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Canucks' power play comes to life in 7-1 win over Coyotes

The Canucks delivered three power play goals in a rout over the Coyotes, sending the team off on their Christmas break in high spirits.

By Sean Larson
Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

When it rains, it pours. That was the case for Mike Smith, Devan Drubnyk and the rest of the Arizona Coyotes on Monday night as the Vancouver Canucks delivered a 7-1 romp at Rogers Arena.

The last time Vancouver scored seven goals in a game was March 14, 2013 when the Canucks defeated the Nashville Predators 7-4.

Vancouver's power play led the way as Alex Burrows, Chris Higgins and Shawn Matthias all scored on the advantage. The Canucks registered 18 of their 40 shots on the power play, going 3-for-6 while on the advantage.

Ryan Miller turned in a dominating performance, stopping 38 shots on the night. The only goal Miller allowed was with the Coyotes on the power play and the Canucks holding a 5-0 lead in the second period.

Let's take a look at how this goal-fest happened.

1st Period

The Canucks drew first blood as Alex Burrows chipped in a goal past Mike Smith less than seven minutes into the game. Before Burrows scored, Derek Dorsett had a great look on net after a nifty deke on Chris Summers, one that looked to be straight out of a video game.

The shot rebounded to the boards where it was eventually picked up by Alex Burrows, who tipped in the shot from a tough angle to give the Canucks the early 1-0 lead.

Coming into tonight, the Canucks were 13-2-1 when scoring first, so jumping out to the early lead was huge for Vancouver.

Soon after, Henrik Sedin nearly had his 200th career goal. Henrik broke out on a 2-on-1 rush with Radim Vrbata and was able to handle Vrbata's centering pass perfectly. Sedin had Mike Smith down as well, but couldn't elevate the shot as the game remained 1-0.

The Canucks had a pair of penalties against them during the first period, but their penalty kill continued to shine as the Coyotes weren't able to get anything out of it. During the first power play, Arizona didn't even manage to get a shot off.

At the end of the second power play, Kevin Bieksa jumped out of the box and joined in on the rush. Henrik Sedin hit Bieksa with the cross-ice pass, and Bieksa casually wristed a shot past Mike Smith to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead.

Daniel Sedin added another goal in the final minute before the intermission. Radim Vrbata sent a shot in on net that rebounded off Mike Smith. Daniel came in on net to deliver the rebound goal, giving the Canucks a 3-0 lead going into the first intermission.

2nd Period

Despite a horrendous first period, Mike Smith came back to start the 2nd period, most likely due to the fact they play tomorrow night in Edmonton, so they wanted to save Devan Dubnyk for that game.

Brad Richardson changed that quickly. Richardson came up with a loose puck at the blue line and skated along the boards, getting a clear shot off against Mike Smith who headed to the bench as Richardson made it a 4-0 game less than two minutes into the 2nd period with a wrist shot past Smith's glove.

Midway through the 2nd period, Tom Sestito delivered a big hit on Chris Summers along the boards and Kyle Chipchura didn't like it one bit. Sestito and Chipchura dropped the gloves, and Chipchura would head off for the period with a misconduct penalty for picking the fight with Sestito.

Shortly into the power play after the fight, Alex Burrows positioned himself in front of the net and hacked away at the puck until he got it to go by Drubnyk, making it a 5-0 game. Burrows had done a great job at getting himself to the net, displaying one of the most basic concepts in hockey. Get the puck to the net and good things happen. The Canucks were clicking on all cylinders tonight.

After a hi-sticking call against Ryan Stanton, Arizona finally beat Ryan Miller for their first goal of the night. Sam Gagner started the play by faking a slap shot, drawing Derek Dorsett away from Oliver Ekman-Larsson to create enough space for the defenseman to deliver a wrist shot past Ryan Miller, who wasn't able to adjust quickly enough.

3rd Period

The Canucks went to the power play early in the 3rd when Shawn Matthias had a breakaway chance on net, but was hooked by Ekman-Larsson. Fans wanted a penalty shot, but Vancouver would need to settle for the power play opportunity.

The Canucks had a couple close chances in front of the net, but Drubnyk was able to keep it a 5-1 game.

Vancouver would go right back to the power play less than a minute later when Daneil Sedin was tripped up by Antoine Vermette.

This time, the Canucks would find the back of the net. Linden Vey found Chris Higgins who had positioned himself perfectly in front of the net for the goal to make it 6-1. See? Get to the net and good things happen.

Less than two minutes later, Vancouver went right back to the power play when Shane Doan was sent off for hooking. This time, Brad Richardson came up with a turnover right in front of Arizona's net and slid the puck over to Shawn Matthias. After quickly stopping the puck with his skate, Matthias went up and over Drubnyk, who was totally fooled by the pass.

By this point, every forward on the ice except Tom Sestito had registered a point.

The game had gotten so out of hand by this point that Shorthouse and Garrett began to discuss the weather forecast for Christmas. After the game, Sestito had a money quote about being left off the stat sheet.

The Canucks now get some time off for the Christmas Break. They'll take a two-game winning streak into the six-day break, and will be back in action on Sunday when they face Ryan Kesler and the Anaheim Ducks on the road. From all of us at Nucks Misconduct, Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

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