Saturday November 21: Vancouver Canucks 6 - Chicago Blackhawks 3
If there was ever a highight package for Canucks fans to watch, this is it.
It's not the same goal on loop. Daniel Sedin got a hat trick and Henrik scored a career-high five points (1G, 4A) as the Canucks rallied late in the third to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3.
The win looked lopsided in the end, but those six Canucks goals came on just 20 shots. The tension in the building was palpable when Artem Anisimov tied the game 3-3 at the 12:20 mark of the third period, before Daniel scored his second and third goals of the game to salt away the win.
I don't buy the theory that only one hat was thrown on the ice because fans didn't realize which twin had scored. The individual goal songs make it easier than ever to follow along! I'm more tempted to think it's because Daniel's feat defied expectations. After all the late-game collapses this season, no one expected the Canucks to come back strong and salt this one away—especially against the Stanley Cup Champions.
This was my favourite contribution to the #TweetDanielAHat movement that sprung up after the game:
With all their success over the last six seasons, the Blackhawks may have more important rivals than the Canucks these days, but Vancouver's old guard seemed like it was channeling that brilliant 2011 playoff win over Chicago last night. Even the vibe on the street on my way home was a little bit reminiscent of the celebration that ensued when Alex Burrows' overtime winner launched the Canucks on their trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
Did it help that the Hawks were playing their third game in four nights on the road, and are now heading to Las Vegas for a few days off before resuming their annual "Circus Trip" on Wednesday in San Jose? Yeah, probably.
But when Jonathan Toews comes to play, teams need to watch out. His sweet shot to open the scoring in the first period was a dagger, and he also set up Chicago's second goal—the first in a Blackhawks uniform for Ryan Garbutt.
NHL scoring leader Patrick Kane also extended his point streak but was held to a single assist—on the third-period goal by Anisimov.
But the Canucks scored on a 5-on-3 after Toews took a tripping penalty on Alex Burrows to put his team two men down in the first period. And I sure do like the look of that minus-2 on Duncan Keith's stat line—especially considering that the Canucks scored three power-play goals.
With 10 goals and 22 points in 21 games, Daniel's big night vaults him into a tie for sixth place in in the NHL in both goals and points. The Canucks are tied for fourth in the league offensively, they're back in third place in the Pacific Division and they've inched up to 21st on the power play at 17.6 percent—and have power-play goals in their last five straight games.
Also—Brandon Prust kept my favourite streak of the year alive thanks to his first fight as a Canuck at Rogers Arena. Prust dropped the gloves with 6'4", 212-pound Brandon Mashinter at the 3:04 mark of the first period, which means the Canucks are now 4-0 in games where he fights.
Sunday November 22 - Vancouver Canucks vs. New Jersey Devils - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet Vancouver, TSN1040
With all these positive vibes floating around, there might never be a better time for the Canucks to take part in a rare home back-to-back situation. I know I'm excited to get back to the rink tonight!
Also excited to see this:
As one would expect, today's optional skate has been sparsely attended.
That new number, 58, belongs to defenseman Taylor Fedun. He was called up on Saturday—presumably because Ben Hutton's injury is going to keep him out of the lineup for a little while, at least. The Canucks website currently lists Hutton as day-to-day.
We also got a little more information about Brandon Sutter's situation yesterday. He's now officially on IR.
Good to see Vrbata on the ice with his teammates today. I generally lean more in favour of "don't mess with a winning lineup," but in the case of back-to-backs, some fresh blood might not be the worst thing in the world.
As for tonight's opponent, the New Jersey Devils' Western road swing has not been kind to them so far. They lost 3-2 in Calgary on Tuesday, then fell 5-1 to Edmonton on Friday.
Tonight's game could be a feisty affair, coming just two weeks after the teams squared off in an emotion-filled outing in Newark.
After Jordin Tootoo raised a fuss about some comments made in the penalty box by Alex Burrows during that game, he's putting the incident behind him after Burrows escaped NHL discipline.
You may also remember Brandon Prust putting Devils winger Bobby Farnham on blast via Twitter for celebrating excessively after his fight with Jake Virtanen, or Adam Larsson's dangerous hit on Jared McCann.
Or, you may remember the Devils' No. 1 goalie, Cory Schneider, who's getting the start tonight. Schneider says his team needs to get past possible distractions and focus on picking up two points.
"It’s been a little bit, a few weeks. Obviously guys remember, but who knows? We’re worried about the win. We’re not going to go out of our way to start scrums. Where we are at, having lost two games in a row, we have to be more focused."
Vancouver's former goalie-of-the-future is 9-5-1 so far this season, with a .926 save percentage and 2.05 goals-against average, and is proving to be the solid replacement for Martin Brodeur that the Devils hoped they were getting when they traded the ninth overall pick in the 2013 draft to Vancouver—the pick that became Bo Horvat.
Jacob Markstrom's sample size this season is still small. He's 1-0-1 with a .914 save percentage and 3.41 goals-against after his 4-3 overtime loss to Montreal last Monday.
Tonight will be Markstrom's first regular-season appearance of the year at Rogers Arena.
To wrap up today—Jim Benning doesn't typically play coy, so it sounds like the Travis Hamonic dream is dead. Boo!
I've been a big Chris Tanev fan since he first appeared on the scene, quietly playing great defense while barely ever taking penalties. But I have to admit, I never thought of him in quite these terms:
Tanev's such a low-key guy, it didn't really cross my mind that he's part of the glue in the room. I'll have to start looking at him differently if he's a potential future captain!
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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