Thursday, March 09, 2006
GAME 64: PREDATORS 3, CANUCKS 2 (OT)
Predators 3, Canucks 2 (OT)
[posted in full Sun 30 Jul ~1:31a]
It's bad when you lose to teams you should beat. The Canucks found that out last Sunday night when the lowly Saint Louis Blues walked away with a sweep of the season series. The Canucks would have to buck up after three nights off to manage a win against the young and speedy Nashville Predators. In other news, this game was Todd Bertuzzi's 500th in a Canuck uniform.
Also, it was trade deadline day, and GM Dave Nonis was busy making moves. Goalie Mika Noronen was plucked from Buffalo or a second-round pick in the next draft. Defenseman Keith Carney (let the small-hands references begin) and the rights to Juha Alen (another defensemen) were obtained from Anaheim for Brett Skinner (Moose) and another second-round pick in the next draft. Defenseman Sean Brown comes over from the Devils for a third-round draft pick. Also, Tomas Mojzis and a third-round pick go to Saint Louis for the experienced defenseman Eric Weinrich. Steve McCarthy's playing time would be a bit lacking after all these defense additions, so Nonis shipped him to Atlanta for a 2007 fourth-rounder. Also of note is that Vancouver is under the salary cap, but not if Ed Jovanovski and Sami Salo come back. There's some issues if they do.
1st period
An early line of Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison, and Matt Cooke got some decent pressure on Nashville and got a couple of decent scoring chances. Richard Park got two hacks on a puck in close, but Tomas Vokoun cleared the puck. Todd Bertuzzi set up Nolan Baumgartner for a shot that was pad-stopped by Vokoun, and Ryan Kesler was foiled on the rebound as well. Bertuzzi was later pulled down by Vokoun, but there was no call. Cooke later was stuck in the face by Scott Hartnell, but there was no call as a Vancouver power play had expired. Alex Auld made a nice stop on Jerred Smithson. Scott Nichol and Kevin Bieksa got into a fight that was over quickly when Bieksa wrestled him to the ice. Auld made a nice save on Paul Kariya. Naslund made a backhand shot that barely missed the net. The Canucks carried some nice pressure on a power play, but Morrison went off for a trip to end the advantage. Auld robbed Hartnell on a scoring chance. Dan Hamhuis and Shea Weber took penalties for the Predators late in the period, leaving Vancouver with a two-man advantage, but they did nothing with it. The Canucks outshot the Predators 8-7 in the period. Nashville was 0-for-1 on the power play while Vancouver was 0-for-4.
2nd period
Henrik Sedin on the right side passed to Daniel Sedin, who made a crazy centering pass from behind the net on the right side to find Anson Carter in the slot, who put it past Vokoun.
»» 1, VANCOUVER, Anson Carter 25 (Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin) 7:19
A few minutes later, Bryan Allen bowled over Steve Sullivan near the Nashville net. Vancouver outshot Nashville 11-7 in the period (19-14 overall). The Canucks didn't have a power play chance (0-for-4) while Nashville was 0-for-1 (0-for-2).
3rd period
Paul Kariya from behind the net passed to David Legwand on the right-wing boards, who then passed to Mike Sillinger in the high slot. Sillinger passed to Kariya down low on the goal line just to the right of the net. Auld had already fallen down on the play, so Kariya passed across to Sullivan on the left side down low, and he had an open net.
»» 2, NASHVILLE, powerplay, Steve Sullivan 27 (Paul Kariya, Mike Sillinger) 8:40
Daniel Sedin was behind the net and moved the puck out, passing to Bieksa at the blue line. Bieksa flung a shot toward the net that was redirected by Henrik Sedin mid-slot, who deflected it through.
»» 3, VANCOUVER, H Sedin 16 (Kevin Bieksa, D Sedin) 11:05
Marek Zidlicky spun away from the defender up high and fed Sillinger wide open on the left side for a shot that was nicely stopped by Auld. Just seconds later, though, icing was waved off in the Vancouver end, and Martin Erat behind the net found Sullivan on the right side, who fired a shot top corner on the far side past Auld.
»» 4, NASHVILLE, Sullivan 28 (Martin Erat, David Legwand) 14:27
Cooke laid a big hit on Greg Zanon. Mattias Ohlund had an errant pass get past him and the Predators turned it the other way as Erat and Legwand had a two-on-one. Erat threaded the puck between two Canucks and hit Legwand on the left side, who was robbed by Auld, who was prone on the ice making the save. Nashville outshot the Canucks by a ridiculous 22-7 margin in the period (36-25 overall). Vancouver again didn't get a power play chance (0-for-4) while Nashville was 1-for-2 (1-for-4).
overtime
The Canucks had the puck for a very short time after the opening faceoff, but Legwand got a hold of it and wristed it from mid-slot to beat Auld high on the stick side.
»» 5, NASHVILLE, Legwand 6 (unassisted) 0:06
Nashville had the only shot in overtime and came away with a 37-25 advantage in that category. The Predators finished 1-for-4 on the power play while Vancouver was 0-for-4. Auld stopped 34 shots.
Three stars -- (1) Auld, (2) Nashville's Steve Sullivan, (3) Nashville's David Legwand
skater, goals-assists-points
H Sedin 1-1-2
D Sedin 0-2-2
Carter 1-0-1
Bieksa 0-1-1
The Canucks avenged a road loss at the hands of the Predators seven days earlier by...losing in overtime on home ice to the Predators.
In the faceoff circle, Vancouver won 27 of 56 (48%). Brendan Morrison was 10-for-16, Trevor Linden was 6-for-12, Richard Park was 0-for-3, Ryan Kesler was 3-for-8, Henrik Sedin was 7-for-12, and Todd Bertuzzi was 1-for-3. Morrison, Park, Naslund, and Daniel Sedin all led the team with three shots apiece. Matt Cooke, Jarkko Ruutu, and Bertuzzi led the team by dishing out four hits apiece. Bryan Allen and Cooke had two takeaways each. Mattias Ohlund blocked two shots.
In plus-minus, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, and Anson Carter were plus-2. Allen and Sven Butenschon were plus-1. Ohlund, Nolan Baumgartner, and Cooke were minus-1 while Morrison and Naslund were minus-2. All other Canuck skaters were even.
Coupled with a Colorado win on this same night, this overtime loss got the Canucks a single point, but they lost a point of ground on the Avalanche. The Canucks are now 35-23-6 (3-3 shootout, three overtime losses), good for 76 points and third place in the Northwest Division (sixth in the Western Conference), two points behind Colorado and three points behind division-leading Calgary. The Flames have two games in hand on Vancouver. The Canucks have a game in hand on Colorado. Edmonton is eighth in the West and three points back of Vancouver. In addition, the win gave Nashville two more points to solidify their hold on fourth place in the West, now five points ahead of Vancouver.
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