Thursday, January 26, 2006
GAME 51: RED WINGS 2, CANUCKS 1
Red Wings 2, Canucks 1
[posted in full Sat ~3p]
One would hope that after losing back-to-back games against two of the worst teams in the NHL, maybe the Canucks needed some motivation instead of playing down to their competition. On this night, the competition was the Western Conference-leading Detroit Red Wings. The Canucks certainly didn't want to make it three straight losses to begin a season-long seven-game road trip.
1st period
On a rush four minutes into the period, Mattias Ohlund shot from the left side and was stopped, and Ryan Kesler's attempt on the rebound was stuffed as well by goalie Manny Legace. Later, Daniel Sedin floated a pass across the slot to Anson Carter, who deked to his left and got Legace leaning to his right before flipping it past his glove into the net.
»» 1, VANCOUVER, Anson Carter 19 (Daniel Sedin, Mattias Ohlund) 13:10
»» CANUCKS 1, RED WINGS 0
On a Detroit power play at the midpoint of the period, Alex Auld put a stick save on a Robert Lang shot from the goal line on the left side. With 5:43 left, Tyler Bouck ran Andreas Lilja into the end boards behind the Detroit net. Detroit outshot the Canucks 9-4 in the period and were 0-for-2 on the power play. Detroit was called for zero penalties.
2nd period
With Brendan Morrison freshly in the penalty box for a debatable holding call, Mathieu Schneider had a shot stopped by Auld's arm. Just 42 seconds after Morrison went to the box, Josh Green was called for hooking, though video evidence showed he'd barely brushed Tomas Holmstrom. In the two-man advantage that followed, Robert Lang passed from the goal line back out to Nicklas Lidstrom along the slot on the left side, where he blasted the puck past Alex Auld. The Canucks had killed off 74 of the 78 seconds on the two-man advantage. It wasn't quite enough. This goal gave the Red Wings four players with 10 power-play goals each on the season.
»» 2, DETROIT, powerplay, Nicklas Lidstrom 10 (Robert Lang, Mathieu Schneider) 11:03
»» RED WINGS 1, CANUCKS 1
Detroit badly outshot Vancouver 14-7 in the period (23-11 overall). Detroit was 1-for-3 on the power play (1-for-5) and Vancouver was 0-for-2 on their first two chances of the game.
3rd period
Auld did his best to keep the team in the game in the third. He covered an early Kris Draper wrister. Midway through the period, he stopped a Henrik Zetterberg one-timer from the slot. He could only do it for so long though, and with Morrison once again in the box for hooking, Jason Woolley passed to Brendan Shanahan, who skated to the right hash before wristing the puck through the short side on Auld, using the screen by Steve Yzerman in front. It turned out to be Shanahan's 100th career game-winning goal.
»» 3, DETROIT, powerplay, Brendan Shanahan 23 (Jason Woolley, Steve Yzerman) 13:00
»» RED WINGS 2, CANUCKS 1
In the final minute of play, Markus Naslund in the right-wing corner centered to Todd Bertuzzi in front, who took multiple jabs at the puck, which went in, and the goal light went on and everything, but referee Mike Leggo waved it off immediately, saying he'd blown the whistle beforehand. Detroit again outshot the Canucks, this time 12-4 (35-15 total). They were successful on their only power-play chance of the period (2-for-6) while Vancouver was 0-for-2 (0-for-4). Auld stopped 33 in the Vancouver net.
Three stars -- (1) Detroit's Brendan Shanahan, (2) Detroit's Robert Lang, (3) Kesler
skater, goals-assists-points
Carter 1-0-1
Ohlund 0-1-1
D Sedin 0-1-1
Vancouver held an early lead despite being badly outshot, but the penalty box doomed them again much like it did in Columbus two nights earlier. Of course, you could go after the officials for the iffy calls on Morrison and Green, because they all but turned the game. That can also be said for the Bertuzzi jab-in that was whistled dead.
The Canucks were whipped in the faceoff circle, going only 17-for-47 (36%). Brendan Morrison was 5-for-10, Trevor Linden was 1-for-4, Ryan Kesler was 3-for-7, Henrik Sedin was 5-for-12, and Josh Green was a not-so-good 3-for-13. Mattias Ohlund and Anson Carter led the team with three shots apiece. Kesler dished out five hits in an inspired performance near his hometown of Livonia, Michigan. Markus Naslund led the team with two takeaways.
The only plus skaters for Vancouver were Ohlund, Daniel Sedin, Kevin Bieksa, Henrik Sedin, and Anson Carter (i.e., everyone on the ice for the Carter goal). Since Detroit scored their goals on the power play, all other Vancouver skaters were even.
The loss sank the Canucks to 28-18-5, leaving them frozen at 61 points after a third straight loss. Amazingly, Adam Munro pitched a shutout for the Chicago Blackhawks against the Calgary Flames later in the night, so the Canucks lost no ground in the Northwest Division. Colorado lost in a home shootout to Dallas. Edmonton picked up a win. Thus, Vancouver trails the Flames by two points for the Northwest Division lead with Colorado and Edmonton one point behind. The Northwest Division -- the toughest division in the NHL.
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