Wednesday, November 16, 2005
GAME 19: CANUCKS 3, SHARKS 1
Canucks 3, Sharks 1
[posted in full Fri ~2:59p]
Could the Canucks take some momentum from their home win against the Red Wings and take it onto the road with them? Could they end their four-game road losing streak? Could they take advantage of San Jose's not-so-stellar power play? How would they fare knowing that they had to play the next night in Los Angeles?
1st period
With Daniel Sedin in the box for hooking, the Canucks got a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Brendan Morrison and Richard Park. Park moved down the left side with the puck, faked a shot from mid-slot, then moved a few feet to his right and wristed the puck through.
»» 1, VANCOUVER, shorthanded, Richard Park 5 (Mattias Ohlund) 8:54
»» CANUCKS 1, SHARKS 0
Additionally, Wade Brookbank pounded on Scott Thornton in a scrap. The Canucks outshot the Sharks 8-7 in the period. They were 0-for-1 on the power play while San Jose was 0-for-2. In addition, the Canucks came away with the shorthanded goal.
2nd period
Wade Brookbank was checked on a bad pinch (Todd Bertuzzi didn't leave him in a very good position) and had the puck taken away from him at the Sharks' blue line. Play quickly went the other way as the Sharks had a 2-on-1 with Marcel Goc carrying the puck and Milan Michalek skating along with the play. Goc kept the puck and wristed it from the right circle past Dan Cloutier stick side.
»» 2, SAN JOSE, Marcel Goc 5 (Josh Langfeld) 5:14
»» SHARKS 1, CANUCKS 1
Ryan Kesler was hit in the face with a puck, but returned to the game. Shots were seven apiece in the period. Once again, the Canucks were 0-for-1 and the Sharks were 0-for-2 on the power play.
3rd period
Then the Canucks fired up the power play. Brendan Morrison flipped the puck from the right-wing corner in front of the goal, where Todd Bertuzzi and Ed Jovanovski were creating some havoc. Jovanovski was able to tip it through.
»» 3, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Ed Jovanovski 5 (Brendan Morrison, Markus Naslund) 10:15
»» CANUCKS 2, SHARKS 1
Daniel Sedin shot from the back of the right circle, and Evgeni Nabokov made the initial save, but Anson Carter was right there in front of Nabokov waiting for the rebound, and he tucked it into the net just as Kyle McLaren threw him down.
»» 4, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Anson Carter 5 (Daniel Sedin, Jovanovski) 13:53
»» CANUCKS 3, SHARKS 1
The Sharks outshot the Canucks 12-9 in the perod and were outshot 26-24 overall. The Canucks held the Sharks scoreless on four power plays, but more importantly were 2-for-3 on their own. Cloutier stopped 25 of 26.
Three stars -- (1) Ohlund, (2) Jovanovski, (3) San Jose's Marcel Goc
skater, goals-assists-points
Jovanovski 1-1-2
Carter 1-0-1
Park 1-0-1
Morrison 0-1-1
Naslund 0-1-1
Ohlund 0-1-1
D Sedin 0-1-1
It was a good win. The Canucks took advantage of two power play chances in the third period and not only got a go-ahead goal, but got some insurance as well. Also, it seems wins are that much more important in the Northwest Division, which is turning out to be incredibly tough, though that was somewhat expected.
Vancouver was 27-for-60 (45%) in the faceoff circle. Brendan Morrison was 7-for-17, Trevor Linden was 8-for-13, Ryan Kesler was 7-for-14, and Henrik Sedin was 4-for-12 (ouch). Plus-skaters (all plus-1) included Bryan Allen and Richard Park. Minus skaters (all minus-1) included Markus Naslund, Wade Brookbank, and Todd Bertuzzi. Mattias Ohlund and Josh Green led the team with three shots apiece. Ohlund, and Sami Salo each delivered three hits apiece.
Part of the radio postgame show centered around the fact that Bertuzzi followed up his hat trick with a not-good game, and in this year in which more eyes are focused on attendance numbers and whether the NHL can bounce back, play-by-play man John Shorthouse noted that the Shark Tank was as dead as he'd seen it in years.
The Canucks are now 12-5-2, good for 26 points in the standings, keeping pace with Colorado and Calgary, who both won on this night. The Canucks are tied for first with and has two games in hand over Calgary (though Calgary has beaten Vancouver twice), and Vancouver is four points ahead of the Avalanche.
/ Click for main page
