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Zack MacEwen scores 2 as Canucks bump their slump with a win over the Avs |
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Friday March 6 - Vancouver Canucks 6 - Colorado Avalanche 3
Nathan MacKinnon of Nova Scotia drew the pre-game hype — and finished the night with two assists. But on Friday, he was outplayed by Zack MacEwen of Prince Edward Island — the 23-year-old who logged the first two-goal night in his 19-game NHL career as the Vancouver Canucks kept their playoff hopes alive with a 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
Back in the day, radio colour-man Tom Larscheid used to often talk about how the first game back from a road trip was just as tough as a road game, coming after travel and with players needing a little time to settle back in. That seems to be applicable to the team this year.
As I've mentioned, they've snapped each of their three-game losing streaks earlier in the season on the second game of a homestand. Friday's win was also the team's second back at home — after a season-high four-straight losses.
Travis Green pulled a new tool out of his toolbox after Friday's morning skate, offering his group a major vote of confidence.
After digging themselves early holes ever since Jacob Markstrom went down, the Canucks did come out of the gate looking confident on Friday night.
Troy Stecher got the team on the board just 1:22 into the game, and J.T. Miller extended the lead to 2-0 at 12:29, tapping home a perfect pass from Elias Pettersson after Tyler Toffoli set them up for an odd-man rush with some solid work in the defensive zone.
The Avs answered back quickly, with Erik Johnson making it 2-1, and took control of the play for the rest of the first period.
Thatcher Demko looked sharp as the Canucks were outshot 18-7 in the opening frame. They didn't get another shot on goal until MacEwen beat Colorado netminder Pavel Francouz for his first of the night, 2:12 into the second.
It wasn't a great night for the 29-year-old Czech. He came into the game with a 2.30 goals-against average and .927 save percentage, but ended up surrendering five goals on just 24 shots to the Canucks.
After the first period, the Canucks did a great job of re-doubling their defensive effort. They allowed just five Colorado shots in the second — but the Avs scored twice, tying the game with tallies from Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin.
Four minutes later, the Canucks' third line connected again when Antoine Roussel got position on Tyson Jost in front of the Colorado net to score his first goal in a month and seventh of the year.
Roussel has been quiet lately, and his ice time has dropped below 10 minutes in two of the last four games. He played just 10:34 on Friday but looked more effective than we've seen him in awhile.
He's a week away from the one-year anniversary of the knee injury that kept him out of action for nearly nine months as he recovered from ACL sugery — a serious procedure that often sees players need time before they get all the way back to 100 percent.
Maybe it was the spark provided by MacEwen or the ever-increasing confidence of Gaudette, who made an outstanding pass to set up Roussel's goal and has certainly shown this season that he deserves to be an everyday NHL player. I'm also hoping that Roussel is starting to feel better, and get back to being the agitator who chips in on the scoresheet that we saw last season, when he was a bright spot for the team.
After failing to protect their leads against Columbus and Arizona over the last week, the Canucks were able to lock things down on Friday. MacEwen's second of the night provided extra insurance with 3:17 left to play, and Tanner Pearson added his sixth empty-netter of the year to round out the scoring.
The two points were much needed. The Canucks had been bumped down the Western Conference standings after Winnipeg shut out Vegas earlier on Friday. With the win, they return to the first wild-card spot — tied with the Jets with 76 points and now three points behind third-place Calgary in the Pacific Division.
Saturday's two most important out-of-town games are both daytime affairs:
• Nashville (74 pts) at Dallas - 11 a.m. PT
• Minnesota (75 pts) at L.A.- 1 p.m. PT
The Columbus Blue Jackets are also in Edmonton for the late game before landing in Vancouver for the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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