Well it was a rocky start to the season, and with all the drama of last year the Canucks faithful were a little trepadacious with how things were going. It's not all sunshine and roses, but the Canucks seem to have found something of a little identity with their recent wins over Dallas and Chicago to start the road trip. I mean falling behind by a couple goals isn't a great identity, but coming back to get wins in back-to-backs is pretty good. The Canucks are now 3-2-0 through the first five games, so not too shabby.
The good parts are that Demko and Lankinen are holding down the fort and then some. Everyone knew that for the Canucks to be a playoff team this year they'd have to rely on their D and goaltending, and so far the goalies are holding up their end. Demko has injected himself back into Olympic conversation with his play so far, and having him in net is just a different beast. The team currently has the fourth best save percentage, which is going to have to hold as their offense is a little wayward at the moment.
The defense are coming along. Hughes hasn't been his high-impact-point-scoring self yet, which is probably a good thing for the team as they know that's going to come. His 4 points in 5 games are decent for his standard. The young kids are making inroads, but it's been Victor Mancini who has had more of an impression so far. Apparently last game the team didn't really have a third D pairing, and just sort of rolled Mancini and D-Petey onto pairings with Hughes and Hronek. It will be interesting to see if that's how Foote rolls it going forward, since Hughes ended up playing 30 minutes with the OT in Chicago. Probably not sustainable long term, but it gives the team a different look.
Cootes was sent down the other day, which was fair. He earned a spot out of camp, but looked a little behind when the games actually mattered. Max Sasson was brought up in his place, and has made an immediate impact with 2 goals in 2 games. The Calder Cup line with him, Karlsson, and Bains has looked good in their limited action. Foote's been a fan of their tenacity and speed, which is something the team desperately needs.
The Canucks are in Washington today/tonight to play the Caps, so hopefully the team can knock down game 3 of this 5 game swing.