Sunday November 8 - Vancouver Canucks 2 - Anaheim Ducks 1 (S/O)

The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their California road trip on a high note with a 2-1 shootout win over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.

Here are your highlights:



At this time last week, as the Canucks headed out on the road, I think any of us would have been very satisfied if we'd known the team was going to come home with six of a possible eight points.

Yes, Vancouver was outplayed in San Jose and the game in Los Angeles was a stinker, but it was impressive to see the team bounce back and have success against the Ducks.

Anaheim has been dealing with injury and health issues and was missing key players like Corey Perry, Cam Fowler and Francois Beauchemin. But the Canucks were undermanned as well, as it seemed that players were wearing down as the trip went on.

Zack Kassian was hurt back in Colorado and hasn't played since. Radim Vrbata was scratched on Sunday after fussing with a leg issue for the last couple of games. Derek Dorsett hurt himself trying to throw a check against the Kings. Luca Sbisa also disappeared during the third period of the Kings game and didn't play in Anaheim, missing his chance to suit up for the first time against his old team.

Though Sbisa missed out, his trade mate Nick Bonino took full advantage of his return to Honda Center.

The hype going into the game was all about Ryan Kesler's first game against the team he'd been with for 11 years, but in the end, the man he was traded for stole the show.

Kesler looked like he had the upper hand in the head-to-head matchup when he won a clean draw against Bonino to set up Sami Vatanen for a power-play goal early in the second period. But Bones picked up an assist of his own on a Dan Hamhuis point shot that was tipped past Frederik Anderson by Alex Burrows, evening the score at 1-1.

That was all the scoring for regulation on a night when both Andersen and Eddie Lack played very well. Lack stood especially tall in overtime, stopping seven shots in the extra frame to force the shootout.

That's where Bonino got the last laugh. He scored Vancouver's only goal which left Kesler, the Ducks' third shooter, with the responsibility of saving the game.

Kesler was in the same position for Anaheim on last Friday against the New York Islanders, and shot the puck wide that night to give the Isles the win. On Sunday, he was closer but "PING!" Off the post.

Kesler misses. Bonino scores. Canucks win!

If Vancouver's 5-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday was a scary case of deja vu, the Ducks game was a polar opposite from how the Canucks fared on this same road trip last season.

If you recall, last year the Canucks also came out well after losing to the Kings. With Ryan Getzlaf out of the Ducks' lineup with injury, Vancouver outshot its opponent 36-23 but Anaheim got stellar goaltending from raw rookie Andersen, who was filling in for an ailing Jonas Hiller while Viktor Fasth was out with an injury.

Do you know who got the winning goal that night for the Ducks? Yep, Nick Bonino. This Ducks/Canucks matchup seems to suit him well no matter which side of the ice he's on.

Last year, that goal was Bonino's fifth. Since he doesn't get credit for last night's shootout winner in the scoring race, he's now at seven goals and 13 points in 16 games with the Canucks—on pace to easily beat last season's career high of 22 goals and 49 points.

Other positives from last night's game: it was great to see Eddie Lack finally chart his first win of the season, especially against a formidable opponent (even if they have been having trouble scoring goals lately).

And I had to respect the decisions of both Kevin Bieksa and Ryan Stanton to take the initiative in the physical department with their two scraps. Patrick Maroon looked like he wasn't exactly expecting the assault from Bieksa off the opening faceoff. Stanton's fight was just his third as a Canuck and came about after Josh Manson threw a dangerous hit on Chris Higgins, for which he received an interference penalty.

Willie's boys are starting to stick up for each other on the ice. I like it!

Since the Ducks did gain a point from the game, the Canucks start the new week just outside top spot in the Western Conference—and the NHL. With 16 games played and the first tough test of the year behind them, Vancouver sits second in the West and third overall in the league. That's a lot better than where I thought this team-in-transition would be with nearly 20 percent of the season now in the bag.

The banged-up Canucks will get some time to heal over the next two weeks. Vancouver plays five of its next six games at Rogers Arena and will get some time to practice and rest between games.

I'll tee up Tuesday's Remembrance Day matchup against the Ottawa Senators tomorrow and I suspect you'll see a defence of Higgins, Hansen and Burrows from me by the end of the week.

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