Wednesday, December 28, 2005
GAME 37: CANUCKS 4, PREDATORS 3
Canucks 4, Predators 3
[posted in full Thu ~3:56p]
The Canucks needed this win in the worst way. They had managed to go winless in the first five games of a six-game homestand, they got worked in every third period, and it seemed like every big goal they scored was answered pretty quickly by the opposition. But the Canucks desperately needed a win before embarking on a stretch where 14 of 18 games would be played on the road. Coach Marc Crawford even pulled out the stops, juggling lines. Usual top-line center Brendan Morrison was moved to the third line to join Matt Cooke and Richard Park on a speedy third line. Jarkko Ruutu and his physical play were moved up to the first line, and Todd Bertuzzi was moved to the centering position on that line. Morrison on the third line bumped Ryan Kesler to the fourth-line right wing position to take Ruutu's slot.
Then Nashville scored on the first shot of the game and had a two-goal lead before the halfway point of the first period. Things did not look good. Luckily, the Canucks were about to blaze the comeback trail. The game was tied for a total of 14:04 and the Canucks led for only 11:19, but they held the final lead of the game for that span of time.
Let's thank the Nashville Predators for resting Tomas Vokoun for the night. The Predators had beaten the Calgary Flames the night before. Vokoun is also incredibly good.
1st period
As the second line was getting onto the ice for their first shift, Darcy Hordichuk let one fly from past the left circle along the boards, beating Alex Auld on the far side. As mentioned, it was the first shot of the game for the Predators. They were batting 1.000 at this point.
»» 1, NASHVILLE, Darcy Hordichuk 3 (Jerred Smithson) 0:38
»» PREDATORS 1, CANUCKS 0
The Canucks were whistled for a too-many-men penalty and Nashville cashed in -- they had the NHL's sixth-best power play unit coming into the game. Dan Hamhuis in the very high slot dished to Marek Zidlicky to Auld's stick side. Zidlicky shot and hit the post with the puck, but the pill went off the back of Auld's leg and into the net. Scattered boos were heard inside GM Place.
»» 2, NASHVILLE, powerplay, Marek Zidlicky 9 (Dan Hamhuis, Martin Erat) 9:05
»» PREDATORS 2, CANUCKS 0
Vancouver outshot Nashville 10-9 in the period. The Predators were 1-for-4 on the power play, and the Canucks were 0-for-2.
2nd period
Todd Bertuzzi skated across the blue line and drop-passed between his legs to a trailing Markus Naslund. Bertuzzi skated toward the crease as Naslund kept trailing him. Naslund went top corner glove side on Chris Mason from the inside of the right circle.
»» 3, VANCOUVER, Markus Naslund 21 (Todd Bertuzzi, Ed Jovanovski) 1:20
»» PREDATORS 2, CANUCKS 1
With Danny Markov in the box for hooking, the Canucks went to the power play. Naslund from near the right-wing boards centered the puck to Ed Jovanovski in front of the crease, who simply redirected the nice pass to beat Mason on the stick side. Jovanovski had snapped a 17-game goal drought.
»» 4, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Jovanovski 6 (Naslund, Bertuzzi) 7:24
»» PREDATORS 2, CANUCKS 2
Despite the Canucks controlling the play in the second period, the Predators still managed to sneak in a goal and retake their lead. Martin Erat dug the puck out from the end boards, came out in front, and passed across the crease with Yanic Perreault rushing the crease untouched. Perreault went top shelf, stick side on Auld.
»» 5, NASHVILLE, Yanic Perreault 12 (Erat, Danny Markov) 10:19
»» PREDATORS 3, CANUCKS 2
With the power play expiring, Mattias Ohlund fired a slapshot a few feet wide of the net. Anson Carter fetched the puck in the left-wing corner and passed it back to Ohlund, who was still at the blue line. Ohlund one-timed it past Mason on the glove side, snapping a 22-game goal drought.
»» 6, VANCOUVER, Mattias Ohlund 5 (Anson Carter, Sami Salo) 17:32
»» PREDATORS 3, CANUCKS 3
Vancouver outshot the Predators 12-8 in the period (22-17 overall). They were 1-for-4 on the power play in the period (1-for-6), and Nashville was scoreless on their only chance (1-for-5).
3rd period
With a delayed penalty about to be called, the Canucks kept the puck alive. Brendan Morrison had a wraparound attempt stopped and chased his own rebound toward the right-wing boards. He dished off to Jovanovski, who shot from the right-wing boards and had the puck go off of Matt Cooke in the crease. The puck then caromed to a waiting Richard Park in the low slot, who beat Mason on the stick side. The goal that held up as the game-winner snapped Park's 17-game goal drought.
»» 7, VANCOUVER, Richard Park 6 (Matt Cooke, Jovanovski) 8:41
»» CANUCKS 4, PREDATORS 3
Auld had to step up in the final minutes of play as the Canucks spent time on the penalty kill with the one-goal lead. Henrik Sedin was called for roughing with 3:53 to go, and Ryan Kesler was called for a trip with half a minute to go. Nashville outshot Vancouver 18-10 in the period (35-32 overall) and was 0-for-2 on the power play (1-for-7). Vancouver was scoreless on their lone power play in the period (1-for-7). Auld stopped 32 on the night.
Three stars -- (1) Jovanovski, (2) Bertuzzi, (3) Nashville's Marek Zidlicky
skater, goals-assists-points
Jovanovski 1-2-3
Naslund 1-1-2
Bertuzzi 0-2-2
Ohlund 1-0-1
Park 1-0-1
Carter 0-1-1
Cooke 0-1-1
Salo 0-1-1
Goal-scoring from the blue line? What is this? The Shorthouse radio call on the Ohlund goal was hilarious -- "Ohlund and Jovanovski...in the same game!" Let's not forget Richard Park, who also scored his first goal in a very long time. Even more importantly, though, the Canucks couldn't go a whole homestand without a win. Losing isn't what homestands are for. The homestand was especially surprising consider how well they'd played on the east coast trip they'd taken beforehand, although the getting-outworked third-period thing had been festering since the game at Madison Square Garden.
Vancouver was 33-for-71 (46%) in the faceoff circle. Brendan Morrison was a brutal 4-for-16, Rick Rypien was 1-for-4, Trevor Linden was 9-for-12, Ryan Kesler was 4-for-6, Henrik Sedin was 8-for-14, and Todd Bertuzzi was 6-for-15. Mattias Ohlund and Ed Jovanovski led the team with four shots apiece. Jarkko Ruutu used his promotion to the top line to wreak havoc, leading the team with six hits.
Plus-skating Canucks (all plus-1) were Ohlund, Richard Park, Markus Naslund, Henrik Sedin, Ruutu, Bertuzzi, and Jovanovski. Anson Carter was the only minus-skating Canuck on the team at minus-1. All other Canuck skaters were even.
The same Nashville Predators beat the Calgary Flames the night before. Before the Canucks were done with this game, the Minnesota Wild got out of Edmonton with a win. Thanks to that chain of events, the Canucks went from seventh in the conference to third since they've retaken the Northwest Division lead with a record of 21-11-5 (1-3 in shootouts, two overtime losses), good for 47 points and a one-point lead over the Flames and Oilers (Flames have a game in hand over the Oilers).
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