Saturday, February 14, 2004
THRASHERS 4, CANUCKS 1
So the Canucks wanted to put that last game behind them. After 20 minutes, it looked like they had what it took to do that. It shouldn't have been a hard thing to do against an Atlanta team that had played its third game in four nights, coming off a 5-1 pasting in Edmonton, and winless in their last 10 games, right?
The Thrashers ten-game winless streak disappeared. What didn't disappear was the Canucks' sudden 4 of 5 losing skid. This was thanks to some putrid special teams play, as the Canucks went 0-for-6 on the power play and also gave up a shorthanded goal late in the second period that put the game on ice (maybe that metaphor doesn't work as well with hockey...). They also managed to not convert on 42 seconds' worth of a two-man advantage in the second period.
Though the Canucks outshot the Thrash 13-1 in the first period, they physically stuck it to the Canucks (postgame host Dan Russell though it was the most physical that any visiting team has played at the Garage), and basically were able to get through the first period unscathed and then control the game the rest of the way. Their four goals were scored on a mere 19 shots.
Thrash goalie Pasi Nurminen was great in net, fending off all of those thirteen shots in the first period, including a Jarkko Ruutu penalty shot.
Canuck players were frustrated at many times in the game, notably when Markus Naslund yelled at Marek Malik on the ice, possibly for a wrong path on the ice.
There were some meaningless brawls toward the end, and Dan Cloutier managed to get into a squabble with Ron Petrovicky, drawing a 10-minute match penalty and an indefinite suspension from play until review by Colin Campbell.
Canuck goal scored by Daniel Sedin (10)
Canucks and Anaheim tonight.
The Thrashers ten-game winless streak disappeared. What didn't disappear was the Canucks' sudden 4 of 5 losing skid. This was thanks to some putrid special teams play, as the Canucks went 0-for-6 on the power play and also gave up a shorthanded goal late in the second period that put the game on ice (maybe that metaphor doesn't work as well with hockey...). They also managed to not convert on 42 seconds' worth of a two-man advantage in the second period.
Though the Canucks outshot the Thrash 13-1 in the first period, they physically stuck it to the Canucks (postgame host Dan Russell though it was the most physical that any visiting team has played at the Garage), and basically were able to get through the first period unscathed and then control the game the rest of the way. Their four goals were scored on a mere 19 shots.
Thrash goalie Pasi Nurminen was great in net, fending off all of those thirteen shots in the first period, including a Jarkko Ruutu penalty shot.
Canuck players were frustrated at many times in the game, notably when Markus Naslund yelled at Marek Malik on the ice, possibly for a wrong path on the ice.
There were some meaningless brawls toward the end, and Dan Cloutier managed to get into a squabble with Ron Petrovicky, drawing a 10-minute match penalty and an indefinite suspension from play until review by Colin Campbell.
Canuck goal scored by Daniel Sedin (10)
Canucks and Anaheim tonight.
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