Good Night Down In Hot-lanta

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."

Nucks Over Wings, Daniel's New Kid Sparks Goals

Daniel's wife should start pumping out kids more often. This was a weird game. It was close, 2-1 final, with the proud papa netting both of the Canucks goals. The real story however was the goal-tending. Jimmy Howard had 31 saves, and was playing like the goalie the Wings want him to be. And he was outshone by Bobby Lou. Luongo 39 saves, and made some pretty spectacular ones. He was definitely in top form, and carried  the team through this game.  

Kevin Bieksa looked good in his first game in about a month and a half. Played just over 23 minutes, and was a plus one. The third and fourth lines played very well. Especially the fourth line, even generating several scoring chances. This was by far the most encouraging thing to take away from this game. The Wings had a few injuries, so it was by no means a changing of the guard, but it was a very solid win nonetheless. Next up the boys travel to Atlanta to take on the Thrashers tomorrow night. 

On a personal note, the one good thing about living in Ohio is the Canucks come through. My cousin lives in Columbus so I will be traveling down there Sunday to attend the Canucks at Blue Jackets. I am very excited since I couldn't make it up to the game in Detroit. This will be my first game in person this year, second of the season. I flew out to Vancouver  to see a friend and caught the game on November 26 against the Sharks. I will try and tweet during the game, maybe even post some pics.

Livingston County's Own!

Here is the preview from Andrew at Nightmare on Helm Street:

Looking for a well thought out and researched preview for tonight's game?  Better look somewhere else.  Here's how we break down games over at Nightmare on Helm Street...we like to call it our "Pointless Previews".  Because honestly...what do they accomplish?

Category #1:  Twins

Vancouver has...

The Sedin Twins.  Okay, they get bonus points for being actually twins.  But does the actual split egg make them the better of the twins?  Let's go to the stats:

Danny has 246-394-640 in 778 games played
Henrik has 156-502-658 in 801 games played

Henrik has won the Art Ross and the Hart last season, and Danny-boy might do exactly the same this year.

Detroit has...

The Euro Twins. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are not related, not even from the same country...but these two have been making sweet, sweet magic for years and play like they could be brothers.

Pavel has 220-429-649 in 658 games played
Hank has 227-321-548 in 579 games played

Zetterberg won the Conn Smythe in 2008.  Pavel Datsyuk has won the following: Lady Byng Memorial Trophy 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, Frank J. Selke Trophy - 2008, 2009, 2010, and the Plus-Minus Award in 2008.

Winner: DETROIT - points per game and awards?  This is no contest...sorry, folks.

Category #2: Todd Bertuzzi
Vancouver has...

558 games with Dirty Bert in which he scored 188 goals, 261 assists for 449 points and broke one neck.

Detroit has...

163 games with Dirty Bert in which he has scored 34 goals, 53 assists for 87 points and has broken countless hearts.

Winner: VANCOUVER - Bertuzzi was most definitely in his prime playing with Naslund in Vancouver.

Category #3: First Image result for Team Name + girl

Vancouver has...

Detroit has...

Winner: VANCOUVER - sure, Detroit's search brought us Kristen Bell (a Wings fan)...but in all fairness, she's not really wearing that Winged Wheel and I'm still mad at her for that Jamie Lee Curtis movie from a few months back...gotta give this one to the Nucks.

Category #4: Stanley Cup Championships
Vancouver has...**cough cough***

Detroit has... 12  (and four in my lifetime)

Winner: DETROIT -...obviously!

Tie Breaker: Mascot

Vancouver has...

Fin the Whale - an anthropomorphic orca with a smile.

Detroit has...

No official mascot...because we're not gimmicky like that.

Overall Winner: DETROIT

All of this adds up to my total prediction which is this...

Wings win 4-1.

Manny Out, Viktor's Travels, And Notes

The news that we all knew was coming came: Manny Malhotra is out for the season. Damnit. Even though we all knew it was coming this still sucks hard. Number one penalty killer, top face-off man, and played at full speed every second he was out there. It will be interesting to see who becomes the new third line Center. If Lapierre can grab it, or if they try Raymond in there. This will also put a bigger strain on Kesler, who already sees significant time on the Power Play and Penalty Kill.

Viktor Oreskovich was recalled, again, from Manitoba. That dude has to have enough frequent flyer miles to go around the world at least once now. Forward depth might be a problem, not just because of Manny being gone, but just for quality on the bottom two lines.

Switching things up tomorrow. Not only getting a game preview for the game at Detroit, first one in awhile I apologize, but it will be by my buddy Drew, the founder and resident big shot over at Nightmare on Helm Street. I will be writing the preview over there so please check it out. Although you should be checking it out anyway because it is definitely one of the better NHL blogs out there.

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The Week That Was, The Week That Will Be, And Some Notes

Looking Back

The Canucks came home from a five game road trip this past week, with three home games, with Minnesota, Colorado, and Phoenix coming into the friendly confines of Rogers Arena. The only concern I had for this past week was, four games in seven days, none of which were easy wins, and two going into overtime, one all the way to the shootout. All four teams were also playoff teams or teams fighting for playoff spots. Fatigue was definitely a potential problem.

The Canucks came out with flying in the Minnesota game on Monday, and although Minnesota came back, but it was the Canucks game all the way. The Colorado game was a different story, with the Canucks going down 2-0 early, but they fought back, and Schneider just posted his usual .930+ Save Percentage and played great, improving to 14-3-2. 

The speed bump came with the Phoenix game Friday night. The officiating was questionable for both teams. But it eventually came down to the Canucks inability to score on a 5-on-3 advantage, and Burrows boarding Fiddler and the referees overreaction. I realize they are trying to prevent headshots and concussions, but to crack down on what should have been a two minute boarding call shows the NHL's inability to be consistent in anyway.

Looking Ahead

So out of three games, they won two, and lost a relatively close one. Not bad considering that loss ended a seven game win streak. Plus now they have four days off as they head east for a four game road trip. They go to Detroit on Wednesday and are in Atlanta on Friday. Atlanta started off hot, but cooled off after about 40 games. Detroit will be the challenge here, the two best teams in the Western Conference, and probably the whole league, should not disappoint. 

The problem with Detroit is their depth. Anyone of those guys can score, and when the big guns aren't firing Ruslan Salei comes out of nowhere with a goal, or Patrick Eaves, or Darren Helm, or whoever they pull out of their AHL affiliate. They're stacked. Also Jimmy Howard is showing no signs of a Sophomore-Slump. Head on over to Nightmare on Helm Street, to find out more. 

Notes

The big news from the past week of course stemmed from Wednesday night's game against Colorado when Manny Malhotra took a puck to the eye. There was a decent amount of blood, and he immediately left the ice. One good piece of news is the puck hit his orbital bone and not the eye itself. I just hope the guy can regain sight, let alone play hockey again. 

This is a huge loss, probably bigger than all the defensive injuries combined. Yeah the loss of Bieksa, Edler, Alberts, Hamhuis, Salo, and Ballard at various times hurt, but they were able to cobble together a defense and didn't seem to miss a beat. In Malhotra, however, they lost a top face-off guy, in the league. They lost probably a top three in the league penalty killer, and the engine that was running the top checking line in the NHL...right before the playoffs.

Nothing against Max Lapierre, Chris Higgins, or Mason Raymond, but Manny Malhotra they are not. It will be interesting to see how the lines shape up. They tried Max Lapierre centering the third line on Friday, which was pretty effective. I assume they will try some other options as they finish out the season, so it should be interesting.

On a lighter note, Ryan Kesler continued his interview-bombing, or "Keslurking" as our friends over at Pass It to Bulis have termed it. He got John Garrett and John Shorthouse pretty good after the Colorado game. It has not gotten old at all, and continues to be hilarious. Bobby Lou has even got in on it, or at least trying to. 

In some other good news, it appears Tanner Glass and, more importantly, Kevin Bieksa are on the mend. Both are expected to play Wednesday in Detroit. Getting Bieksa back is great, and it was reported in the first intermission of the Oilers/Avs game on Hockey Night in Canada tonight that Edler was skating as well. Manny's injury is just one of many the Canucks have had to get over this year. Can they? Of course they can. The real question is will they.