The Clash of the Top Teams in the NHL’s Western Conference
Canucks - Luongo being scored on
It was a very interesting and entertaining game last night between the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings. Although the Wings had played the night before in Edmonton, they came out and played like the fresher team for the first two periods. It continues to puzzle me and I’m sure Canucks management, why they struggle so with that type of matchup.
Detroit had outshot the Canucks six to one before the first period was even eight minutes old. They had the better scoring chances, controlled the puck, outhit them, and looked every bit like the team that was leading the Western Conference in points.
First period shots on goal were not high at eight to five in favour of Detroit and if you had not seen the game, you would have thought that it was a dull defensive one.
The thing that I marvel about this Red Wings team is that year after year they assemble a team that when healthy, can compete for top spot in the West. They have a mixture of grizzly old veterans, in terms of age in the young predominant NHL, and youth, which apparently is the right blend.
Combining skating, puck possession, great skill and coaching has been Detroit’s modus operendi for decades or maybe it just seems that way. The Red Wings had that on display last night, particularly in the second period when they seemed to own the Canucks.
You can usually tell when a team is a step behind the other because it will show up in the penalty column, and last night was no exception. Vancouver took four penalties to Detroit’s one, were outshot 13-6, and outscored 3-2 in the second period. Give the Canucks credit though, as they battled back to tie it up several times in that period, and even went ahead at one point in the period when it looked like Detroit was going to run away with the game.
Neither goaltender was particularly sharp, which is why it was 3-3 after two periods.
Although Canucks Mason Raymond picked up an assist on Manny Malhotra’s power play goal, he was not sharp, dangerous, and did not look in sync with the rest of the Ryan Kesler line. Raymond looks like the player he was two years ago, when he tried to beat every opposition with his speed to the outside.
He would then put on the brakes inside the attacking blue line, and proceed to give away the puck, and the opponents would be off to the races on the quick transition. He also failed to clear the puck several times last night when he had the opportunity, and overall had a dreadful night.
When Raymond is on his game, you will see him driving to the net and getting in what we call the “dirty areas” on the ice. But enough on that.
The game was definitely a see-saw battle with Detroit taking the lead in the third period, only to have the Canucks storm back, tie it up and put it away on a couple of power play goals. That was the ‘Nucks best third period this season, as they outshot the Red Wings 23-7 and outscored them three to one.
One segment of the ‘Nucks special teams continues to shine, as their power play was ranked number one in the NHL, and continued to be so after the game as well. Their penalty kill coming into last night’s tilt was in ninth spot and for some reason today they are in 12th.
This makes no sense to me, as they only gave up one power play goal to Detroit in five opportunities. Anyway, previous to that the Canucks had killed something like 18 straight.
I just finished writing an article on the third line, so I will not re-hash it, except to say, what a huge difference in Manny Malhotra over Kyle Wellwood, and Raffi Torres over Steve Bernier, Tanner Glass and the many others that auditioned last season. With Jannik Hansen finally getting his first goal of the season last night, this makes the third line a force to be reckoned with.
Canucks - Torres hitting Wings - Stuart
You want an example of this third line force? Well it’s in the hit parade.
Hansen (33) is number two on the team behind Andrew Alberts, and Raffi Torres (26) is in third spot. So here you have two guys banging and crashing the opponent, creating havoc, while Manny Malhotra is not only setting up goals (6), but scoring (4) as well.
Roberto Luongo did not have a great game last night in giving up four goals, but did make that deciding save when the game was still tied 4-4 in the third period.
D-man Aaron Rome continues to play a steady, simple, safe game on defense and has also been rewarded with a bit of power play time on the right point. Next thing we know, Andrew Alberts will be playing the other side on the point.
No, not really, but Alberts is another one that has been playing sound defense on the back end. He continues to lead the Canucks in hits (42) each night and for once the opposition has to keep their heads up when he’s on the ice. Now, you gotta like that!
Canucks Daniel Sedin scoring
This game of the two top teams in the Western Conference was a great test for the Canucks, who have now won six in row. They had to play an attacking game against Detroit, and knowing that the Wings had played the night before they applied the knock-out punch and took them out in the third period, like a good team should.
That’s a sign of a team getting a little bit better each night in different scenarios and finding different ways to win.
Looking forward to the eastern swing when they visit Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Bufffalo and Pittsburgh.
As always, you can also find me at @twitter.com/nucksiceman.com, @slapshot.com and @communities.canada.com/VANCOUVERSUN/blogs/fanattic/default.aspx
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