-->
CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Thrashers 2 Canucks 3

When Markus Naslund skated on the ice for his first shift with Brad Moran and Brandon Reid, I had to do a double-take. I mean, Markus hasn't posted the same numbers this season as he has in previous seasons, but he's been better recently. Surely, he deserves more than to play with a couple of Moose call-ups with a combined 15 games of NHL experience.

But as has been the case all season, Markus embraced his new role (hey Jan Bulis, take note) and showed again why he is every bit still deserving of the "C" on his jersey:

Naslund could have buckled in frustration. He could have ended up mired in self pity.

Instead, he did what his coach hoped he would do -- he led. And the line thrived.

Naslund embraced his hitching to a pair of unheralded minor leaguers, Brad Moran and Brandon Reid, and somehow the result was a line that was nearly as dangerous as any trio the Thrashers and their established stable of superstars could produce.

"You know, I took it as a fun opportunity," Naslund said. "I've played with everyone this season. It doesn't bother me. I'm used to it now. I just encouraged them and made it as easy as I could for them."
He scored a powerplay goal - with an assist from Brad Moran - and helped his Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 win over the Southeast Division-leading Atlanta Thrashers.

Overall, the team gave a much better effort than Wednesday's. (To be fair, it really doesn't get much worse than Wednesday's.) They came out of the gate flying, forcing the play and creating some early scoring chances. Brendan Morrison scored his 13th goal of the season only 1:44 into the first period and the Canucks never looked back.

More from the Mainstream

About the game around the blogosphere

My 3 Stars of the Game

  1. Brendan Morrison (VAN): Two goals and a solid two-way game.
  2. Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL): Easily the most dangerous player on the ice all night.
  3. Markus Naslund (VAN): Where did his slapper come from?

Official Statistics

Next Game

Three days off and then to Minnesota on Valentine's Day.

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

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Labels:

posted by J.J. Guerrero, 11:07 AM

2 Comments:

At February 11, 2007 8:08 PM, Blogger Sean Zandberg said...

Moran and Reid showed alot of hustle indeed. Maybe they should stick with the big team for a while! That line looked terrific!

 
At February 12, 2007 9:18 AM, Blogger J.J. Guerrero said...

It was fun to watch for sure. I do have to throw a note of caution and say that the Thrashers didn't exactly play a great defensive game that night.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home