Friday, January 13, 2006
GAME 44: DEVILS 3, CANUCKS 0
Devils 3, Canucks 0
[posted in full Sat 21 Jan ~4:19a]
The Canucks were in the midst of a stretch with 14 of 18 games on the road. They had bounced back a bit from dropping eight of nine by winning three straight, including big wins over Calgary and Toronto, both at home. For this game, they headed back onto the road with their 5-0 record against the Eastern Conference on the line to face the New Jersey Devils. And Martin Brodeur.
1st period
Alex Auld stopped a Brian Gionta backhander with 11:10 to go. Seconds later, Sergei Brylin erased Sami Salo behind the Vancouver net and Erik Rasmussen checked Matt Cooke in front of the penalty box. With 8:47 left, Auld was able to glove a close shot off the stick of Cam Janssen. With 7:36 left, Henrik Sedin shot from just inside the left point through some traffic, but Martin Brodeur covered it. With just over a minute remaining, Scott Gomez flung the puck from the high slot to the net, where Zach Parise tried jabbing it in, but was unsuccessful and knocked down by Canuck defenders. Vancouver outshot the Devils 13-11, but were 0-for-1 on the power play, unable to cash in on a Grant Marshall hooking penalty. The Canucks weren't called for any penalties.
2nd period
Auld was tested early, stopping a Gomez backhander from midslot that may have been a pass to Gionta coming from the left side. Either way, Auld put the right pad on it and covered. Nolan Baumgartner was drilled into the boards by Rasmussen with 5:18 to go. The Devils outshot the Canucks 7-6 (Vancouver led 19-18). New Jersey was unsuccessful on a single power play while not having penalties called on them.
3rd period
New JErsey got their second power play of the game when Ryan Kesler went to the box 94 seconds into the period for holding. From the back of the left hash, Viktor Kozlov snapped the puck under Alex Auld's right arm to score the game's first goal.
»» 1, NEW JERSEY, powerplay, Viktor Kozlov 10 (Sergei Brylin, Paul Martin) 2:31
»» DEVILS 1, CANUCKS 0
This time it was Steve McCarthy in the box for boarding.
Brian Gionta skated from the left-wing corner to the low slot unchecked and took a pass from the end boards from Scott Gomez. All Gionta had to do was bat the puck through.
»» 2, NEW JERSEY, powerplay, Brian Gionta 24 (Scott Gomez, Brian Rafalski) 6:38
»» DEVILS 2, CANUCKS 0
Henrik Sedin was in the box late, and the net was empty in a last-ditch effort to at least make a mark on the scoreboard. Zach Parise made a long lead pass to Gionta, who blew past Mattias Ohlund in the Vancouver end and hit the empty net.
»» 3, NEW JERSEY, powerplay/empty net, Gionta 25 (Zach Parise, Rafalski) 18:07
»» DEVILS 3, CANUCKS 0
Vancouver was outshot 8-7 (26-26 overall). They were 0-for-1 on the power play (0-for-2 total), but surrendered a 3-for-4 period on the power play to the Devils, who finished 3-for-5 overall. Auld stopped 23.
Three stars -- (1) New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, (2) New Jersey's Brian Gionta, (3) New Jersey's Viktor Kozlov
skater, goals-assists-points
none for the Canucks
If you click on the very first link at the top of the page, you'll get Kevin Kinghorn's recap at Canucks.com, and if you read that, you'll get a better feel for the game. In short, the NHL's new rules did nothing to prevent the New Jersey Devils from playing the kind of hockey that helped make hockey a trapping and icky game for a chunk of the 1990s.
Vancouver was 35-for-64 (55%) in the faceoff circle. Brendan Morrison was 9-for-15, Trevor Linden was 10-for-21, Ryan Kesler was 4-for-8, Henrik Sedin was 9-for-16, and Todd Bertuzzi was 3-for-3.
Since all the goals were scored on man-advantage situations, all Canuck skaters were even. Mattias Ohlund led the team in shots with four, while Henrik Sedin had three. Bryan Allen and Matt Cooke delivered two hits apiece. Ohlund blocked four shots, and Nolan Baumgartner and Kevin Bieksa blocked a trio apiece.
The loss bumped the Canucks to a record of 24-15-5 (1-3 shootout, two overtime losses), good for 53 points and a three-way tie for second place in the Northwest Division. They are two points back of Calgary, but are tied with Edmonton and Colorado (the Avalanche have played one more game). As such, the Northwest Division is an airtight race, but the teams in the three-way tie for second in the division are tied for sixth in the Western Conference, with fourth-place Nashville (59), second-place Dallas (60), and first-place Detroit (61) all having more points than anyone in the Northwest Division.
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