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Monday, November 07, 2005

GAME 16: FLAMES 4, CANUCKS 3 

Flames 4, Canucks 3
AP/CP photo -- Jeff McIntosh


[posted in full Thu ~1p]

I could blame this on the amount of stuff I had to study, but the other reason there isn't a lot in this post is because I fell asleep about halfway through the first period and woke up about an hour into the postgame show.

That's where the NHL.com goal reel comes in, along with the superstats page.

The bottom line is that the Canucks ended up getting swept in the doubleheader in Cowtown. They at least got Beyan Allen back from injury and scored against Miikka Kiprusoff in this game, true, but the way it ended was quite undesirable. Highly undesirable, in fact.

1st period
Dion Phaneuf brought the puck behind the net and the puck was centered, where Alex Auld made the initial stop but the puck leaked behind him, and Chuck Kobasew drilled home the uncovered puck.
»» 1, CALGARY, powerplay, Chuck Kobasew 5 (Steve Reinprecht, Dion Phaneuf) 5:50
»» FLAMES 1, CANUCKS 0
Vancouver outshot Calgary 9-8 in the first period. The Canucks went 0-for-4 on the power play in the period while the Flames were 1-for-3.

2nd period
Todd Bertuzzi flashed a glimpse of his potential as Lee Goren kicked him the puck along the boards behind the net, and Bertuzzi shook off Phaneuf and came just past the goal line to unleash a backhand that beat Kiprusoff inside the far post, glove side.
»» 2, VANCOUVER, Todd Bertuzzi 3 (Lee Goren, Sami Salo) 3:30
»» FLAMES 1, CANUCKS 1
With the Flames unable to clear the puck out of their own zone, Ed Jovanovski and Bertuzzi helped hold the puck in, and Jovanovski centered to Naslund streaking toward the net. Naslund popped the puck over Kiprusoff, who had sprawled to his glove side. The Canucks had a lead thanks to the goal late in the period.
»» 3, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Markus Naslund 9 (Ed Jovanovski) 18:24
»» CANUCKS 2, FLAMES 1
Vancouver again outshot the Flames 9-8 for the period and 18-16 overall. Vancouver chased in on their only power play chance of the period, and the Flames were unsuccessful on their only man-advantage of the period.

3rd period
After Richard Park lost possession of the puck in Vancouver's attacking zone, the play came back quickly the other way as Phaneuf fed to Roman Hamrlik, who quickly got through the teeth of the Canuck defense and blasted a slap shot from the high slot that beat Auld top shelf, glove side to tie the game.
»» 4, CALGARY, Roman Hamrlik 2 (Phaneuf) 5:44
»» FLAMES 2, CANUCKS 2
Jarome Iginla centered a puck from the right-wing corner that banked off of Nolan Baumgartner's skate and into the net. That's a bit unlucky.
»» 5, CALGARY, Jarome Iginla 8 (Tony Amonte, Reinprecht) 6:21
»» FLAMES 3, CANUCKS 2
Bertuzzi battled along the end boards and came out with the puck, centering to Naslund, who raced down the slot and put a backhand past Kiprusoff stick side to tie the game at 3-3. This was Naslund's 300th career goal.
»» 6, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Naslund 10 (Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison) 11:26
»» FLAMES 3, CANUCKS 3
With four minutes left in regulation, Bryan Allen was sent to the box for interference. Only thirty seconds later, Trevor Linden was sent off for a crosscheck. Both penalties were vehemently argued against by the Vancouver bench. On the ensuing Calgary two-man advantage, Iginla dished to Phaneuf at the back of the right circle, and the former Red Deer Rebel blistered a one-timer over Auld's left shoulder.
»» 7, CALGARY, powerplay, Phaneuf 4 (Iginla, Reinprecht) 17:39
»» FLAMES 4, CANUCKS 3
The Canucks were badly outshot in the third period by a 12-3 margin, which is unsurprising considering the penalties that were issued. The Canucks cashed in on their lone power play chance of the period and the Flames were 1-for-4, making good on the only power play that mattered.


Three stars -- (1) Calgary's Dion Phaneuf, (2) Naslund, (3) Calgary's Roman Hamrlik

skater, goals-assists-points
Naslund 2-0-2
Bertuzzi 1-1-2
Goren 0-1-1
Jovanovski 0-1-1
Morrison 0-1-1
Salo 0-1-1


Probably the number one positive out of this game for the Canucks is that Todd Bertuzzi showed some signs of life. He's had trouble getting back into the flow, and announcers and print journalists alike have opined about Bertuzzi's play so far, ranging from sluggish to fighting the puck to being on some planet other than the one on which the hockey game is being played. He and Markus Naslund at least teamed up for some first-line damage in this game that at least made it a game until everybody started making trips to the penalty box.

Vancouver won 31 of their 60 faceoffs (52%). Brendan Morrison was 10-for-21, Trevor Linden was 7-for-11, Ryan Kesler was 4-for-12, Todd Bertuzzi was 3-for-4, and Henrik Sedin was 7-for-11. Plus skaters (plus-one) included Sami Salo, Lee Goren, and Wade Brookbank. Minus skaters (minus-one) included Nolan Baumgartner, Bryan Allen, Morrison, Richard Park, Naslund, Kesler, Jarkko Ruutu, and Ed Jovanovski. All other skaters were even. Naslund led the team with five shots. Ohlund and Salo dished out five hits apiece. Bertuzzi delivered four hits.

The Canucks are now 10-4-2, good for 22 points in the standings.

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