Monday, January 16, 2006
GAME 46: CANUCKS 4, PENGUINS 2
Canucks 4, Penguins 2
[posted in full Sat ~8:59a]
The Canucks and their fans were to get their first glimpse of the kid called The Next One, Sidney Crosby. He lives in Casa de Lemieux, but how would he fare in the Igloo against the team with the killer whales on their sweaters? How would Michel Therrien's horrible defense (he said worse himself) deal with Vancouver?
1st period
With Kevin Bieksa already in the box for hooking, Sidney Crosby whiffed on a shot in the slot and was hooked and tossed aside by Henrik Sedin. With a two-man advantage, the underachieving Sergei Gonchar (sometimes called Goncharen't in Pittsburgh) shot from up high, and the rebound went to Mark Recchi in front, who jabbed at the puck, but it stayed out before the puck leaked to Alex Auld's left and Sidney Crosby stuck it through the narrow gap. Vancouver still ad to kill off 58 seconds of a penalty.
»» 1, PITTSBURGH, powerplay, Sidney Crosby 22 (John LeClair, Sergei Gonchar) 7:30
»» PENGUINS 1, CANUCKS 0
The Canucks failed to take advantage of a 5-on-3 situation in their favor. Ryan Kesler was also hammered by Colby Armstrong as the power play expired. Later, Steve McCarthy skated from the blue line in toward the left hash and blasted a shot that beat Marc-Andre Fleury under the right arm.
»» 2, VANCOUVER, Steve McCarthy 2 (Sami Salo, Anson Carter) 14:17
»» PENGUINS 1, CANUCKS 1
Brendan Morrison had a puck ring off the post later in the period. Vancouver outshot Pittsburgh 11-6 in the period. The Canucks were 0-for-2 on the power play and Pittsburgh was 1-for-3.
2nd period
Just 57 seconds into the period, Alexandre Burrows dropped the gloves with Armstrong and fared quite well, getting the sweater over Armstrong's head early on in the scrap. A blocked Bryan Allen shot from the left point ended up near the right point, where Nolan Baumgartner let loose on a shot and it got through, deflecting off of Brendan Morrison in front of the net. The assist gave Baumgartner two goals and four assists in his last four games.
»» 3, VANCOUVER, Brendan Morrison 10 (Nolan Baumgartner, Bryan Allen) 4:17
»» CANUCKS 2, PENGUINS 1
Dick Tarnstrom went off for hauling down Burrows behind the Pittsburgh net, putting Vancouver on the power play. Markus Naslund passed to Brendan Morrison along the goal line on the right side. Morrison then found Todd Bertuzzi in front of the net, who quickly jabbed the puck through. Add the goal to the hat trick against the Islanders, and Bertuzzi had four goals in two games.
»» 4, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Todd Bertuzzi 16 (Morrison, Markus Naslund) 13:08
»» CANUCKS 3, PENGUINS 1
With just under six minutes left, Crosby got a nice feed in front of the net from Ryan Whitney and Auld stopped the shot nicely. After the whistle, Bieksa and Crosby didn't quite get to exchange fisticuffs as the linesmen separated the two. Inside the final minute of play in the period, Recchi from the right-wing boards flung a puck toward the net that went through on the far side. The Canuck radio crew weren't big fans of the goal, saying Auld wasn't ready and wasn't set.
»» 5, PITTSBURGH, Mark Recchi 13 (Colby Armstrong, Josef Melichar) 19:33
»» CANUCKS 3, PENGUINS 2
Vancouver was outshot 9-8 in the period, but led 19-15 for the game. The Canucks were 1-for-2 on the power play (1-for-4 overall) and Pittsburgh was 0-for-2 (1-for-5).
3rd period
Bertuzzi went off for a hook 3:10 into the period, marking the ninth straight game where Vancouver had taken an early penalty in the third period. Later on, Allen hammered Crosby, and Jarkko Ruutu went off for roughing while Crosby went off for a slash. Thus, Crosby and a key cog of the Pittsburgh offense was/were off the ice for two minutes in the third period. The Canucks looked for more cushion with John LeClair in the box for a trip 200 feet from his own net. Mattias Ohlund shot from the point and it was blocked by Henrik Sedin in front of the net. Luckily, the puck stopped right where it was and Henrik gobbled up the rebound and put it through, giving the Canucks their insurance tally.
»» 6, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Henrik Sedin 11 (Mattias Ohlund, Baumgartner) 6:41
»» CANUCKS 4, PENGUINS 2
Gonchar gave away the puck later in the period, and Canuck radio color man Tom Larscheid said, "man, is he brutal. He is stealing money." Well put, Tom. Auld made a nice stop on Crosby once again with nine seconds left for good measure. Vancouver was outshot 10-6 in the period as they held the lead (25-25 total). The Canucks were 1-for-2 again on the power play (2-for-6 total) and Pittsburgh was 0-for-3 (1-for-8). Auld stopped 23.
Three stars -- (1) Morrison, (2) Auld, (3) Bertuzzi in the arena; (1) Morrison, (2) Bertuzzi, (3) Allen on Rogers SportsNet
skater, goals-assists-points
Morrison 1-1-2
Baumgartner 0-2-2
Bertuzzi 1-0-1
McCarthy 1-0-1
H Sedin 1-0-1
Allen 0-1-1
Carter 0-1-1
Naslund 0-1-1
Ohlund 0-1-1
Salo 0-1-1
Much praise was given to Bryan Allen in this game for being up in Sidney Crosby's grille for much of the contest. Kevin Bieksa nearly goaded him into a fight, which was separated, but man, that would have been fun to see. I don't know how Crosby scraps, and Bieksa has shown that he can really fight in his short tenure with the Canucks.
Vancouver was 30-for-59 in the faceoff circle (51%). Brendan Morrison was 7-for-14, Trevor Linden was 5-for-9, Ryan Kesler was 12-for-22, Henrik Sedin was 3-for-10, and Todd Bertuzzi was 3-for-3. Sami Salo and Alexandre Burrows led the team in shots with three apiece. Allen dished out three hits. Nolan Baumgartner and Allen blocked three shots apiece.
Plus-skating Canucks (all plus-1) included Baumgartner, Allen, Salo, Morrison, Markus Naslund, Daniel Sedin, Steve McCarthy, Henrik Sedin, Bertuzzi, and Anson Carter. Minus-skating Canucks (all minus-1) were Mattias Ohlund, Linden, Kesler, Matt Cooke, and Bieksa. Burrows, Wade Brookbank, and Ruutu were the evens.
The win gives the Canucks two of three on their road trip. They are now 26-15-5 (1-3 shootout, two overtime losses), good for 57 points and a tie with the Calgary Flames for first in the Northwest Division (Calgary has a game in hand). Vancouver leads Edmonton, who lost at home to Buffalo, and idle Colorado by two points.
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