Canucks Bury Avalanche In Overtime, Clinch Northwest Division Title
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Leigh Ramsden lives in Vancouver and is an avid Canucks fan, having been a partial season ticket holder for over 10 years. He’s old enough to have witnessed all three Stanley Cup losses, as such, his prime goal is to remove those scars by seeing a Cup brought to Vancouver. Leigh is Fighting For Stanley’s (www.fightingforstanley.ca/vancouver) west coast correspondent, and will also blog after all Canuck games for The Nelson Daily.
When Calgary lost 4-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday afternoon, they ran out of games to mathematically challenge the Canucks for the Northwest Division title. Knowing that they were now assured a playoff spot (and no worse than third in the competitive Western Conference), the Canucks then took the ice against divisional foe Colorado, who are themselves embroiled in a tight race for the final playoff spot.
After an up and down game, the Canucks overcame the Avalanche winning 3-2 in overtime at the Pepsi Center.
Colorado played for most of the first and second periods as one would expect, desperate to win races and puck battles. Their hard work resulted in a 2-0 lead on goals by Calder Trophy candidate Gabriel Landeskog and by reformed Canuck-killer Jamie McGinn. Landeskog’s marker came just over a minute into the game on an early power play after Canuck goaltender Roberto Luongo made a save but left the rebound sitting in front of the open net.
McGinn’s tally, on another power play, came midway through the second period as Colorado netminder Semyon Varlamov took advantage of a sloppy Canuck line change. Varlamov shot the puck to the Vancouver blue line, where Paul Stastny took possession and feathered a nice cross ice pass to a streaking McGinn, who beat Luongo low-blocker to take what appeared to be a commanding lead.
For most of the game’s first 35 minutes, the Canucks were lethargic and let the Avalanche dictate the play. Colorado outshot Vancouver 17-8 in the first period alone.
The game turned in the latter stages of the second after new Avalanche pest Mark Olver went up high on a hit on rookie Chris Tanev. Tanev was no worse for wear, but Alex Burrows and David Booth didn’t like it and took Olver to task in front of the Canucks’ bench. Burrows was assessed a two-minute minor for roughing, and at that point the Canucks looked dead in the water.
However, Ryan Kesler drew the Jones penalty, and the fire under the Canucks was appropriately lit.
Mason Raymond, playing yet another stellar game on Henrik Sedin’s wing, fired a wicked wrist shot past Varlamov late in the resulting power play to get the Canucks within one.
Chris Higgins scored just 1:35 later, after a tremendous shift by the third line, penning the Avalanche in their own zone. Sammy Pahlsson, channeling his inner Sedin, gave Higgins the puck in the slot on a beautiful turnaround, behind the back drop pass, and Higgins wired it past Varlamov into the top corner to get the now-motivated Canucks on even terms. After the Jones penalty, the Canucks outshot Colorado 8-4 in the last six minutes of the second.
The third period was relatively evenly played, the Avalanche outshooting the Canucks 12-8, the difference mostly coming on a Colorado power play. The scoreless third set the stage for overtime, when Higgins scored his second of the night after Jannik Hansen muscled rookie Tyson Barrie off the puck deep in his own zone and passed it to him in the slot. Higgins’ shot, along the ice, beat Varlamov and the Canucks escaped with a 3-2 victory.
Overall, this was another game where the Canucks took a while – a long while – to get interested. But when they did, they were the far superior team, as their work ethic and skill were too much for the young Avalanche team.
It was a game where the Canucks displayed their veteran makeup, with no panic or quit. When the game wasn’t going well and things weren’t coming, they stuck to their gameplan and eventually got themselves back into it with a couple beautiful goals.
The goaltending was spectacular, especially in the first period, when Luongo singlehandedly kept the Canucks in it. It was another test for Vancouver, who again proved that when they feel like it, they are still the dominant team we’re used to. I’m pretty sure they will “feel like it” come playoff time.
GAME OBSERVATIONS
- Most people will point to the game’s first 35 minutes as extremely poor play by the Canucks. While I agree, my take is a bit different in that I think the Canucks special teams were horrible, but their play at five on five wasn’t quite as big a disaster. The Canucks were shorthanded three times in the opening period and had three power plays of their own, including over one minute at 5-on-3. Given all the special teams play, it’s difficult to get in a rhythm at five on five.
- That said, their play at even strength in the first half of the second was uninspired and not sharp at all. However, Colorado’s was as well, which made for an uneventful, boring stretch of hockey. Olver’s unpenalized hit on Tanev lit the fire under the Canucks, and they looked like a different team thereafter. That is the best way to respond to dirty stuff like that.
- The Canucks’ power play looked decent at times, but were unable to put any pucks past Varlamov until Raymond scored. Colorado’s desperation was evident, as they were unafraid to incessantly block Canuck shots. The PP finished 1 for 5 on the night, but an earlier goal, especially on the two-man advantage, could have catapulted the Canucks back into the game much earlier.
- Vigneault kept his line combinations from the last game together and they were generally effective again. That said, there were a number of players who didn’t see a lot of icetime as a result of the power plays, including the fourth line as well as Zack Kassian, all of whom ended up with less than 10 minutes.
- Aaron Rome “tweaked” his knee in a first period collision (he was hit by Matt Hunwick after he landed an open ice hit on Barrie early in the game). This left the Canucks with only five defensemen to finish.
- Luongo’s best saves came in the first period but he was also good in the third with the game tied.
- Higgins continues to play very well, and without that 20 game stretch where he was out with staph infections (or playing, but battling medication), his numbers would be very good. It’s easy to see why coach Alain Vigneault feels comfortable putting him anywhere in the lineup, as he can fufill one of a number of different roles.
- Sammy Pahlsson now has four points in 12 games as a Canuck (a 27 point pace) as compared to 11 in 61 with the Blue Jackets (a 15 point pace). I was concerned about these numbers when he came over, but while the sample size is small, I’ve seen enough to be convinced his numbers were more a function of the horrible environment he was playing in. He’s made a few very nice offensive plays, to go along with his stellar defense and face-off prowess. This is exactly why I’m not a GM in the NHL.
- Landeskog is better every time we see the Avalanche play. It’s scary to think that he’s only 20 years old. He’s fast, physical, and offensively gifted. The Avalanche have a nice young core which includes Matt Duchene and Barrie.
NORTHWEST DIVISION CLINCHED – PLAYOFF OPPONENT AS-YET UNDETERMINED
Calgary’s loss earlier on Saturday gave the Canucks the Northwest Division title for the fourth straight year. The Canucks are currently locked into second in the Western Conference. As of Sunday night, they were four points in arrears of St. Louis with a game in hand, and were 12 points upon third-place Dallas with each team having seven remaining games. The Canucks only need three points in those games to clinch second place, a virtual certainty.
There’s still a chance Vancouver can catch St. Louis, but it will be difficult. Of their remaining six games, the Blues will play four at home, where they are 29-4-4 on the season.
In addition, the Canucks will have to beat them in points, as a tie would go to St. Louis based on the number of regulation and overtime wins. The concept of the Canucks winning the West, and possibly even the President’s Trophy, is intriguing, if for no other reason that they have been so pedestrian in the last six weeks.
The opponent for either the first or second seed is still completely up in the air. There are five teams with a shot at the final two playoff spots, and as of Sunday night, those spots were filled by Phoenix and L.A. (San Jose and Colorado are tied with the Kings, but the Kings have the tiebreaker). Calgary sits three points back from there.
Of these teams, the Kings and Sharks have the best shot if for no other reason, they have the most games remaining (they each have seven, the Flames have six, while Phoenix and Colorado have only five). The other complicating factor is the fact that either the Kings or Sharks could still win the Pacific Division as they are only one point behind Dallas, and the winner will receive third seed in the conference.
For these reasons, it appears as though the Canucks will play one of Dallas, L.A., or San Jose in the first round, with Phoenix also in the mix (Colorado and Calgary are not likely to make it).
Of those, I’d prefer Phoenix or Dallas, as the Kings and Sharks scare me. The Kings mostly because Jonathan Quick is a tremendous goalie and he can win a series on his own, and the Sharks because one of these years, they are going to break through in the playoffs. While both teams have their warts, they were each favourites in the Conference for a reason – they both have a lot of experience, skill, and talent.
I think the Canucks can beat any of these teams, but, I’d rather see the relatively inexperienced Stars or Coyotes in the first round.
IF THIS WERE A PLAYOFF GAME
The Avalanche were a desperate team coming into tonight’s game and played like it for much of the game – exactly the type of game that the Canucks will see come playoff time. If this one were a playoff game, chalk up another Canuck win. They are now 4-3 since I have been grading them using this scale.
PARTING SHOTS
Broadcast Observation of the Night: Mark Lee was joined in the booth by infrequent colour commentator Daryl Reaugh, who is the Dallas Stars’ regular colour commentator. He was a refreshing change. He adds a lot to the broadcast and does a good job of providing insight, as a colour guy should do. It’d be great to see Hockey Night in Canada add him in more frequently, however, this is probably unlikely as he’d be committed first to Stars’ games.
Landeskog was on After Hours and he really seems like a decent kid. One criticism here though is that of late, Scott Oake is basically rehashing everything that has happened on each player’s Twitter account.
I think Twitter is great and gives players a way to connect directly with fans and vice versa, however, I hope After Hours doesn’t merely degenerate into this going forward. It’s just lazy. I’d rather hear about the stuff that is NOT on Twitter, thank you very much.
Looking ahead: The Canucks return home to face the L.A. Kings on Monday night to kick off another five-game homestand. Hopefully this one will be more fruitful than the last.
