Monday, March 27, 2006
GAME 73: CANUCKS 7, KINGS 4
Canucks 7, Kings 4
[initial partial post]
It'll probably be redundant from here until the end of the regular season, but the Canucks needed this one. They started the day on the outside looking in, with 82 points in ninth in the Western Conference. San Jose also had 82 points, but had two games in hand on Vancouver. Still within reach was the Northwest Division lead, which lied only four points away. But this particular game was against the Los Angeles Kings, over whom Vancouver had only a one-point lead. Though the Kings had just fired their head coach, they were also vying for a playoff spot as well. Would the Canucks be able to regain the momentum and jump in their step they developed from the Edmonton miniseries? Would this group that has failed to get any momentum going for a span of months finally be able to do it? Their playoff hopes depended on it and will continue to do so.
1st period
»» 1, LOS ANGELES, Tom Kostopoulos 8 (Aaron Miller) 17:33
»» 2, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Daniel Sedin 20 (Anson Carter, Mattias Ohlund) 18:44
»» 3, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Carter 29 (D Sedin, Henrik Sedin) 19:30
2nd period
»» 4, LOS ANGELES, powerplay, Mark Parrish 27 (Craig Conroy, Mattias Norstrom) 1:49
»» 5, LOS ANGELES, Parrish 28 (Konstantin Pushkaryov) 3:53
»» 6, VANCOUVER, Alexandre Burrows 5 (Ohlund, Todd Bertuzzi) 14:10
»» 7, VANCOUVER, Brendan Morrison 16 (Ohlund, Markus Naslund) 16:43
»» 8, VANCOUVER, Burrows 6 (Bertuzzi) 17:15
3rd period
»» 9, VANCOUVER, Richard Park 8 (Morrison, Naslund) 1:58
»» 10, VANCOUVER, Burrows 7 (Ryan Kesler, Nolan Baumgartner) 12:41
»» 11, LOS ANGELES, powerplay, Mike Cammalleri 25 (Conroy, Norstrom) 17:24
Three stars -- (1) Burrows, (2) Ohlund, (3) Bertuzzi
skater, goals-assists-points
Burrows 3-0-3
Ohlund 0-3-3
Carter 1-1-2
Morrison 1-1-2
D Sedin 1-1-2
Bertuzzi 0-2-2
Naslund 0-2-2
Park 1-0-1
Baumgartner 0-1-1
Kesler 0-1-1
H Sedin 0-1-1
Vancouver's win made them 19-1-1 when leading after 1st period. It also propelled them to a record of 39-28-6 (4-3 shootout, three overtime losses), good for 84 points, the same number as Edmonton. However, the Oilers have a game in hand, so they take the seventh spot in the West while Vancouver is eighth. Still, the win put two more points of cushion between them and the Kings and Sharks beneath them. Also, the Canucks got to within two points of the Northwest Division lead and the third seed in the West. Every team with more than 80 points that isn't from Detroit, Dallas, or Nashville is in the thick of a playoff race right now. Seven teams are in the race, and only five can make it.
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