Tuesday, February 24, 2004
CANUCKS 4, RED WINGS 2
Boy, did they need this.
Daniel Sedin scored all four Canuck goals in possibly the best night for either of the Sedin twins as members of the Vancouver Canucks. The last time a Canuck scored four goals in a game was earlier this year when Markus Naslund scored all four goals in a 4-3 win against Pittsburgh. The last time anyone scored four goals against the Red Wings, it was 1995 and Brett Hull (then a member of the Saint Louis Blues) was the culprit.
The Canucks won only their third game in their last ten overall, though the three wins are against Detroit, Colorado and New Jersey. As we all know as sports fans, though, losing to teams you should beat is not a good thing. Losing your NHL-scoring leader of a captain is also not a good thing.
The Canucks are now within three points of the division lead, as Colorado was shut out by Calgary tonight. The Canucks used this win against the Red Wings to climb within four points of the Wings themselves for the conference lead.
Detroit was 2-for-2 against the Canucks' top-ranked penalty-killing unit; it seems like ever since they took over the top spot in the NHL on the kill, they've dropped off a bit. But hey, if they want to shut down the Colorado power play as well as they've been doing, I won't mind a few slipping by, especially if someone scores four goals so there's less pressure on the kill.
In collision/hard contact news, Todd Bertuzzi fell on Chris Chelios after a faceoff, and Chelios left the game with a bruised shoulder. Also, Bryan Allen was challenged to a squabble by Darren McCarty, in response for the game in Detroit where Allen slashed the leg of Henrik Zetterberg and broke it.
As for Daniel Sedin, though, the Canuck radio crew had a few nice things to say about him, as well as twin brother Daniel. Color man Tom Larscheid said Daniel is playing with a lot of confidence, and that both twins have made tremendous strides since Christmas and are playing as well as anyone on the team. As noted by postgame host Dan Russell, this was supposed to be the year in which the twins broke through. They didn't start too hot, but Daniel has 25 points in his last 22 games (stat from John Shorthouse, play-by-play man). Tom also said that it's good to see the hard work of the Sedins pay off because they didn't skate fast enough initially to become more than a third line in the NHL. Russell noted that Crawford played the hell out of the Sedins tonight after it appeared to be working for the Canucks. Daniel scored on four of five shots, and the miss was a puck off the crossbar which would have given him his fourth goal with 3:44 left. He would later tally the fourth goal on the empty net. Shorthouse also said the twins are extremely competitive with each other, even in things like "who can cross Georgia Street the fastest." Daniel now leads Henrik in career points 143-142. Barbs will be traded between the two.
As for other players, Bertuzzi was commended by Larscheid for his leadership skills, and Marek Malik got the third star and played possibly his best game of the season, helping pick up the slack for the absence of Ed Jovanovski on the blueline. Malik leads the Canucks in plus-minus with a plus-26. Larscheid also said Dan Cloutier had a good game on a night where the Canucks won with a great team effort, though the scoresheet might signal otherwise, unlike Naslund's four-goal game, where he was the one-man show.
Detroit had played the night before, but Russell thought Vancouver was playing well more than the Red Wings were playing tired. Shorthouse noted that Vancouver played aggressively and made things happen, which hasn't happened too much of late.
Needless to say, Canuck goals: Daniel Sedin four times (16).
I'm hoping this is the turning point in the season and that the Canucks tear through the schedule like they did in November.
San Jose at Vancouver on Thursday.
[Edit ~10:50p -- Bonus hockey tidbit; here's a message thread about today's firing of Saint Louis Blues coach Joel Quenneville, the Blues' franchise leader in victories. His main undoing is probably the Blues' mediocre playoff record and the team's lackluster play this year. The Blues haven't missed the playoffs in 25 years, and they're 9th in the conference right now.]
Daniel Sedin scored all four Canuck goals in possibly the best night for either of the Sedin twins as members of the Vancouver Canucks. The last time a Canuck scored four goals in a game was earlier this year when Markus Naslund scored all four goals in a 4-3 win against Pittsburgh. The last time anyone scored four goals against the Red Wings, it was 1995 and Brett Hull (then a member of the Saint Louis Blues) was the culprit.
The Canucks won only their third game in their last ten overall, though the three wins are against Detroit, Colorado and New Jersey. As we all know as sports fans, though, losing to teams you should beat is not a good thing. Losing your NHL-scoring leader of a captain is also not a good thing.
The Canucks are now within three points of the division lead, as Colorado was shut out by Calgary tonight. The Canucks used this win against the Red Wings to climb within four points of the Wings themselves for the conference lead.
Detroit was 2-for-2 against the Canucks' top-ranked penalty-killing unit; it seems like ever since they took over the top spot in the NHL on the kill, they've dropped off a bit. But hey, if they want to shut down the Colorado power play as well as they've been doing, I won't mind a few slipping by, especially if someone scores four goals so there's less pressure on the kill.
In collision/hard contact news, Todd Bertuzzi fell on Chris Chelios after a faceoff, and Chelios left the game with a bruised shoulder. Also, Bryan Allen was challenged to a squabble by Darren McCarty, in response for the game in Detroit where Allen slashed the leg of Henrik Zetterberg and broke it.
As for Daniel Sedin, though, the Canuck radio crew had a few nice things to say about him, as well as twin brother Daniel. Color man Tom Larscheid said Daniel is playing with a lot of confidence, and that both twins have made tremendous strides since Christmas and are playing as well as anyone on the team. As noted by postgame host Dan Russell, this was supposed to be the year in which the twins broke through. They didn't start too hot, but Daniel has 25 points in his last 22 games (stat from John Shorthouse, play-by-play man). Tom also said that it's good to see the hard work of the Sedins pay off because they didn't skate fast enough initially to become more than a third line in the NHL. Russell noted that Crawford played the hell out of the Sedins tonight after it appeared to be working for the Canucks. Daniel scored on four of five shots, and the miss was a puck off the crossbar which would have given him his fourth goal with 3:44 left. He would later tally the fourth goal on the empty net. Shorthouse also said the twins are extremely competitive with each other, even in things like "who can cross Georgia Street the fastest." Daniel now leads Henrik in career points 143-142. Barbs will be traded between the two.
As for other players, Bertuzzi was commended by Larscheid for his leadership skills, and Marek Malik got the third star and played possibly his best game of the season, helping pick up the slack for the absence of Ed Jovanovski on the blueline. Malik leads the Canucks in plus-minus with a plus-26. Larscheid also said Dan Cloutier had a good game on a night where the Canucks won with a great team effort, though the scoresheet might signal otherwise, unlike Naslund's four-goal game, where he was the one-man show.
Detroit had played the night before, but Russell thought Vancouver was playing well more than the Red Wings were playing tired. Shorthouse noted that Vancouver played aggressively and made things happen, which hasn't happened too much of late.
Needless to say, Canuck goals: Daniel Sedin four times (16).
I'm hoping this is the turning point in the season and that the Canucks tear through the schedule like they did in November.
San Jose at Vancouver on Thursday.
[Edit ~10:50p -- Bonus hockey tidbit; here's a message thread about today's firing of Saint Louis Blues coach Joel Quenneville, the Blues' franchise leader in victories. His main undoing is probably the Blues' mediocre playoff record and the team's lackluster play this year. The Blues haven't missed the playoffs in 25 years, and they're 9th in the conference right now.]
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