The streak is over. It all ended in Roberto Luongo's hometown, and it all ended thanks to a kid who grew up cheering for the Canucks. Carey Price rose to the occasion last night, stuffing 34 Orca shots, as he backstopped his Eastern Conference squad to an impressive 0-2 win over the his former hometown heroes.
6:53 into the game, Andrei Markov broke the deadlock. Markov was in close on Bobby Lu when he bashed home the rebound from Gionta's shot. No biggie, though, right? Wrong. The Canucks impressive power play was completely held down by the Habs PK unit, only getting four shots TOTAL on the four power plays. Montreal only got four shots on their three power plays in the game, but the difference is that they scored on one of their four. Cammalleri blasted the puck in, and a favorable bounce off the rear boards (again?!) sent the puck back to Hamrlik, who converted for the PP goal to put the Habs two up, 4:39 into the third. The Canucks kept pounding away, but Price and Montreal were out for a serious stomping, and they got it. 34 shots. No goals. A 0-2 loss.
Despite winning the shot battle (34-29) and the hit battle (29-16), the Canucks lost 57% of the faceoffs. That unusual loss at the faceoff dot may have been part of the difference. Of course, after a game like that, there wasn't a Vannie anywhere near the "official" three stars list (Price, Markov, and Plekanec got the honors). However, my "LSF Top Star Who Didn't Score a Point" will certainly recognize last night's lovable losers. Since not a single player on the squad scored a point, the decision to pick the top star without a point is a little more complicated. I'm going to go with Dan Hamhuis, who in his first game back posted top 3 defender numbers in TOI, mostly paired with Aaron Rome. The fact that Ballard got bounced may have surprised people, but hopefully we can all focus on the good that Hammer can do for this club now that he's back (2 shots, E +/- last night).
At 8-4-2, the Canucks still hold on to the lead in the Northwest. We're +2 on Minnie, +3 on Colorado, +4 on Calgary, and +8 on Edmonton. In the West, we're obviously still third in the Conference, and still two points back of the Blues and Kings. What an unlikely duo at the top of the table. Well, maybe not the Kings, but definitely the Blues. Despite the shutout, the 'Nucks still hold a +6 goal differential, ranked 14th in goals scored, and 9th in goals against. Our Team SRS is still good enough for 6th in the League (+0.47), which makes total sense based on our placement in the standings, but our Strength of Schedule is only 13th in the league (+0.04), which means we should be doing better than we are, I think. Despite going 0 for 4 last night, our power play is still +10% on the league average (at 27.27%), and despite allowing a PP goal to Monteal, our PK is still +2% on league average (at 84.62%).
With all this blue line shuffling going on, I thought it would be a good time to rank our defenders. Ballard going off with the return of Hamhuis may have been unthinkable before the season, but does it make sense at this point? I think +/- may be best stat to rank blue liners, as it shows the goal differential while a defender is on the ice. In fact, this might be what +/- is best suited for. Let's rank 'em!
1. Christian Ehrhoff: +5
2. Andrew Alberts: +3
3. Kevin Bieksa: +3
4. Dan Hamhuis: E
5. Alex Edler: -1
6. Aaron Rome: -2
7. Keith Ballard: -3
8. Ryan Parent: -3
I'm actually kind of surprised that the Canucks clearly got it right. With Parent already off, the return of Hamhuis clearly should have bumped Ballard off, like it did. By the way, these stats also jump at me for a couple more reasons. First, Christian Ehrhoff, as we've pointed out before, is clearly one of the most underrated defenders in the NHL. Second, what are all of the Alberts and Bieksa haters going to say now, when they both dominate Alex Edler in +/-? Interesting stuff. I wonder if "Mr. Glass" Sami Salo is ever going to come back.
Tomorrow night, the Canucks head to Ottawa to do battle with the Senators. At 8-6-1, the Sens are no slouches this year. And, they're riding high off of a 5-2 win over Atlanta in their last game, which was their fourth straight win. Led by Daniel Alfredson, they are perfect in the month of November, outscoring enemies 15-7. Hopefully the Canucks can pop their rapidly growing egos in the Veteran's Day clash.
Following our test against Ottawa, we enter one of the most cherished weeks of the entire NHL regular season. It happened last year, and we are fortunate enough to have it happen again this season. Of course, I'm speaking of "LSF NHL Week." Last year, the Canucks made a clear sweep, beating Toronto, Buffalo, and Chicago. We'll get a chance to repeat the impressive feat again starting on November 13 against Andrew's Leafs. From there, the Canucks will battle Brandon's reeling Sabres on November 15. Finally, after a brief LSF layoff against the Pens, the Canucks finish LSF NHL Week with a November 20 test against Jon's Chicago Blackhawks.
8 days. 3 rivalry games. 1 LSF Champion. Bring it.
As a small post script, thanks to the Veteran's Day holiday, I'm looking at a four day weekend, so this will be the last post until Monday, unless my fellow team bloggers come through with a clutch money post in the mean time. Keep updated on the sports weekend with the "LSF Instant Suffering" feed at the top of the page, though. Have a great weekend.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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