Monday, December 19, 2005
GAME 33: KINGS 4, CANUCKS 3 (SO)
Kings 4, Canucks 3 (SO)
[posted in full Fri ~8:26a]
The Canucks had won four straight games, all against Eastern Conference teams before opening a six-game homestand with an overtime loss (another divisional loss too) against the Edmonton Oilers, twice blowing two-goal leads and getting worked in the third period by the Oil. How would they fare against the Los Angeles Kings, who had been known for some high-powered offense this season?
1st period
Brendan Morrison passed to Markus Naslund in front of the crease. Naslund held off on shooting and skated to his left until Los Angeles goalie Mathieu Garon went down to the ground before shoveling over him.
»» 1, VANCOUVER, Markus Naslund 18 (Brendan Morrison, Bryan Allen) 6:32
»» CANUCKS 1, KINGS 0
A Sami Salo one-timer slapshot was stopped, Anson Carter was stopped on the rebound, and Daniel Sedin picked up the scraps from the right side.
»» 2, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Daniel Sedin 10 (Anson Carter, Sami Salo) 9:01
»» CANUCKS 2, KINGS 0
Pavol Demitra passed from the left hash to Jeremy Roenick, who one-timed a laser past Alex Auld top corner, glove side.
»» 3, LOS ANGELES, Jeremy Roenick 6 (Pavol Demitra, Craig Conroy) 9:54
»» CANUCKS 2, KINGS 1
Sean Avery and Ed Jovanovski exchanged blows and took fives. Roenick from the left point was able to spot Derek Armstrong behind the defense of Bryan Allen and Ed Jovanovski. Armstrong too a pass at the left hash, bore down on the net, and backhanded it past Auld's glove side.
»» 4, LOS ANGELES, powerplay, Derek Armstrong 6 (Roenick, Lubomir Visnovsky) 16:22
»» KINGS 2, CANUCKS 2
The Canucks outshot Los Angeles 11-6. The Kings were 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Canucks were 1-for-3.
2nd period
Daniel Sedin passed to Steve McCarthy camped out on Garon's glove side. McCarthy jabbed away at the puck and managed to put it through for his first goal of the season and his first goal as a Vancouver Canuck.
»» 5, VANCOUVER, Steve McCarthy 1 (D Sedin, Carter) 5:01
»» CANUCKS 3, KINGS 2
On a Vancouver power play, seconds after Jovanovski lost the puck, Naslund was wiped off the puck at his own blue line by Conroy. Conroy and Demitra took a two-on-one the other way with Brendan Morrison being the only Canuck back for defense. The two Kings worked a give-and-go, with Conroy taking a Demitra pass in the crease and roofing it over Auld.
»» 6, LOS ANGELES, shorthanded, Conroy 13 (Demitra) 15:27
»» KINGS 3, CANUCKS 3
Shots were eight apiece in the period (Vancouver 19-14 overall). Vancouver was 0-for-3 on the power play (1-for-6 overall) while no penalties were called on Vancouver.
3rd period
With about 7:05 left, Henrik Sedin shoveled a pass from the right side to Daniel Sedin in the low slot, who redirected the shot onto the net. Garon got a piece of the shot, and the puck dribbled along the goal line but went off the post and out (the red goal light was even turned on). Craig Conroy also hit a post in the period. Shots were 10-4 for Los Angeles (24-23 overall). Both teams were 0-for-2 on the power play (Los Angeles 1-for-6, Vancouver 1-for-8).
overtime
none; shots were 3-2 for Los Angeles (27-25 total). Auld stopped 24 shots in regulation.
shootout
Demitra - NO (wide of net)
D Sedin - NO
Alexander Frolov - YES (delayed forehand, five-hole from right side)
Bertuzzi - NO
Paul Corvo - NO (deke to backhand, Auld right toe save from splits)
Naslund - NO (Garon challenged and made same move as Auld, but to his left)
»» KINGS 4, CANUCKS 3
Three stars -- (1) D Sedin, (2) Los Angeles' Pavol Demitra, (3) Carter
skater, goals-assists-points
D Sedin 1-1-2
Carter 0-2-2
McCarthy 1-0-1
Naslund 1-0-1
Allen 0-1-1
Morrison 0-1-1
Salo 0-1-1
Before this shootout, the Kings had been in two shootout games. They had made every shot they took and had not allowed a shootout goal. In this game, Pavol Demitra became the first King to miss on a shootout attempt this season. Still, Los Angeles has not allowed a shootout goal in three shootouts this season.
However, a 13-1 start at home for the Vancouver Canucks has turned into a 13-1-2 home start after an overtime loss and a shootout loss. Most disturbing over the span is that the Canucks have been blowing leads in games and getting badly outshot in the third period of each game, which has been going on for at least a week or so.
In the faceoff circle for this game, Vancouver was 39-for-65 (60%). Brendan Morrison was a stellar 14-for-19 (outdoing even Craig Conroy), Trevor Linden was a nice 7-for-9, Ryan Kesler was 4-for-8, Henrik Sedin was 10-for-18, and Todd Bertuzzi was 3-for-6.
Markus Naslund and Bertuzzi led the team with four shots apiece. Steve McCarthy and Ed Jovanovski recorded three shots apiece. Bertuzzi led the team in dishing out five hits. Linden recorded three takeaways. Jovanovski recorded four giveaways (not good). Daniel Sedin missed the net with six shots.
Plus skaters (all plus-1) for Vancouver included Nolan Baumgartner, Bryan Allen, Sami Salo, Daniel Sedin, McCarthy, Henrik Sedin, and Anson Carter. Minus-1 skaters included Mattias Ohlund, Kesler, Kevin Bieksa, Bertuzzi, and Jovanovski. Matt Cooke was the lone minus-2 Canuck. All other skaters were even.
The loss put the Canucks at a record of 20-9-4 (1-2 in shootouts, two overtime losses) good for 44 points.
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