Thursday November 28: Vancouver Canucks 5 Ottawa Senators 2
The Ottawa Senators proved to be generous hosts on Thursday night, gifting the Vancouver Canucks with five goals on their way to a win as they kicked off a four-game road trip. Here are your highlights:
Perhaps the key is to let the opposition tire themselves out with shots? Running counter to recent trends, the Sens outshot Vancouver 39-28 on Thursday, yet were outscored 5-1 in the last two periods.
Ottawa's back-to-back games may have been an issue for them. They were strong in the first, trying to build off their win on Wednesday night in Ottawa. Craig Anderson started for the second consecutive night and Clarke MacArthur staked his team to a 1-0 lead at the 8:50 mark.
Jannik Hansen stopped skating on the play and made no effort to backcheck, which led to a talking-to from Torts. He was benched until six minutes into the second, once the Canucks had taken a safe 3-1 lead. Here's the GIF of Hansen and Tortorella on the bench after the goal:
Torts rips apart Hansen. Too funny http://t.co/ICm502owWY
— Jacky C (@jck_ccc) November 29, 2013The game's turning point came early in the second period. Just 16 seconds in, Roberto Luongo went down after taking a high slap shot from Kyle Turris off the collarbone. He stayed on the ice long enough for the rest of the season to flash before my eyes, wondering what would happen if Luongo was seriously injured. Fortunately, he shook off the stinger and was able to stay in the game.
The incident seemed to wake up the Canucks. Henrik Sedin won the draw in front of Luongo and quickly carried the play down the ice. Alex Burrows laid the forecheck on Marc Methot behind the net, Henrik popped the puck out front and Daniel Sedin made no mistake in potting his 300th career goal, tying the game at one.
In recent games, the Canucks have been undone by quick offensive bursts from their opponents, but it was their turn on Thursday night. Vancouver made the score 2-1 just 45 seconds later on a quick goal off the face off from the top of the right circle.
The scorer's dazzling smile was a mile wide as he fist-bumped his teammates on the bench, yet I couldn't identify his face right away. Who is that??
Wow—it's David Booth!
It was another strong game for the Canucks' pariah. He added an assist on Vancouver's fourth goal, from Dale Weise, and finished with two hits and a plus-one in just over 13 minutes of ice time. He even played 21 seconds on the power play.
That Martin Erat "change for the sake of change" trade doesn't look *quite* as appealing to me today. Ever optimistic, I'm hopeful that Booth is finally starting to find his game.
Craig Anderson was pulled after surrendering the Weise goal at the 9:22 mark of the second period—his fourth goal on just 16 shots. After such a strong season last year, Anderson's struggles have been a big part of what's ailed the Sens this season.
Once they got behind, Ottawa tried to ramp up the physical part of its game but once again, the Canucks showed good push-back. Chris Neil flattened Ryan Stanton into the end boards with about five minutes to go in the second—and was immediately made to answer for his offense when Tom Sestito stepped in to fight him. That calmed the waters, keeping the rest of the game relatively problem-free.
Mika Zibanejad made the score 4-2 late in the second period, but the Canucks drove the game home in the third. Mike Santorelli made it 5-2 at the 5:31 mark before Vancouver took its foot off the gas. After that, the Canucks took a couple of penalties and once again, their last shot of the game came with 11:33 to go. The Sens put nine more shots on net after that, but Luongo was perfect in sealing the two points for Vancouver.
The win helps the Canucks solidify their hold on ninth place in the Western Conference. They're now three points ahead of Nashville, who have just one game in hand, and Winnipeg, who have played the same number of games as Vancouver. They're three points behind the teams sitting in spots six through eight: Colorado, Phoenix and Minnesota.
Those teams have all played less games, but if Vancouver can keep the wins coming this weekend, they could have a chance to get back into the playoff hunt.
At this point, I'm not too worried about the projections that the Canucks will need to play lights-out hockey the rest of the way if they hope to make the postseason. It'll be a battle, but there's a lot of hockey still to be played. Those western teams started so hot, it's virtually guaranteed that they'll face some adversity along the way.
Thursday's win makes it one in a row. It's a start.
The Canucks now head to New York City, where they'll face Alain Vigneault and the Rangers on Saturday morning. Take note of the 11:00 a.m. start time.
This will be a game worth watching as Torts returns to his old stomping grounds—and media buddies—and players on both sides face off against their old coaches.
Jeff Z. Klein of the New York Times was in Vancouver last week to watch Tortorella in action ahead of Saturday's Rangers game. Click here to read his in-depth article—it's a good one.
I'll post a game preview tomorrow morning—hopefully before the puck drops.
Quick Hit:
- If you'd care to check out some live hockey this weekend—and get a first-hand look at the Canucks' prospects—the Utica Comets are visiting the Abbotsford Heat. The Heat sit at the top of the Western Conference with a record of 17-5-0-1 while the Comets are in last place at 4-11-1-1. Game time is 7:00 p.m. out in Abbotsford, both Friday and Saturday nights.