Tuesday March 17 - Vancouver Canucks 4 - Philadelphia Flyers 1
The celebration of Pat Quinn's life left a bit of a somber aura hanging in Rogers Arena on Tuesday night, but that didn't stop the Vancouver Canucks from tidily disposing of the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 4-1.
Here are your highlights:
It was pretty great to see all four Canucks whose jerseys have been retired on the ice at the same time to pay tribute to the Big Irishman: Stan Smyl, Trevor Linden, Markus Naslund and (surprise!) Pavel Bure.
Trevor Linden and Pavel Bure: forever brothers
#Canucks pic.twitter.com/nNpXZbikPF
— Pucks on net (@Pucksonnetca) March 18, 2015I assume the jersey design they're wearing, along with Kirk McLean, is probably going to be the Canucks' next throwback once all the necessary paperwork is complete.
Other attendees included Quinn's wife, daughters and granddaughter, Flyers Senior Vice President Bob Clarke, former NHL exec Cliff Fletcher, original Quinn teammate Orland Kurtenbach, Quinn's close friend and former assistant coach Rick Ley and Quinn's co-owner of the Vancouver Giants, Ron Toigo, with the introductions made by legendary Canucks broadcaster Jim Robson.
I was in my seat by 6:45 but, other than catching the end of the Canucks' warmup in their green jerseys, all wearing Quinn's No. 3, there was no action until the TV broadcast began at 7:00.
It was great to see all the VIPs, but I would have liked to hear more from those in attendance. Ron Toigo was interviewed by Joey Kenward in the building during the first intermission, and Trevor Linden in the second, but I wanted to hear from people like Ley, Fletcher, Naslund, Bure. It felt like a tease to have them come in for the ceremony, but not speak to the crowd on hand.
After a touching rendition of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" by Mark Donnelly, it was on to the national anthems, and our puck drop. I was heartened to see Henrik Sedin, Eddie Lack and the other Canucks vigorously warming up their legs during the anthems—a positive sign that the importance of the game ahead had not been forgotten during the ceremony.
It was a more wide-open game than we often see, with lots of shots and lots of hits. The Flyers were awarded more than 20 hits in the first period alone and the final tally ended up 42-22 in favour of Philadelphia.
Despite the physical play, other than a surprising mid-game scrap between Dan Hamhuis and Jakub Voracek, there didn't seem to be a lot of bad blood on the ice.
According to HockeyFights.com, the fight was just the third of Voracek's career, but his second this year after a battle with Pittsburgh's Rob Scuderi back in January.
For Hamhuis, it was the fifth fight of his career but also his second this year. You might remember him squaring off against Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back in October.
A bloodied Hamhuis had to go to the dressing room for repairs after the tilt, but he returned to finish the game.
Hamhuis had blood all over his visor after that fight. pic.twitter.com/V1cHwioXzh
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) March 18, 2015The fight did seem to raise the intensity on both sides. Philadelphia enjoyed the early surge—looking like they were on a power play as they pressured the Canucks until Michael Raffl scored the game's first goal just 1:01 later.
It took the Canucks less than four minutes to answer back on an Alex Edler tally from down by the goal line into a gaping cage, sending the teams to the dressing room in a 1-1 tie after 40 minutes.
Alex Burrows broke the game open in the third—scoring two goals in 17 seconds, both with assists from Daniel Sedin. After missing Saturday's game primarily so he could rest up a bit, Burrows was flying in the final frame as the Canucks turned up the juice to seal the win.
Outshooting the Flyers 16-10 in the third, the period was a marked contrast from the third periods of last season, when the tired team would roll over and surrender late goals that cost them big points.
Burrows looked great on the first line with the twins, stepping in without missing a beat in the absence of late scratch Zack Kassian.
In case you're wondering:
Kassian's injury is back tightness. Same as what he's dealt with previously. #Canucks chosing to be cautious with plenty of healthy bodies
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) March 18, 2015At the other end, Eddie Lack was solid again—getting help from his posts as he kept the game close and gave the Canucks a chance to win.
Good thing, too. This news is squeaking out today:
@FarhanLaljiTSN telling @TSN1040 #Canucks Miller may be out longer than first thought (4-6 weeks) and expects Lack to be playoff starter
— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) March 18, 2015Miller was injured on Feb 22, so he'll have been sidelined for four weeks this Sunday. Playoffs will begin four weeks from today, so that's quite an expansion of Miller's injury window—and will be quite a difference from how Lack ended last season.
Not only did Vancouver pay tribute to Pat Quinn with a tidy win on Tuesday, the two points also give them 84 points on the season with 13 games remaining. That expands their lead over Calgary and Los Angeles to three points, it also pushes them past their total-points mark from last season, when they finished 25th in the league.
Right now, they're 13th, and tracking at a 95.7 percent chance of making the playoffs according to Sports Club Stats.
The Canucks are taking the day off today. Rest probably is the most important tool in the tool box at this time of year.
One key game to watch on the out-of-town scoreboard tonight. The Kings take on the Ducks at the Honda Centre tonight at 7:30, broadcast on Sportsnet.