Wednesday, December 21, 2005
GAME 34: OILERS 7, CANUCKS 6
Oilers 7, Canucks 6
[posted in full Fri ~10:59a]
How would the Canucks bounce back from an overtime loss and a shootout loss in their first two games of a six-game homestand? Well, they didn't have trouble scoring goals. Problem was, they didn't have trouble giving them up either.
Prior to the game and in the arena, Ed Jovanovski and Todd Bertuzzi were named to Team Canada for that country's defense of the gold medal in Torino (or Turin) in February.
1st period
Very early in the game, Nolan Baumgartner went to the dressing room and never returned due to the dreaded "upper body injury." Vancouver would go with five defensemen for the remainder of the game. Ed Jovanovski made a sloppy clearing attempt which was stolen by Todd Harvey and nearly immediately put under the crossbar from just behind the left circle.
»» 1, EDMONTON, Todd Harvey 3 (unassisted) 3:17
»» OILERS 1, CANUCKS 0
Markus Naslund fed to Todd Bertuzzi on the goal line, who moved in, jabbed away, and eventually found the back of the net.
»» 2, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Todd Bertuzzi 12 (Markus Naslund, Ed Jovanovski) 11:53
»» OILERS 1, CANUCKS 1
Jovanovski's wrister from the point was blocked in front of the net, but Rick Rypien pounded it past Jussi Markkanen glove side for his first NHL goal, which came on his first NHL shot.
»» 3, VANCOUVER, Rick Rypien 1 (Jarkko Ruutu, Jovanovski) 15:13
»» CANUCKS 2, OILERS 1
It didn't take long for Edmonton to answer. An Igor Ulanov puck toward the net was stopped, and the rebound trickled through traffic to the other side of the crease, where Shawn Horcoff made good on a wide open net to Auld's stick side.
»» 4, EDMONTON, Shawn Horcoff 8 (Igor Ulanov) 16:25
»» OILERS 2, CANUCKS 2
Shots were 14-6 for Edmonton in the period. The Oilers were 0-for-1 on the power play, and Vancouver was 1-for-3.
2nd period
Bertuzzi centered from the end boards to Morrison on the left side, who was foiled by a great Markkanen save. However, there was a rebound, and Ruutu stood in front of the crease and chipped it into the net.
»» 5, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Ruutu 4 (Brendan Morrison, Bertuzzi) 1:15
»» CANUCKS 3, OILERS 2
Once again, the Oilers didn't take long to answer. Ales Hemsky blasted a plain wrister from the high slot that beat Auld top corner, glove side.
»» 6, EDMONTON, Ales Hemsky 8 (Steve Staios, Jarret Stoll) 2:14
»» OILERS 3, CANUCKS 3
Then Henrik Sedin pretty much copied Hemsky, beating Ty Conklin (who had since replaced Markkanen in net) top corner, glove side with a wrist shot.
»» 7, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Henrik Sedin 9 (Daniel Sedin) 3:48
»» CANUCKS 4, OILERS 3
The Canucks lost control of the puck on the power play, and Michael Peca got loose behind the defense on a rush, poking it past Auld on the stick side. It was the third straight game in which Vancouver had allowed a shorthanded goal.
»» 8, EDMONTON, shorthanded, Michael Peca 4 (Ulanov, Ethan Moreau) 5:42
»» OILERS 4, CANUCKS 4
On a very odd play, Conklin tried clearing the puck, but it went off Morrison in the low slot and into the net.
»» 9, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Morrison 7 (unassisted) 6:15
»» CANUCKS 5, OILERS 4
As the Canucks were trying to kill off a Ruutu double-minor for holding and unsportsmanlike conduct, Hemsky fed Chris Pronger on a one-timer from the blue line that was deflected into the net by Raffi Torres, beating Auld glove side.
»» 10, EDMONTON, powerplay, Raffi Torres 14 (Chris Pronger, Hemsky) 9:14
»» OILERS 5, CANUCKS 5
Vancouver outshot Edmonton 12-11 in the period (Edmonton 25-18 overall). Edmonton was 1-for-3 on the power play (1-for-4 overall) and Vancouver was 3-for-4 in the period (4-for-7).
3rd period
Ryan Smyth scored the killer, raring back from outside the left hash and booming a slapshot past Auld high glove. Shorthouse and Larscheid were pretty dismayed by this goal on the radio (or the Canucks.com highlight reel, which I'm using to look at the goals).
»» 11, EDMONTON, Ryan Smyth 15 (Fernando Pisani, Marty Reasoner) 9:24
»» OILERS 6, CANUCKS 5
After Auld made a great toe save on Smyth on a rebound, the puck was never cleared, and a centering pass from Marc-Andre Bergeron was tipped in by Marty Reasoner, who looked like he was physically on top of Auld as he tipped the puck past.
»» 12, EDMONTON, powerplay, Reasoner 8 (Marc-Andre Bergeron, Smyth) 11:46
»» OILERS 7, CANUCKS 5
With the benefit of a 6-on-3 power play, Jovanovski from the high slot shot a puck toward the net that was deflected in by Daniel Sedin.
»» 13, VANCOUVER, powerplay, D Sedin 11 (Jovanovski, Sami Salo) 19:07
»» OILERS 7, CANUCKS 6
Naslund had the puck trickle away from him on the left wing in the dying seconds trying to find the equalizer. Edmonton doubled up Vancouver in shots 12-6 in the period (37-24 total) and was 1-for-2 on the power play (2-for-6). Vancouver was 1-for-2 on the power play in the final period (5-for-9). Auld stopped 30 shots.
Three stars -- (1) Edmonton's Ryan Smyth, (2) Bertuzzi, (3) Edmonton's Chris Pronger
skater, goals-assists-points
Jovanovski 0-3-3
Bertuzzi 1-1-2
Morrison 1-1-2
Ruutu 1-1-2
D Sedin 1-1-2
Rypien 1-0-1
H Sedin 1-0-1
Naslund 0-1-1
Salo 0-1-1
Back when the unbalanced schedule was introduced into Major League Baseball in 2001, the Seattle Mariners used divisional play in their schedule to jump out to a 15-4 start. After 34 games, the Canucks have played 16 games against opponents in the Northwest Division, and they have come out with a brutal 5-8-3 record (two overtime losses, one shootout loss). Beside that, the one other real disturbing trend is that the Canucks have been getting taken to the woodshed in the third period for the last couple weeks. They're blowing a lot of leads. Worse yet, the goaltending situation that seemed like it might be in good hands with Alex Auld stepping in for Dan Cloutier maybe doesn't look all that secure after all, also considering that Maxime Ouellet is the backup man in the pads and his Canuck debut didn't exactly come up roses.
The Canucks were 32-for-65 (43%) in the faceoff circle. Brendan Morrison was 8-for-15, Rick Rypien was 2-for-6, Trevor Linden was 3-for-9, Ryan Kesler was a brutal 2-for-11, Henrik Sedin was 15-for-24, and Todd Bertuzzi was 2-for-9.
The only plus-skating Canucks (plus-1) were Rick Rypien, Linden, and Jarkko Ruutu. Minus-1 Canucks were Bryan Allen, Richard Park, Kesler, Matt Cooke, Kevin Bieksa, and Ed Jovanovski. Minus-2 skaters were Mattias Ohlund, Morrison, Markus Naslund, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, and Bertuzzi. Sami Salo was a minus-3. Nolan Baumgartner was in the game 38 seconds, enabling him to be the only even Canuck skater. Morrison, and the Sedins led the team with three shots apiece. Ruutu led the team by dishing out five hits. Cooke and Salo followed suit with a trio of hits apiece. Ed Jovanovski led the team with four giveaways. Allen and Salo blocked three shots apiece.
The loss dropped the Canucks to a record of 20-10-4 (1-2 in shootouts, two overtime losses), still good for 44 points, which wouldn't be so bad except that now Edmonton is tied with the Canucks in points for the Northwest Division lead. Vancouver has a game-in-hand edge over the Oilers, who have lost one more game. The Canucks are two points ahead of the Calgary Flames, who are in third.
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