Thursday, April 13, 2006
Canucks 4 Sharks 5 (OT)
The Vancouver Canucks have favors to ask of both the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Colorado Avalanche - beat the Edmonton Oilers. Please.
With last night's 5-4 OT loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Canucks, not only need to win both of their remaining games, but also need the Oilers to lose at least one of theirs. There's a chance that the Canucks will win both of their games and the Avs lose all of theirs; in this case, both teams will be tied with 94 points, but unless the Canucks beat them by more than six goals on Saturday, the Avs win the tiebreaker.
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Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Technorati Tags: NHL, hockey, Vancouver, Canucks, San+Jose+Sharks, Joe+Thornton, Alex+Auld
With last night's 5-4 OT loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Canucks, not only need to win both of their remaining games, but also need the Oilers to lose at least one of theirs. There's a chance that the Canucks will win both of their games and the Avs lose all of theirs; in this case, both teams will be tied with 94 points, but unless the Canucks beat them by more than six goals on Saturday, the Avs win the tiebreaker.
Game Recaps: canucks.com . ESPNMy notes from the game:
Statistics: Score Sheet . Stat Sheet
- The Canucks are now 1-3-2 in their last six games. Not exactly a sprint to the finish, eh?
- It's been almost four years since I've seen Joe Thornton play and I almost forgot how dominating of a player he was. Part of the knock on him when he played with the Bruins was how he refused to shoot the puck, but that doesn't matter when he can control the puck and set up his teammates. Last night, he gave the Canucks' defense fits and dished out four assists.
- A couple of readers commented how I didn't comment on Alex Auld's play after the Anaheim game (I forgot). I'm going to make sure I mention him this time - the loss is not all Alex Auld's fault. While I was leaving the game last night, a few guys had some choice words about Auldy's play and about how he allowed five goals. I blame him for one (maybe two) goals, but the rest were the result of some awful defensive breakdowns.
- The OT goal was especially awful as Todd Bertuzzi came off the bench and allowed Erhoff to skate unimpeded into their zone. Ten seconds later and Erhoff got the puck and scored the game-winner.
- The Sedin line was tasked with playing against the Thornton line all night. While they didn't keep Thornton off the score sheet, they at least managed to match his output. Henrik had two assists; Daniel had three points (1G-2A); and both finished with more than 20 minutes of ice-time.
- I thought Brendan Morrison had a good, energetic game, and it looked like Markus Naslund fed off the energy. Both were active on the forecheck and good coming back. Nazzy, while he only recorded one goal, created a few more scoring chances.
- I thought Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows also had good games. Both created turnovers on the forecheck and actually also created a some good rushes for themselves. If they only had more finish...
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Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Technorati Tags: NHL, hockey, Vancouver, Canucks, San+Jose+Sharks, Joe+Thornton, Alex+Auld
3 Comments:
It's so obvious Bertuzzi should be traded because the city doesn't love him anymore. On the OT goal, Naslund has equal if not more blame because 4 on 4, the left wing (Naslund) checks the right defenceman (Ehrhoff). Naslund didn't trust his teammates enough to do their job (check Thornton) and left both Ehrhoff and Preissing for Bertuzzi, and you know Bertuzzi isn't really that good in defending against his own check (Preissing), let alone Naslund's (Ehrhoff). He turned away from Ehrhoff because he realized he probably wasn't close enough to get Ehrhoff and Preissing was there too.
The OT goal was especially awful as Todd Bertuzzi came off the bench and allowed Erhoff to skate unimpeded into their zone. This pretty much sums of Todd Bertuzzi's 'defense' for his entire career.
and who cares if the city loves Bertuzzi or not? It's performance that matters, not how much the Yaletown Yuppies <3 the player.
Of course I should have clarified that the city hates him instead of merely not liking him. If he is the scapegoat for not being able to cover every mistake his teammates make when he's on the ice, then why should the team keep such a player? It's a team game, and Naslund should share equal if not more blame on that goal, yet nobody is willing to say anything bad about Naslund?
Bertuzzi had a strong game, but his team lost while he's on the ice, unable to cover for Naslund's screwup. Now he's the only one to blame? I think he's going to score against the Canucks when he returns to GM Place in another team's uniform next season. (Well, if the teams play each other at GM Place)
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