Canucks get beaten by Halak...and themselves
by Sean Zandberg on Feb 24, 2009 8:19 PM PST
in Game Review
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The Canucks outshot the Canadiens 34-17, but scored no goals. A lot of credit goes to Jaroslav Halak for the Habs' win, obviously. But the Canucks cannot use that as an excuse for the loss.
-Vancouver went 0-for-5 on the powerplay. They completely blew a full two minute 5 on 3. For most of the first two periods, they were guilty of being a little too fancy I thought. They didn't get down and dirty to bury their chances. Some of their plays looked painfully predictable. Halak was having a seemingly easy time reading the plays.
-Kyle Wellwood coughed the puck up at the end of a Canucks powerplay in the first period and the puck was fed to Tomas Plekanec for the breakaway just as he stepped out of the box. 1-0 Habs.
- Vancouver may have outshot Montreal 13-7 in the second period, but Alex Burrows took a costly and nasty crosschecking major, making Patrice Brisebois bleed. That would put the Canucks behind a man for 5 minutes, and cost the team it's hottest player for the remainder of the game. Andrei Markov pinched in and made the Canucks pay about halfway through that penalty, making it 2-0 Habs.
-That was about the time the Canucks smartened up. They got less fancy and started putting more shots on net from the point with a screen in front. Halak wasn't biting though. He fought his way through traffic and made some tremendous stops in Period 3, solidifying his position as the number one goalie in Montreal...for now.
In my opinion, I didn't think they played all that hot (or consistent enough) tonight or against the Leafs on Saturday.
MORE RANTS / OPINIONS
-The RPM Line is far from firing on all cylinders. They had a combined 7 shots on net tonight and all 3 were minus players.
-Would have been convenient to have Burrows play the whole game with the Twins. And to think that he had a lot of friends at the game watching.
-No faulting Roberto Luongo tonight. He looked good again. The 2 goals he surrendered were not his fault.
-Not the worst game by the Canucks' defence. It was the forwards who really didn't get the job done. I thought Mason Raymond looked impressive in his 9:02 played.
-7 power play opportunities for Montreal. Yet they were outshot by a 2-to-1 margin. That's why I thought the Canucks' D weren't all that bad.
-Montreal really had to win this game to change their fortunes. The Canucks can go home with their heads held high, as they win 3 of 4 games on their road trip and are now 8-2 in their last 10.
CANUCKS STANDOUTS
- Alex Edler: 19:48 icetime, a minus-1, but 6 shots on goal
-The Sedins: both played over 20:00 each but combined for 5 shots. Shame.
FOR THE HABS
- Halak. Duh. Sorry, Carey. I guess you'll just have to keep the bench warm.
-Tomas Plekanec: 21:15 played, 1 goal and 1 assist, and 5 shots on goal
-Andrei Markov: Sneaky little bugger likes to sneak in from the point. He played over 26:00, scored a goal, and had 3 shots. He leads his team in scoring. That says a lot about him, and not much about Montreal's forwards.
CONSOLATION, ANYONE?
It's the first time Montreal has beaten Vancouver since the 1999-00 season, ending a 10-0-1 run
More from Jason Botchford at The Province.
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Sedins were good tonight. There 5 shots were good ones, and they were cyclin pretty well. And I do fault Lou on the first goal. Leg lift shot? WTF, is this junior B? He might as well yelled “top shelf, short side” before he shot it.
I’m sourin on Lou these days though, i’m lookin through the adoration and seein a good goalie whos not having a good year AGAIN. I’m seriously gettin to the point with him, of listenin to offers this summer and goin with a Barbie/Fernandez combo instead. If you take the Devils out of the equation no team wins Stanley with franchise goaltenders in net.
And just for conversation, would Lou be enough to pry Malkin out of Pittsburgh?
The injury took a lot out of him, but he’s shown glimpses of what he can do recently. He will round into form. On the other hand I do wish they’d give the LaB some more shots at playing just to make sure our GOTH plan is functioning. The ‘easy’ schedule, in terms of restitution, heading in to season 2 means they’ll run Luongo back out there every time, which may not be as good an idea as it used to be. He’s still top class, will still steal games, but his injury may mean he needs more restitution. Again on the other hand I’m sure it can be argued he needs more game time to put the finer points of his game back together.
Some background info:
This one by Doogie2k
This one over at Brodeur is a Fraud
Barbie will maybe play 1 more game. Luongo needs the icetime to round back into form (not in a Wellwood kind of way either!)
by Sean Zandberg on Feb 25, 2009 3:23 PM PST up reply actions
We didnt get the puck luck, we made it all to fancy until the 3rd. Halak was just awesome, but we were obvious.
The refs were certianly hard to read. Some of the decisions on both sides were baffling.
Id never trade Bobby, hes showing he is getting back to top form. Hes stole a few games for us in Feb. Although he has the “C”, Id rather see him without it. Give it to Willie Mitchell. Let Bobby concentrate on his goalie duties. Willie as captain makes much more sense. he has the leadership, he has the Canucks passion.
The refs were ‘out there’, but to me that’s a side point. The Canucks, like Viggy said, moved the puck around too slowly, and were too “obvious”.
by Sean Zandberg on Feb 25, 2009 3:24 PM PST up reply actions
A full blown 5-on-3 for two minutes that ends with the other team scoring is just nature’s way of saying you ain’t winning tonight boys.
No problem, back home and a day of rest before Tampa shows up? Destruction.
'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.
I’m sure glad I ended up watching the Spurs :)
by Linix129 on Feb 25, 2009 3:36 PM PST reply actions
Okay, I know my opinion is not the mainstream one right now. If Lou rounds into form and wins the Nucks a series or two in the playoffs, then i’m a believer.
If however the Nucks stumble, miss the playoffs again. Then what? Lou has stated that he wants to play for a winner, makin the playoffs in 1 of 3 years is not a winnin team.
This is all just for talk though. I truly believe that the Nucks are comfortably gonna make it, and then its anyones cup to win.
It’s not just about Lou you know. Think about the loss to the Ducks in Round 2 a couple of years ago. Luongo couldn’t steal that series because his teammates couldn’t get the job done…and the Ducks were a better team.
I hope the Canucks kick ass down the stretch as well. But I’m seeing some trends that I don’t like right now…lines 2 and 3 are not chipping in all that much. I’m going to make a post about it.
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