Wednesday, January 21, 2004
CANUCKS 5, LIGHTNING 4 (OT)
Man, they needed this one. They REALLY needed this one. I'd realized I'd never worn my Todd Bertuzzi shirt in 2004 yet, so I wore that today hoping it would turn the Canucks' luck around.
There was a debate during the first intermission on the radio about whether the Canucks had come out tight or come out flat in the first period. Both Dan Russell and his guest agreed that they were playing "tight." Why? Todd Bertuzzi opened the scoring at 9:22 of the first period, and the Canucks kept that lead for exactly 19 seconds. The first period ended with Tampa Bay ahead 3-1 (and 15-8 in shots), and the in-house fans were giving it to them at the Garage.
The Canucks scored twice in the second period to tie the game at 3-3. The first goal was Markus Naslund's 26th goal of the year, good for his 600th career point. Mattias Ohlund got his 200th career point on the goal. Trevor Linden scored in the period, finishing a tic-tac-toe play with the Sedins.
It looked a tad bleak in the third period when the elder statesmen Dave Andreychuk tipped one in to put the Lightning up 4-3 with 9:13 left in regulation. The big line came through with 6:23 left in regulation Todd Bertuzzi scored his second goal of the game to force overtime and was assisted by both his linemates (Morrison, Naslund).
Again, it looked somewhat bleak in overtime as far as getting a win was concerned. Fredrik Modin of the Lightning ran into Dan Cloutier and was sent to the penalty box. On the ensuing power play, the Canucks managed to get ZERO shots. Not long after, the Canucks had a 3-on-1 rush (or was it 3-on-zero?) and Ed Jovanovski had crashed the net, kept hammering at goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, and the puck leaked through Khabibulin's pads (to his credit, he had control of the puck), but the whistle had blown and the goal was waved off. Luckily, off the following faceoff, Naslund chipped in the rebound to net the Canucks their two points to keep pace with the Colorado Avalanche, who picked a great time (for Colorado, that is) to start playing like they're capable of playing.
The Canucks scored three goals in 4-on-4 situations tonight, which may either be an anomaly, or a sign that the Canucks really like the open ice.
Naslund's game-winner in OT was his 4th overtime goal of the season, tying the NHL record he now shares with Scott Niedermayer and Mats Sundin.
Bertuzzi ended a 10-game goal drought (he hadn't scored since New Year's Eve) and had three points tonight. Naslund had four points. Both had two goals apiece.
Sure, the no-wins-in-regulation-on-home-ice-since-Nov-8th streak is still in order, but this OT win does end a three-game losing streak, which the Canucks hadn't seen in two years, and snaps the seven-game home winless streak. Thank goodness.
Goal scorers for the Canucks tonight: Todd Bertuzzi twice (13), Markus Naslund twice (27), Trevor Linden (10).
Next Canuck game is Sunday at the Garage against those scrappy Nashville Predators.
There was a debate during the first intermission on the radio about whether the Canucks had come out tight or come out flat in the first period. Both Dan Russell and his guest agreed that they were playing "tight." Why? Todd Bertuzzi opened the scoring at 9:22 of the first period, and the Canucks kept that lead for exactly 19 seconds. The first period ended with Tampa Bay ahead 3-1 (and 15-8 in shots), and the in-house fans were giving it to them at the Garage.
The Canucks scored twice in the second period to tie the game at 3-3. The first goal was Markus Naslund's 26th goal of the year, good for his 600th career point. Mattias Ohlund got his 200th career point on the goal. Trevor Linden scored in the period, finishing a tic-tac-toe play with the Sedins.
It looked a tad bleak in the third period when the elder statesmen Dave Andreychuk tipped one in to put the Lightning up 4-3 with 9:13 left in regulation. The big line came through with 6:23 left in regulation Todd Bertuzzi scored his second goal of the game to force overtime and was assisted by both his linemates (Morrison, Naslund).
Again, it looked somewhat bleak in overtime as far as getting a win was concerned. Fredrik Modin of the Lightning ran into Dan Cloutier and was sent to the penalty box. On the ensuing power play, the Canucks managed to get ZERO shots. Not long after, the Canucks had a 3-on-1 rush (or was it 3-on-zero?) and Ed Jovanovski had crashed the net, kept hammering at goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, and the puck leaked through Khabibulin's pads (to his credit, he had control of the puck), but the whistle had blown and the goal was waved off. Luckily, off the following faceoff, Naslund chipped in the rebound to net the Canucks their two points to keep pace with the Colorado Avalanche, who picked a great time (for Colorado, that is) to start playing like they're capable of playing.
The Canucks scored three goals in 4-on-4 situations tonight, which may either be an anomaly, or a sign that the Canucks really like the open ice.
Naslund's game-winner in OT was his 4th overtime goal of the season, tying the NHL record he now shares with Scott Niedermayer and Mats Sundin.
Bertuzzi ended a 10-game goal drought (he hadn't scored since New Year's Eve) and had three points tonight. Naslund had four points. Both had two goals apiece.
Sure, the no-wins-in-regulation-on-home-ice-since-Nov-8th streak is still in order, but this OT win does end a three-game losing streak, which the Canucks hadn't seen in two years, and snaps the seven-game home winless streak. Thank goodness.
Goal scorers for the Canucks tonight: Todd Bertuzzi twice (13), Markus Naslund twice (27), Trevor Linden (10).
Next Canuck game is Sunday at the Garage against those scrappy Nashville Predators.
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