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Canucks hold on to beat Arizona 4-3.

The Canucks started fast and held on for dear life in the desert for a much needed victory.

By westy99
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Quick turnaround for the Canucks after last night’s loss to Dallas. Probably for the best as there was enough bitching in the media about blowing another lead and Willie not playing the youth in the 3rd period. So off to Arizona they go and Richard Bachman got his first start of the year for the Nucks. Sven got to play left press box and Cracknell got the start. Arizona came into the game only 1 point behind the Nucks, which is a surprise to me as I thought they would suck this year.

First Period

Tell me if you’ve seen this story before? Canucks come out firing. Rockets attached to the ass, firing missiles and a little bit of bad goaltending from our favorite flopper Mike Smith. The Nucks open the scoring after a hard working fourth line got the puck deep to Cracknell behind the net who passed out front to McCann, who then did a little toe-drag and put it by Smith.

Two and a half minutes later the man who does it all, Alex Burrows, skates it down the left wing and let’s go with a shot on net that was meant to create a rebound. Instead Mike Smith decides to let it go in and Dave Tippett gives Smith the rest of the night off after only 4:26 of playing. Well-played Mike.

Lindback comes in to replace Smith. And just looking at the difference between the two goalies on the ice reminds me of a hobbit vs Viking. The Canucks continue to put the pedal to metal and another rookie gets on the board when Gaunce does what he supposed to do, and get to the front of the net to cause problems for opposing defensemen. Tanev’s shot gets through and hits Gaunce before going in the net.

Second Period

Great start guys! Especially after shitting the bed last night. Just keep it going….right…….right?

The Nucks seemed to back off in the second. This seems to be a pattern that the Nucks fall into once they get a lead. They don’t necessarily sit back but they don’t play as aggressively as they did in the first. And that type of play lead the fourth line getting hemmed in their own zone, getting tired and the Coyotes capitalizing.

The Coyotes must have read the book on the Canucks as once they scored, they continued to play aggressively, throwing a lot of hits and out-hustling the Nucks. Late in the third the Nucks got pinned in their own end again which lead to Steve Downie scoring.

The narrative of “play the youth!” was growing quickly on the old interweb until Dorsett drew a hooking call on Michalek. The ensuing powerplay was quick answer by the veterans of the team as Vrbata made a sweet cross-ice pass to Daniel who buried it passed Lindback.

Third period

I have to include this tweet as it makes me smile. Screw you Kesler.

The third period was dull to begin with and yet the nagging thought was in everyone’s head.

The refs noticed that the game was getting a little dull, but they let some stuff go like this..

And then called a penalty on Edler. Bachman did his best Ryan Miller imitation on the PK and the scored stayed 4-2. The Canucks at this point only had 4 shots in the period, so it’s kinda hard to add to the score when you don’t get shots. I also noticed that when the 4th line was on the ice that Sbisa/Bart were usual out there with them. That’s some scary shit. With 4 minutes left Bachman channeled his inner Lu and fucked around with the puck behind the net, which almost led to a Coyote goal. And then the Coyotes pull the goalie and Bachman does the same thing which leads to a Yotes goal with 2:20 left.

Fans were pleading for a hold by the Nucks

The Coyotes pull the goalie after the faceoff and kept the pressure on Bachman and the Nucks. And I thought the Yotes were going to tie it after Burrows couldn’t score on an empty net, but the Nucks survived……………barely. And with that win, get this, the Canucks are 1st in the Pacific. Let’s all go buy lottery.

See you Monday when Philly comes to town.

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