The Canucks came out and did exactly what they needed to tonight. They beat a non-playoff team handily, they played a good 60-minute game, and they took a few less penalties. The pressure they put on Phoenix in the 1st period and going up 3-0 was too much for them to handle. QUICK NOTES
-Cowan the Bra-barian scored another goal tonight, extending his streak. But he took a mighty wallop from who I thought was Nick Boynton, but the picture shows it was Steve Reinprecht perhaps. Either way, it was a big hit, and I wonder if that will cool Cowan down now. A massive hit has a way of doing that. Cowan was pretty quiet after that.
-Why didn't Pyatt take his penalty shot? Does he have any confidence in his own ability? Nice save by Cujo on Hank though, as Hank took Pyatt's shot.
-Dany Sabourin looked pretty good tonight. He didn't have much of a chance on either goal he let in. A big plus to the Nucks' team defence tonight. They played great in front of Sabu.
-The Sedin-Pyatt line looks limp and out-of-sync. I can single out Pyatt as looking very weak out there.
-The Naslund-Bulis-Smolinski line looks better all the time. Naslund's goal was sweetness, taking a crafty pass from Smolinski. Bulis plays with a lot of hustle, and that is probably why he is still in a Canucks jersey.
With this win, and a beautiful loss by the Flames to the Predators tonight, the Canucks have widened the gap between themselves and Calgary and Minnesota to 4 points. But Vigneault is not smug about it:
"I still think this is going to go to the wire," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "There are so many conference games and division games left."Agreed 100%, Alain.
Now let's see what the Canucks have against the Sharks and Ducks...