
As for why I don't have a photo—I'm not really sure. I activated my account in a bit of a hurry when I first joined the site, so I honestly don't know if I just passed over the option, or if it wasn't available to me. I'll take a look.