Another great start for Bobby Lou, the fourth line earning their extra minutes, and second game back for Bieksa, and another plus one and 22 minutes of ice-time. Mason even got in on the scoring. They started out slow, yet again, but the third and fourth lines brought the energy level up for sure. Bolduc scored the eventual game-winner in the second with an awesome back hand. Burrows added a pretty impressive empty-netter from his own zone. He even got a short handed marker for his efforts, moving him into sole possession of third place on the Canucks all-time short-handed goal list.
Two things stuck out about the Thrashers. One was Evander Kane. The guy is insane. He seems to have endless amounts of energy and was hitting everyone in a Canucks jersey. He is on pace for 44 points this year, not bad for a guy who will be 19 years old at season's end. The other thing, Dustin Byfuglien is still a piece of crap and for some reason has carte blanche to do whatever he wants. He blatantly cross-checked Bieksa in front of the net, and there was no call. He proceeded to keep hacking and hitting the Canucks with no repercussions. Thats fine though with his contract and awful play as of late, means he will be in Atlanta for awhile. Unless Brian Burke trades 3 first round picks for him, which has about a 60% chance of happening.
The Canucks hit franchise records for wins in a season (49), road wins (24), and continue to pile up on an already record point total (107). These are all impressive numbers and a definite high point for the franchise. However, we must not get caught up in these numbers. There will be time to celebrate this team for their accomplishments and that is after the season. Whats even more impressive is the way Bobby Lou has been playing. He has had a phenomenal season as it is, but in the last week or so he has been on fire. Had another 30 saves last night, and was very sharp against the Wings, and thats very encouraging this time of year.
On a personal note, tomorrow I am heading down to Columbus for the game. I am very stoked about this and was even more pumped when I heard our little Ginger-Nut Cory Schneider will be getting the start. First game this year was a 6-1 thrashing (pun kind of intended) of the Sharks when I made my pilgrimage to Rogers Arena, and now I get to see Schneider start a game. Good times indeed. Oh, and I found this little gem, which I like to call "The Worst Newlywed Game of All-Time."
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