Sunday, April 02, 2006
GAME 76: MIGHTY DUCKS 6, CANUCKS 2
Mighty Ducks 6, Canucks 2
[initial partial post]
It's no secret. The Canucks need all the points they can get, and especially so against teams like Anaheim, who are fighting for a playoff spot just like the Canucks. It seemed as of late that the Canucks had finally flipped a switch in their season. After months of failing to sustain momentum, months of lackluster effort, months of disjointed play, that maybe everyone had gotten on the same page -- sort of a better late than never thing. Surely they'd keep this going and finish strong down the stretch and leave it all on the ice.
This game did not go as planned.
1st period
»» 1, VANCOUVER, powerplay, Todd Bertuzzi 23 (Markus Naslund, Keith Carney) 8:54
»» 2, ANAHEIM, powerplay, Teemu Selanne 35 (Andy McDonald, Scott Niedermayer) 11:36
»» 3, ANAHEIM, Samuel Pahlsson 8 (Rob Niedermayer, Jonathan Hedstrom) 11:48
2nd period
»» 4, ANAHEIM, Francois Beauchemin 8 (Todd Fedoruk, Ryan Getzlaf) 3:36
»» 5, ANAHEIM, powerplay, Getzlaf 13 (R Niedermayer, S Niedermayer) 9:56
»» 6, ANAHEIM, Pahlsson 9 (Hedstrom, Beauchemin) 12:00
3rd period
»» 7, VANCOUVER, Mattias Ohlund 11 (Brendan Morrison, Trevor Linden) 7:53
»» 8, ANAHEIM, Selanne 36 (Andy McDonald, Ruslan Salei) 15:26
Three stars -- (1) Anaheim's Samuel Pahlsson, (2) Anaheim's Jonathon Hedstrom, (3) Anaheim's Teemu Selanne
skater, goals-assists-points
Bertuzzi 1-0-1
Ohlund 1-0-1
Linden 0-1-1
Morrison 0-1-1
Naslund 0-1-1
Carney 0-1-1
The brutal loss left the Canucks with a 40-29-7 record (4-4 shootout, three overtime losses), good for 87 points. However, every team in front of them has two games in hand. They are seventh in the Western Conference, one point back of Colorado, three behind Anaheim, and five behind Northwest Division-leading Colorado. The Canucks don't play again until hosting Calgary in a huge huge huge game on Saturday while the teams above them play their games in hand. Problem is, by Saturday, the Canucks could be on the outside looking in. The Canucks take the short trip to the Staples Center tomorrow to face the Kings. In back-to-back sets this season, the Canucks are 4-7 in the first game, and 3-7 on the back end. They'd better buck that trend tomorrow.
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