Canucks 2 Avalanche 3

Stop us if this sound familiar just three games into the season.

Roberto Luongo makes a series of saves to keep the Vancouver Canucks from being run out of the Pepsi Center on Sunday. Markus Naslund and Daniel Sedin score again and there's the appearance of another scripted victory.

Not this time.

Too many lazy penalties, too many blown assignments and poor down-low coverage against the Colorado Avalanche contributed greatly to a 3-2 loss to drop the Canucks to 2-1 on this four-game, season-opening odyssey.

After taking eight minors and giving the Avalanche eight powerplay opportunities - the Avs scored on three of them - the Canucks have the dubious honor of "leading" the league in the number of times shorthanded in the early season. The five powerplay goals they've surrendered is second most in the league and their penalty-kill rate (77.3%) ranks them 23rd among all 30 teams.

1. Marek Svatos (COL): Svatos took advantage of the Canucks sloppy defensive coverage and scored two powerplay goals, including the game-winner late in the third period.
2. Joe Sakic (COL): Burnaby Joe was a handful all night. He won 65% of his faceoffs, had five shots on goal, and assisted on both of Svatos' goals. He also logged a whopping 22:11 minutes of ice-time.
3. Markus Naslund (VAN): Markus tried to lead by example and was noticeable on every shift. He led all Canucks shooters with five shots on goal, recorded a goal and an assist, and finished with a +2 rating.

• I thought Lukas Krajicek had his best game in a Canucks uniform. He looked comfortable in a pairing with Willie Mitchell and often rushed the puck and jumped in the play. He logged a season-high 20:14 minutes of ice-time and recorded three shots on goal and a +2 rating.
• After taking a lazy hooking penalty late in the second period, Jan Bulis played all of one shift in the third period.
• Like Bulis, Brendan Morrison also didn't see a lot of ice in the third period.
• Lots of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy makes me sleepy and isn't good for writing game recaps.

• If you want to relive the emotions of the game, Waiting For Stanley has the excruciating details.
• Jerseys and Hockey Love is relieved and went out to celebrate with beer and pizza after the game. I had beer too - lots of it - but only to console myself after the loss.

• Official Scoresheet
• Official Stat Sheet
• Shift Chart