What a game of contrasts. A horrible start, a thrilling comeback, and a giant let down with our beloved goalie on the bench. In the end, the Canucks were dropped by the Flamers 3-5. Luongo was completely beatable in the first 30 minutes, with the Hockey Night in Canada announcers (including recently retired Kevin Weekes) reminding us that he seemed to look just like he did in game 6 of the semifinals against the Blackhawks. Thanks, jerks. Sure there were problems, but in the end, I think that the majority of Smart Canucks Nation feels okay about the season opening match.
11:52 after the start of the game, Calgary were up 3-0. I went from standing in front of the TV in pure excitement to laying on the couch in pure despair. The breakdown is as follows: Goal 1) Rick Rypien skated at Mark Giordano on the penalty kill, but skated right past Gio, allowing him to simply skate in and take the shot. I was so pissed at Ryp for playing it that way, but as my Dad pointed out, Luongo knew where the shot was coming from and should have made the stop. Goal 2) Nigel Dawes had the puck behind the net on another Calgary power play and sent a perfect one time pass to Rene Bourque. Bourque had the entire net wide open as Lu was coming back to cover, but easily put the rubber in the twine. There was no chance. Goal 3) Adam Pardy simply took a long shot that Lu should have kept out, the first goal that seemed to be clearly Bobby's fault, and the Pengrowth Saddledome crowd went nuts. All I thought was, "If we can just get one goal before the end of the first, I'll be happy. Didn't happen. The Canucks got some calls to go their way in the second, with Bieksa getting the first goal of the season on a long slapper from just inside the blue line while on the advantage. All of the sudden I was feeling better. But, just 5:32 later, Brandon Prust jammed away at Luongo when it looked like he has stopped the puck to put the Flames back up by 3. A penalty to Robyn Regehr for holding, though, gave us another advantage, and we made it pay off immediately. Mikael Samuelsson, in his first game as a Vannie, tipped in an Edler slapper to get us right back into the thick of things, and we headed to the final frame down just 2-4. In the third period, Alex Burrows pulled a Brandon Prust, and simply banged away at Kiprusoff until the puck went in. With over 19 minutes to go in the game, my Mighty Canucks were just down by a single goal. However, the next 17 minutes or so, Kiprusoff was out of control. The Blue & Green put shot after shot on goal, finishing with a 21-7 third period advantage (overall outscoring the Flames 42-23, surprisingly), but the Fin goalie held strong, unfortunately. With about 1:20 or so left, the Canucks pulled Luongo over to the bench and played the worst empty net offense I've ever seen. Calgary easily took the puck and put it in the empty net to seal the deal on the Canucks defeat. Boo.
Of course, from every game there are some positive and some negatives. First, the positives: 1) The Canucks showed that they just don't quit, even when down 0-3 in the first period, 2) Newbies Samuelsson, Shirokov (as I predicted), and Ehrhoff were all over the ice, trying to make something happen, and 3) My new favorite line for the season is Mason Raymond, Kyle Wellwood, and and Steve Bernier. Love them. Now, the negatives: 1) Roberto wanted to start strong, and allowed three goals in the first 12 minutes. Not good. He turned it around, by a .818 save percentage is just no good, 2) One of our top defenders, Kevin Bieksa, finished with a -2 rating, and 3) The Canucks locked up four penalties in the first 20 minutes, and the opening frame penalties really were the main reason that we lost the momentum in this game early on.
At 0-1-0 (0 points), the Canucks are not off to the start we all imagined. Calgary and Colorado both earned wins to get their 2 points, and both lead the Northwest Division. This Saturday, the NHL Center Ice free preview continues, the Canucks will try to earn their first win of the season against the temporarily tied for first place Colorado Avalanche. The Avs shocked everyone by beating the Sharks 5-2 yesterday, and will hope that John-Michael Liles can continue his 2 point per game run. Unfortunately for the Avs, they will be welcoming a very hungry Vancouver squad looking to right things with Canucks Nation and the British Columbian media.
Why does Roberto Luongo have a 4.06 GAA according to ESPN? That doesn't make any sense to me.
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