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CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Canucks 1 Blues 4

The Vancouver Canucks don't play the Nashville Predators until Thursday, but they hit the flat notes early, losing 4-1 to the St. Louis Blues tonight. The Canucks had an excellent opportunity to tie the Calgary Flames for first place in the Northwest Division. Instead, they remain two points back of the Flames; the Flames also have three games in hand on the Canucks.

Game Recaps: canucks.com . ESPN
Statistics: Score Sheet . Stat Sheet
My notes from the game:

  • Maybe the fatigue has finally set in, but except for a brief spurt near the end of the second period and the start of the third, the Canucks were outworked and outshot by a game St. Louis team. The Blues scored only two minutes in and never looked back.
  • Alex Auld made a few very good saves to keep the game close, but let in a couple of iffy goals in the first period. He finished with 31 saves on 35 Blues shots.
  • In all four games since the Olympic break, Markus Naslund has been the best skater on the ice, and tonight was no different. Markus played like vintage Markus and created some very good offensive opportunities for himself.
  • Anson Carter also played a good game. He put five shots on net, scored his 24th goal, and almost his 25th (until Fraser waived it off).
  • Why can't the Canucks score on a 5-on-3? They had a two-man advantage for almost two minutes early in the game but couldn't score. They've only scored seven times on the 5-on-3 this season, a total that puts them in the bottom-third of the league.
  • Wade Brookbank was absolutely useless. I thought Tomas Mozjis played some of his best hockey after the Olympic break; I was surprised that he has been a healthy scratch the last couple of games.
  • I thought Steve McCarthy was the best of a bad bunch on defense. I've been impressed with how he's stepped up in the absence of the big-three.
Next up: Some rest, then Nashville on Thursday.

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Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.

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posted by J.J. Guerrero, 10:59 PM

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