Friday, February 27, 2004
CANUCKS 3, SHARKS 2 (OT)
[Bonus edit 27 Feb ~1:40p -- Onion article, "If Al-Qaeda Had A Hockey Team, We'd Totally Kick Its Ass"]
In the middle of tonight's game, the Saint Louis Blues rallied from down 2-0 to tie the Colorado Avalanche. This meant the Canucks could gain a point on the Avalanche with a win tonight, and thank goodness they got it, as the Canucks got their 9th OT win of the year to pull to within two points of the Northwest Division lead. Tonight's win made it the first time since Jan 31st that the Canucks won consecutive games.
The Canucks beat the Sharks for the first time this season, and nearly lost it in somewhat of the same way as the last SJ/VAN game at the Garage. In that game, Trevor Linden coughed up the puck deep in his own zone that led directly to San Jose's game-winning goal. Tonight, Brent Sopel was beaten on both of the San Jose goals. Fortunately, he scored two goals himself and assisted on another. Mattias Ohlund scored the other Canuck goal, facilitated by Fedor Fedorov raising some ruckus in front of the net.
San Jose lost both Mike Ricci and Kyle McLaren in the first period to injuries. Ricci was smashed into the boards by Jarkko Ruutu while Kyle McLaren took a deflected-off-teammate-Scott Parker's-glove Sami Salo slapshot off part of the helmet near the forehead, causing a forehead laceration. San Jose dominated the first period, while Vancouver returned the favor in the second period, well after the injuries thinned out the Shark bench.
Of note for the Canucks were the return of Markus Naslund after 10 days off due to a concussion off the Steve Moore cheap shot (COL/VAN next Wed), and the return of Matt Cooke from a two-game suspension after spearing Matt Johnson of the Saint Louis Blues.
In the statsheet anomaly department, the Canuck radio crew noted that although the Canucks outshot the Sharks 36-21, such a total does not necessarily equate to dominance, as most of the shots by the Canucks were long-range (and therefore low-percentage) shots. Also in the stat department, of all the Canucks' 36 shots, not a one was let loose by Todd Bertuzzi, and of course, that leads to talk about the big line not doing anything again, since Brendan Morrison hasn't been doing a lot lately either.
Sopel's goal came on a San Jose too many men penalty in OT, and quite frankly, if you're on the power play in OT in the NHL and the other goalie hasn't been standing on his head for most of the night, then you should win that game.
John Shorthouse said Vancouver could have been frustrated by the Sharks' playing style, but hung in there. Brent Sopel misplayed on the first Shark goal, and was blown past on the Marco Sturm goal, but had his name attached to all three of the Canuck goals, which is somewhat strange. Tom Larscheid said Ohlund had the huge goal to tie, with under 3 minutes left in regulation. Dan Russell noted that the big Canuck goals were off of big rebounds. John later said that Bertuzzi played a good last two minutes tonight, which was somewhat comical after they mentioned he had zero shots on the night.
Canuck goals: Brent Sopel twice (8, both on power plays), Mattias Ohlund (9)
The Blues visit Vancouver on Saturday for Hockey Night in Canada.
In the middle of tonight's game, the Saint Louis Blues rallied from down 2-0 to tie the Colorado Avalanche. This meant the Canucks could gain a point on the Avalanche with a win tonight, and thank goodness they got it, as the Canucks got their 9th OT win of the year to pull to within two points of the Northwest Division lead. Tonight's win made it the first time since Jan 31st that the Canucks won consecutive games.
The Canucks beat the Sharks for the first time this season, and nearly lost it in somewhat of the same way as the last SJ/VAN game at the Garage. In that game, Trevor Linden coughed up the puck deep in his own zone that led directly to San Jose's game-winning goal. Tonight, Brent Sopel was beaten on both of the San Jose goals. Fortunately, he scored two goals himself and assisted on another. Mattias Ohlund scored the other Canuck goal, facilitated by Fedor Fedorov raising some ruckus in front of the net.
San Jose lost both Mike Ricci and Kyle McLaren in the first period to injuries. Ricci was smashed into the boards by Jarkko Ruutu while Kyle McLaren took a deflected-off-teammate-Scott Parker's-glove Sami Salo slapshot off part of the helmet near the forehead, causing a forehead laceration. San Jose dominated the first period, while Vancouver returned the favor in the second period, well after the injuries thinned out the Shark bench.
Of note for the Canucks were the return of Markus Naslund after 10 days off due to a concussion off the Steve Moore cheap shot (COL/VAN next Wed), and the return of Matt Cooke from a two-game suspension after spearing Matt Johnson of the Saint Louis Blues.
In the statsheet anomaly department, the Canuck radio crew noted that although the Canucks outshot the Sharks 36-21, such a total does not necessarily equate to dominance, as most of the shots by the Canucks were long-range (and therefore low-percentage) shots. Also in the stat department, of all the Canucks' 36 shots, not a one was let loose by Todd Bertuzzi, and of course, that leads to talk about the big line not doing anything again, since Brendan Morrison hasn't been doing a lot lately either.
Sopel's goal came on a San Jose too many men penalty in OT, and quite frankly, if you're on the power play in OT in the NHL and the other goalie hasn't been standing on his head for most of the night, then you should win that game.
John Shorthouse said Vancouver could have been frustrated by the Sharks' playing style, but hung in there. Brent Sopel misplayed on the first Shark goal, and was blown past on the Marco Sturm goal, but had his name attached to all three of the Canuck goals, which is somewhat strange. Tom Larscheid said Ohlund had the huge goal to tie, with under 3 minutes left in regulation. Dan Russell noted that the big Canuck goals were off of big rebounds. John later said that Bertuzzi played a good last two minutes tonight, which was somewhat comical after they mentioned he had zero shots on the night.
Canuck goals: Brent Sopel twice (8, both on power plays), Mattias Ohlund (9)
The Blues visit Vancouver on Saturday for Hockey Night in Canada.
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