What a rebound game! My Orca came through at home against the first place Avalanche with a thrilling 3-0 shutout win. It was quite a shift from the big loss against the Ducks, from solid offense throughout to Andrew Raycroft's best game in a Canucks uniform. Is there anything better than beating the first place team?
There were plenty of positives from this game:
1) Andrew "Everyday" Ray Ray stepped up with 18 saves on 18 shots to keep the Avs out of the net. I'm not sure how the Avs are so good this year, but with that in mind, it was totally impressive the way that Raycroft played. Of course, props have to be given to the defense as well for holding Colorado to just 18 shots, making it easy on our mighty backup.
2) Everyone gets in on the action. The goals were scored by Mason Raymond (5), Ryan Kesler (5), and rookie Tanner Glass (1). When the team is all injured throughout the front line, including the recent injury to rookie Michael Grabner, we need to have plenty of support from a bunch of offensive players. The supporting cast came through tonight and backed us up all the way to victory.
3) Edler & Salo go big. Each loyal defender went +2 on the game and earned an assist to help our defense get in on the action. With Salo coming back from injury, it was nice to have him contribute, and it is always nice to have the Ostersund, Sweden native (Edler) give us some (7 assists on the year). Bieksa may not have done much to correct my complaint last time, but his boys picked him up.
Of course, as with every game, there were some negatives to look at:
1) First period penalties is something that we haven't been able to take care off. From the very first game of the season, the Canucks have had issues with allowing opposing power plays in the opening frame. This time around, the offenders were Bieksa (cross check and roughing) and Shane O'Brien (surprise, surprise; high sticking). The X-Man's penalty was a stupid reaction call that he shouldn't have participated in, and SOB was just doing the inevitable. It obviously didn't hurt us this time around, but come on Coachie V, pull your guys together.
2) 8 giveaways. You have to make crisp passes and keep possession of the puck if you want to be an elite team. We had 8 giveaways, which allowed the Avs to get some chances. We were lucky to have Ray Ray coming through in a major way, but the Canucks are going to be made to pay if they continue to giveaway the puck. Hold onto it!
Let's make sure that we realize how big of a win this was. At 8-7-0 (16 points), the Blue & Green have climbed all the way up to the #2 spot in the division, and now trail the first place Avs by just 6 points. Meanwhile, Calgary and Edmonton are -1 of the Canucks, and the Wild continue to be down and out, back by 6. Tomorrow night, the Orca go head to head with the hated New York Rangers. A rematch of the dreaded 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. It was the season that I became a fan of the Canucks, encouraged by my cousin (a die hard Rangers fan). Since then, I've been suffering with my boys, constantly looking to return to the Cup after bowing out in Game 7 that heartbreaking year. Tomorrow, in a small way, I look to have my revenge. The Rangers are solid this year at 9-5-1, most recently earning a 1-0 win against the Boston Bruins. However, the Vannies are going good right now and I like our chances. Should be fun.
You're going down, Daniel!
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