Cory Schneider was excited to play against his hero, Ryan Miller. He took Miller and the Sabres all the way to overtime, but in the end, Buffalo tallied the extra session netter and won the game 4-3. Losing a game during "LSF NHL Week" is a new feeling for this Canuck fan, but at least we got a point. I'll bet Brandon is feeling pretty good about all these OT heroics his boys have been pulling off as of late.
The problem I had with the game was that the Canucks basically gave Buffalo three of their goals. Tyler Enis opened the scoring 8:22 into the game, after a failed attempt to clear the puck by Manny Malhotra led to a chance for the home team. Just under 9 minutes later, Cody McCormick scored a goal on a shot that Cory Schneider stopped, but allowed in after he was bumped in the crease. All the while, Ryan Miller was making thrilling stop after thrilling stop.
In the second, Daniel would get us on the board with a power play goal. Some nifty passing saw Christian Ehrhoff eventually feed Sedin at the top of the right circle, and Daniel promptly blasted a slapper into the net. Buffalo wanted to make sure we knew they weren't just going to let us back in, though, as Montador answered 6+ minutes later. Montador's goal was set up by some amazing puck handling by Vanek. Vanek just kind of skated around as if he had the puck on a string before feeding Roy, who set up Montador for a deep slapper. This was about the time when I posted that I was praying for a Canucks comeback.
My prayers were answered, sort of. Alex Edler scored a power play goal about 5 minutes into the 3rd, thanks to a screen by Ryan Kesler on Ryan Miller allowing his slap shot to fly by. Less than 5 minutes later, Mikael Samuelsson would put the puck into the wide open side of the net to tie it up. Henrik stole the puck at the point and slap passed it to his brother on the left side of Miller, who fed Samuelsson on the right side of Miller, and the Sweish trio had us tied.
Schneider would turn it up, especially on the PK, with some heart stopping saves, and we were headed to OT. Dangerous territory against a team like Buffalo. Early on, Alex Burrows tested Miller with a huge chance, but the US goalie held strong. Then, with about 30 seconds to go, Dan Hamhuis tried to clear a puck from out in front of Schneider, but really just fed Tyler Myers in the high slot for the game winner. A horrible turnover finished us off, much like how a horrible turnover started Buffalo's night 65 minutes of game time earlier. Welcome back, Hammer.
Schneider will have to wait another day to beat his hero. The "real" media picked their heroes of the game, as they recognized Vanek (2 assists), Daniel Sedin (1 goal and 2 assist), and Myers (game winner) as their three stars. Which brings us to our "LSF Top Star Who Didn't Score A Point," and I'm giving that honor to Dan Hamhuis for his assist on the game winning goal. No, just kidding. Ryan Kesler gets the nod. His screen on the Edler PP goal would have gone down as an assist in a perfect world. We're giving you some serious love for it, buddy, whatever that's worth.
At 10-4-3 (23 points), the Canucks continue to lead the division over Colorado (-4), Minnesota (-5), Calgary (-9), and Edmonton (-12). In the Conference, our grasp on that 3 spot continues, although we're now tied with #2 Detroit points-wise, and trail #1 LA by just 1. After the tight loss, our goal differential is now +11, as we're ranked 8th in goals scored and 11th in goals allowed. Our SRS is a nice +0.57 (6th in the league), while our Strength of Schedule still trails the average at -0.07 (20th). With the upcoming couple of games, though, that should go up. With the success last night, our PP is now +12% on league average, at a stellar 29.23%, while our PK is now +4% on the average.
A lot of people around Orca Nation have been upset with the "lack of production" from Ryan Kesler, as has been pointed out by the announcers the last few games. Sounds like a good time to dig through his numbers, and hopefully prove those haters wrong. With 9 goals and 3 assists so far this year, tied for fourth on the team in points, Kes seems to be doing well enough for me. Let's look at this season's adjusted statistics (extrapolated for 82 games) and compare to the three years before that to see if these haters have a point.
2007: 21 G, 16 A, 19:03 ATOI
2008: 26 G, 33 A, 19:28 ATOI
2009: 25 G, 50 A, 19:38 ATOI
2010: 43 aG, 14 aA, 20:28 ATOI
Or with points (and adjusted points for this season):
2007: 37 P
2008: 59 P
2009: 75 P
2010: 57 aP
The haters must see the argument from the point perspective, as it's the only thing that would make sense. However, we're talking about Kes being on pace for a career year in terms of goals. In fact he'd blow past his top goal scoring year by 17 netters if he keeps this pace up. Kes kind of exploded in points last year with his large number of assist, but I think high-50s is a little more realistic, and thus, Kesler seems to be having a great year for us here in 2010/2011. So, shut up, haters.
After an off day today, the Vannies head to do battle with the Penguins (9-8-2) in their fancy new arena. Despite their new stadium, the Pens are 3-5-1 at home this season, disappointing fans to be sure. The Canucks are just hoping that their luck against Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh continues. The Canucks have won their last four games against the Pens in Pittsburgh, and haven't lost in regulation on the road or at home to their Eastern Conference foes in over 10 years. It's a matchup against an annoying yet talented kid from Canada and former Canuck Matt Cooke, and here I sit, hoping for the best.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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