Canucks Clinch Home Ice With 3-0 Over Oilers
By 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.
Going into Saturday’s final regular season game against the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks knew that just a single point would deliver them the Presidents’ Trophy as the regular season champions, but more importantly, would again give them home ice advantage throughout the balance of the playoffs. The Canucks did what they failed to do on Thursday versus the Flames, and seized the opportunity by dominating the lowly Oilers in a convincing 3-0 victory.
For much of the first two periods, the game’s result was in doubt, on the scoreboard at least. The Canucks completely dominated most of the game, but most especially the penalty-filled first period, when they outshot the Oilers 17-5 after receiving three power plays. Edmonton received two of their own, but were not able to generate any offense as a result.
Meanwhile, the Canucks peppered Oilers starter Devan Dubnyk, who was equal to the task and not only made some incredible first saves, but was also able to limit any rebounds as he frustrated the Vancouver forwards time and time again. The period ended tied at zero, which did not even come close to being a reasonable indication of the general run of play. In addition to the Canucks’ 17 shots, they also hit the post twice in the opening frame.
The same script played out for the first half of the second period, although this portion of the game was played 5 on 5. After the midway point of the period, the Oilers came on a bit and were able to generate a marginal amount of offense, recording a couple of their five second period shots and getting themselves back into the game.
It was a frustrating scene for Canuck fans, who had seen the team’s inability to put teams away come back to bite them on a number of occasions this season.
The game turned after a huge, clean hit by Max Lapierre on ex-Canuck Darcy Hordichuk. After the hit, Hordichuk did his best to get back at Lapierre, as did linemate (and mental midget) Ben Eager. In the ensuing scrum after the whistle, Hordichuk was assessed a double-minor for roughing, while Lapierre and Eager were given offsetting minors, which gave the Canucks a four-minute (or less) power play.
The Canucks finally beat Dubnyk in the first half of the power play when Henrik Sedin received a great short pass from Alex Burrows and lifted it past the sprawling netminder. The Canucks carried the play for the balance of the period and entered the second intermission with a slim, one goal lead.
Vancouver came out motivated to start the third and were rewarded when Sammy Pahlsson beat Dubnyk was a great shot on a feed from Jannik Hansen just three minutes in. From that point, the Canucks faithful breathed a sigh of relief, taking some comfort in the two-goal cushion and with the way the team was playing.
The Canucks continued to take it to the beaten Oilers in the third, and after impressive rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was given four minutes for a high-stick on Sami Salo, Vancouver iced the game after a phenomenal individual effort by David Booth. Booth beat Jeff Petry and fired a wrist shot past Dubnyk, and the Canucks coasted to the win and home ice advantage. Vancouver outshot Edmonton 15-7 in the third and 42-17 overall.
This was a strong performance in a game that actually meant something against an overmatched Oilers team. The Canucks played like a team with some motivation, as they refused to sit back and kept coming at Edmonton throughout the game.
Lost in all the offensive forays was the fact that the Canucks played a very efficient game defensively, and really limited the Oilers’ young forwards. Roberto Luongo, while not tested extensively, played well enough to record his fifth shutout of the season.
It was a feel-good game for both the team and its fans, and all of us can now turn our attention to the only thing that anyone has cared about in Canucks Nation all season long, the Stanley Cup playoffs.
GAME OBSERVATIONS
- The Canucks’ much-maligned power play again returned to life, ending the night 2 for 7. More impressive, however, was the consistency with which it generated shots and scoring chances. It really looked like the team has tried to simplify their attack, just by getting shots through from the point and crashing the net, looking for rebounds or tip-ins. The first goal tonight was a perfect example, as Burrows tapped the rebound from a point shot to Sedin to put the puck into the empty net.
- Lapierre looked great on the second line again tonight, as he continues to lay out hits and help his linemates generate offense. The Kesler-Booth-Lapierre line was easily the Canucks’ best tonight, and while they only recorded the one goal, the generated an incredible 20 of the Canucks’ 42 shots.
- The fourth line of Malhotra-Weise-Bitz played well in a little more than 10 minutes of ice time. Weise recorded a team-high 7 hits and the line provided a physical presence.
- Canucks fans need to take this game with a grain of salt. The Oilers looked disinterested for most of the night and with the exception of Dubnyk, they didn’t bring a great effort. The Canucks will be tested much more stringently in their first-round playoff matchup against the L.A. Kings.
- On the defensive front, Alex Edler had an uneven night and made a few gaffes defensively. Other than him, the entire D corps had a good night and Kevin Bieksa played well in the second game back after taking a few games off due to an undisclosed injury. Dan Hamhuis also played very well, and rookie Chris Tanev recorded his 17th straight game at even or better. The D looks to be in good shape heading into the postseason.
- The officiating tonight was barely passable. Once again the refs let a number of infractions go both ways, and then called things that were pretty clear makeup calls. After the fracas involving Hordichuk and Lapierre, the Oilers were assessed four extra minutes. I frankly expected the refs to just even things up, but I don’t think an extra four minutes was warranted.
- That said, replays showed Hordichuk attempting to elbow Lapierre in the head prior to the whistle. To me, this is a clear attempt to injure and although it didn’t connect, the league really needs to look at penalizing this type of dirty play properly. It’s right in the rule book – a match penalty should be assessed for any attempt to injure. Currently, players that connect with such dirty hits are often only given two minutes. Putting a team a man down for 5 minutes, and giving a game misconduct, really sends a message since it hurts the entire team. I’m not sure how the game has evolved to this point, but this should come up for discussion over the summer if the league wants to discourage all the dirty play that has infiltrated the league.
- After the San Jose Sharks came back to overcome the Kings in overtime, the Canucks’ playoff matchup was set. I think this worked out perfectly for the Canucks, because although the Kings have great goaltending and play good defense, the Sharks’ mix of experience, their low profile this season, and the fact they’d be completely motivated to avenge last season’s loss in the conference finals made them a daunting first-round opponent.
- With any luck, the Sharks will give the Blues a tough time in the first round, and the Red Wings and Predators will beat the hell out of each other. The Coyotes/Blackhawks series will also be interesting for Canucks fans, as the Coyotes have been one of the league’s hottest teams going into the playoffs and the Blackhawks are, of course, the team’s historical Kryptonite. Strangely, it’s conceivable that none of the Canucks’ three Western Conference playoff opponents from a year ago will make it past the first round.
IF THIS WERE A PLAYOFF GAME
Although tonight’s opponent was unmotivated and not of a playoff calibre, the Canucks brought their A game and the score flattered the Oilers. I have a hard time thinking that the Canucks wouldn’t have won a playoff game with an effort like this. In the last 13 games of the season, after I wrote my article assessing the Canucks’ playoff-readiness, the Canucks finished 8-5. This record equals two playoff round wins, one in six and the other seven.
Considering at times during this period the Canucks didn’t have a lot to play for, this was a pretty good record overall. If they play like they did tonight, it could make for another deep playoff run. That said, the parity in the league now means that no playoff series is ever a gimme. Expect there to be some fireworks, and let’s hope the Canucks don’t get burned by the stingy Kings.
PARTING SHOTS
Broadcast Observation of the Night: Hockey Night in Canada played nice tonight and Craig Simpson, normally extremely arrogant and cocky, had nothing but niceties for the league leaders. Coach Alain Vigneault, who was on After Hours, made light of the fact that it’s clear HNIC doesn’t like the Canucks when he asked Scott Oake if “you guys are going to pick us” (HNIC gets the first two “picks” of playoff series to televise ahead of TSN).
We’ll have to wait and see how this year’s coverage plays out. Last season, it was a downright joke as the Canucks were painted in all media circles, and principally by HNIC, as divers, whiners, and as a dishonourable team. It’s a story that’s pretty rich from where I sit, as the Canucks are continually subjected to substandard officiating and incidents involving supplemental discipline from the league continue to have dubious resolutions and bad decisions on suspensions.
Currently, the Canucks’ leading goal scorer and Art Ross winner Daniel Sedin continues to sit out while Duncan Keith, who attempted to remove his head with his elbow, is fresh, coming off a nice five-game holiday as the Blackhawks ready for the playoffs.
These facts are often forgotten in the mainstream media, and only time will tell if this is a story that has any bearing on the outcome of the games come playoff time. But the fact it’s continually ignored is shocking to me, and HNIC and their band of league-pleasing personalities are the worst in the country for not calling a spade a spade, seemingly especially related to the Canucks.
I will commend them for one thing tonight, when P.J. Stock (who I actually like) gave a good assessment of and spoke out strongly against Hordichuk after his blatant attempt to injure. Of all their personalities, Stock does a good job of saying what he thinks without being biased.
Looking ahead: The Canucks open the 2012 playoffs on Wednesday night against the L.A. Kings. My preview of this series will be posted in the next couple of days.