The second annual "LSF NHL Week" (thanks be to the NHL schedulers) kicked off this weekend, as my Canucks started a week where they will face all the other LSF NHL squads. Game one was against Andrew's Toronto Maple Leafs, and while it may have taken some time to get in control, the Vannies worked it out for a 5-3 win. Let's hope the other two tests go as well as this one did.
Of course, it didn't start off well. Toronto busted out two goals within the first 7:39 of the opening period. Sjostrom started the scoring by tipping in a shot from Beauchemin from the right circle. Lu had no chance. That was followed up by Phil Kessel putting a quick shot on from the middle of the left circle after a pass from MacArthur along the boards. Lu had much more of a chance, but to be fair, there were four defensive players just standing around the Leafs forward, none of whom attempted to make a play on it. After that, the Canucks decided they had given the Leafs enough of a head start, and they decided to play some hockey. 9:39 in, on a power play, Alex Edler's blasted blue line slapper that resulted in a Daniel Sedin rebound goal. Less than 8 minutes later, battling well with the puck along the boards, Mikael Samuelsson sent a centering pass to a slightly covered Ryan Kesler, and Kes lifted the puck high and hard to tie things up. His feelings about the goal, are noted in the image above.
56 seconds into the second, Kes would strike again, kind of. The Vannies won the draw in their offensive zone to start a power play, and Christian Ehrhoff sent a cannon of a slap shot in. The puck redirected unintentionally off of Kesler, and into the net, for his 9th of the year and more importantly for the lead. In between that Canucks go ahead goal and the Leafs game re-tying goal 11:44 into the second on a Grabovski coast to coaster (come on defense!), we had a pretty epic fight. I usually don't highlight brawls, but Tanner Glass and Mike Brown were just throwing bombs at each other. Face shot after face shot finally ended when Tanner Glass leveled Brown with three blows that sent him down to the ice. It makes me laugh that Glass and Brown combined for 10 minutes in the box, while combining for only 11 minutes on the ice.
Knotted at 3 and heading to the third, it was time to see who was going to step it up. I'll give you a hint: it was the good guys. 13:36 into the final frame, Mason Raymond skated into the zone after receiving a long pass and took a harmless slap shot on goal from about 50 feet out. To eveyone's surprise, the puck fooled Giguere, slid through the five hole, and changed the game. Despite pulling their goalie late, the Leafs couldn't beat Roberto Luongo. He was challenged like mad at the end, but stood tall, stopping 16 of 16 in the third. Dan Hamhuis would ice it with an empty netter that somehow found the net on a simple icing attempt with less than a minute to go, and it was over. Some way to get your first goal as an Orca, eh Hammer?
Two Canucks made the "official" three stars list, with Kesler (2 goals), the Leafs Grabovski (goal and an assist), and Ma$e (goal and an assist) collecting the honors. That means it's time to recognize the "LSF Top Star Who Didn't Score A Point," and that honor goes to Aaron Rome. Romey not only had the second most ice time in the game (18:42), but also finished a +1 with 2 shots on goal. Wait, Rome is on the ice more than Edler, Ehrhoff, and Bieksa? Someone has been flying under the radar here.
At 10-4-2, the Canucks are back on track and gaining some distance. In the division, we lead Minnesota (-4), Colorado (-5), Calgary (-8), and Edmonton (-11). In the West, we're still ranked third, trailing Los Angeles (+2 on us) and Detroit (+1). We're also tied points-wise with a resurgent Anaheim squad, and just 1 point up on #5 St. Louis. It's tight at the top, and the difference from 1st to 8th is only 6 points (compared to 10 in the East). The Vannies' goal differential is now +12, as we're ranked 8th in goals scored and 10th in goals against (out of the 30 NHL teams). Our SRS is +0.74 (good enough for 5th), but our Strength of Schedule is only ranked 17th (at -0.01). While the schedule gets more difficult, and I'm not thinking of tonight in Buffalo, hopefully our 28.33 PP% can still carry us (+11% of the NHL average). Meanwhile, our PK unit is now rolling at just +3% of league average.
So, my main man Alex Burrows has been back for a little while now. I figured it was time enough to explore how he's doing. In his 6 games back since his recovery from surgery, AB has 1 goal, 1 assist, a +3 rating, and 12 shots, all with an ATOI (average time on ice) of 15:35. If we look at PTS/Total TOI, maybe we can get a better understand of how he's produced since he's been back. Here's a sample list of players based on PTS/Total TOI, which would give us the number of points a player gets per minute of ice time:
1. Daniel: 0.07
2. Henrik: 0.06
3. Bliznak: 0.06
4. Kesler: 0.04
5. Torres: 0.04
6. Edler: 0.03
7. Burrows: 0.02
How about big names on the team doing worse/equal than/to Burrows in this made up stat I invented? Names like Andrew Alberts (0.01), Kevin Bieksa (0.009), Christian Ehrhoff (0.02), and Dan Hamhuis (0.01). Of course, Mario Bliznak's 0.06 is inflated based on him getting a goal in his first game. I'm not exactly sure what my made up stat is supposed to show for AB, but it makes me feel like he's off to an okay start. It may only be a 27 point pace right now (if you extrapolate to 82 games), but it's bound to pick up, and it's not bad considering the injury/comeback.
Tonight we get part two in the three part series known as the second annual "LSF NHL Week" as the Canucks head to Buffalo to face Brandon's Sabres. These expansion cousins have been a part of a great rivalry, only furthered by the LSF aspect. The last time they met, Brandon and I went to Oggi's to watch the battle with my less than a month old son. Now my son is 10 months old, and he's eager to see the undefeated streak of the Canucks over the Sabres during his lifetime contiune. Wouldn't it be sweet?
Let's squash some Slugs!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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