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Vancouver Canucks Game Review/Game Day: Big Bad Canucks Beat Bruins |
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Friday February 13 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Boston Bruins 2
No bad luck for the Vancouver Canucks on this Friday the 13th. Despite insisting that it was just another game, the home team rode Shawn Matthias' hat trick to an entertaining victory over their old rivals from Boston on Friday night.
Here are your highlights:
I can't remember the last time we saw the Canucks get off to such a confident start on home ice. Matthias showed he'd come to play as he hurled himself against the glass, Ovi-style, to celebrate his first goal—just 1:41 into the game.
I wish we could have savoured his hat-trick celebration in the arena a bit more in the third period, rather than rushing into commercials and sponsored content.
It's the first three-goal night of Matthias' career—and was very cool to see that his father was still in town, in the stands, to share the moment.
Matthias has looked more than comfortable with his move back to centre since Nick Bonino's injury. His 13 goals are now just one off his career high and tied with Daniel Sedin for second on the team. He has also formed a solid tandem with Zack Kassian, who added another two assists and was a plus-three on Friday—and has six points in his last five games.
It was great to see Willie put out Matthias, Kassian and Derek Dorsett to take their victory lap on the last shift of the game.
The other standout part of Friday's game was Vancouver's determination not to be intimidated by a Bruins team that had owned them physically during the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. Luca Sbisa tangled gamely with Milan Lucic all night, limiting the big power forward to a single shot on goal, and Ronalds Kenins was relentless in his attacks on Zdeno Chara.
At the end of a strong second period, the Canucks had a total of 13 hits—and Kenins had seven of them. Bo Horvat's also being praised for going into the corner and taking Chara down but my favourite moment was near the end of the second: Chara had the puck deep in the defensive zone, then baubled it as he sensed Kenins bearing down on him. It's not very often that you see Big Z showing signs that he feels physically intimidated.
Alex Burrows also tangled fearlessly with the big guy in front of the net over the course of the night. And I have to give a shout-out to Chris Higgins for his backwards-through-the-legs pass from behind the net to set up Radim Vrbata's second-period goal that made the game 3-1.
I had gotten used to the idea of the Canucks being consistently inconsistent, so I expected a flat effort after the big win against Chicago on Wednesday.
Instead, the team has delivered two high-tempo, entertaining games in a row—and two very satisfying wins in their last two games at Rogers Arena. If they keep this up, people might start buying tickets again!
Saturday February 14 - Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames - 7:00 p.m. - CBC, TSN1040
Not much time to savour the win, though. Both the Canucks and Bruins headed for Calgary right after the game. The Canucks finish out their week with a huge game against the Flames on Saturday night, while the Bruins will play Calgary on Monday.
Vancouver Canucks: 31-20-3, 65 points, third in Pacific Division
Calgary Flames: 30-22-3, 63 points, fourth in Pacific Division
The last time the Canucks played a Pacific Division rival, they mailed in a stinker against the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 5. The last time they played the Calgary Flames, they were bested by goaltender Joni Ortio on Jan. 10. A better effort tonight could result in the first three-game win streak in a month for Vancouver.
The Canucks currently sit two points ahead of Calgary in the Pacific Division, still with a game in hand. They can't be passed tonight, but a victory could open up a four-point gap between the clubs, which would do wonders for those playoff numbers on SportsClubStats.
The Flames have had an inconsistent week of their own, following up a 4-1 win over San Jose last Monday with a 5-3 defeat by the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday—a game in which Jonas Hiller was pulled midway through the third period after giving up all five goals, including a hat trick by Tyler Toffoli.
Looks like Karri Ramo will get the start for the Flames:
His last start was back on January 7, when he left the game after a collision with teammate Raphael Diaz that resulted in an upper-body injury.
No official word yet, but even the Calgary media is assuming that Eddie Lack will get the start tonight:
The hot hand for the Flames in recent games has been none other than ex-Canuck Mason Raymond. He's 5-1-6 in his last six games and played 19:28 against the Kings on Thursday.
It's not just Valentine's Day; it's also Hockey Day in Canada, which means every Canadian team will be in action, starting with Edmonton and Ottawa at 11 a.m. The hub for this year's broadcast is Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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