-->
CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG

Friday, February 08, 2008

Canucks 2 Thrashers 1

I think most Vancouver Canucks fans would be in agreement that last night's 2-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers wasn't pretty, though as they say, a win is a win. After the doom and gloom at the start of this road trip, the Canucks are at least going home with four of the possible eight points.

Alex Burrows had a great game (Ben Kuzma, Vancouver Province):
It also marked a highlight-reel night for Alex Burrows, who got under Kovalchuk's skin and also scored the winning goal. The super-pest strategy could have backfired, but the agitating Burrows wasn't worried about that.

"If we can get under his skin, that's another part of the game that we've got to do," said Burrows.

"Those Russian guys. Normally, it [agitating] doesn't really wake them up. They like to shut it down and just going at him is part of my game."

Scoring isn't, but Burrows is one of the Canucks' most-improved players and his sixth goal spoke of hustle and enough skill to thread the needle.
Mattias Ohlund was back in the lineup and provided a huge psychological lift (Ben Kuzma, Vancouver Province):
Vigneault's convinced the process started well before the puck was dropped. It started when Mattias Ohlund went above the call of duty to help the Canucks improve to 14-16 in one-goal games.

Not only did the defenceman start the sequence for the tying goal -- his slapshot from the left boards was deflected by Daniel Sedin -- he returned from taking care of a family matter to rejoin the Canucks at the morning skate.

"For him to take a red-eye [flight] last night and to come here and play says so much about the individual and how much he cares about his teammates," said Vigneault.

"It was a huge lift for us and I'm really pleased to be his coach because he's a top-notch competitor."

Ohlund logged 23:36, had two shots on goal and played well even though he could have been easily distracted by events in Vancouver.
The win was a big monkey off their back but now comes another key stretch of games. The Canucks have seven games left before the trading deadline. Five of those seven games are at home and four of them are against Northwest Division rivals. As the Forsberg and other trade talks heat up, the team has that long to put themselves back in playoff contention or slide right out of it.

More from the MSM:

More Forsberg talk:

Next game:

Saturday night against Colorado (a Hockey Day in Canada game) and Sunday night against Chicago

______________
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, 6:49 AM | permalink/comments (0) | AddThis Social Bookmark Button | Share on Facebook | Hype It Up! |

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Game Day Post: Canucks at Thrashers

If we want to look at positives, we can at least look at the Vancouver Canucks' play over the last couple of games. They lost both in the shootout but were arguably their better efforts of the road trip.

Markus Naslund, especially, has looked good, making some key defensive plays and putting up some points on the board. Is the pre-lockout Markus back for good? Well, who knows, but for all the grief that he's put up in this city, he's certainly looked like a leader. And yesterday, for the first time in as long as I can remember (maybe ever), he made a bold prediction (Ben Kuzma, Vancouver Province):

"At the end of the day, we'll make the playoffs and go from there," predicted Naslund. "I really like our team if we have everyone back. We're as good as anyone."
As a Canucks fan, hearing those words from the oft-questioned captain is something real sweet.

More pregame pieces from the MSM:
______________
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, 8:56 AM | permalink/comments (0) | AddThis Social Bookmark Button | Share on Facebook | Hype It Up! |