Saturday February 18 - Vancouver Canucks 2 - Calgary Flames 1 (OT)
What a game. For 59 minutes and 54 seconds, the only scoring was a crazy Alex Edler bouncer from centre ice. Then Mark Giordano squeaked a puck past Ryan Miller to force overtime and that set up Chris Tanev for a picture-perfect give-and-go with Daniel Sedin to reclaim the win.
Last-minute plot twists like that drive beat reporters insane. Here are your highlights from Saturday's 2-1 win over Calgary.
It has been nearly 15 years since Nick Lidstrom fired the centre-ice shot that beat Dan Cloutier and changed the momentum of Vancouver's first-round playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings—a series where the Canucks had won the first two games in the Motor City despite being the underdogs in the 1-vs-8 matchup.
The young Sedin twins started to show that they could be game-changers in that series—Henrik had the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Canucks the 4-3 victory in Game 1.
But Vancouver's underdog momentum was crushed by this play:
The Red Wings won Game 3 by a score of 3-1, with that Lidstrom goal standing up as the game-winner. The Canucks didn't win another game, ultimately falling in six, while Detroit went on to beat St. Louis, Colorado and Carolina to capture the Stanley Cup.
Last night's goal by Alex Edler marked the first time since Lidstrom's soul-crusher that the Canucks have been able to duplicate that feat—and it really is remarkably similar.
Will it have as much impact? That remains to be seen. Thanks to the late-game twists of fate, it didn't stand up as the game winner. It's certainly a long shot—pun intended—to be some sort of season-changing momentum changer as the Canucks head into the stretch drive. Their road ahead looks as tough as ever.
Edler's goal, by the way, came on the Canucks' first shot of the game—12 minutes and 44 second into the first period, with the Flames sitting at 5-0 on the shot clock. Calgary had limited Vancouver to less than 15 shots on goal in two of the teams' four earlier meetings this season, so I was already starting to worry that the Canucks were once again going to have a tough time generating scoring chances.
Vancouver did create a very legitimate opportunity with 1:38 to play in the first period, when Bo Horvat chased down a loose puck in the crease behind Brian Elliott. But referee Steve Kozari was on the other side of Elliott and blew the play dead because he lost sight of the puck—a non-reviewable decision—even though the puck remained clearly visible to everybody on my side of the ice.
While there were no more goals until Giordano slid the puck past Miller with 5.6 seconds left on the clock, the rest of the game was relatively entertaining. The Canucks went 0-for-5 with the man advantage on the night, but Willie did show us some new looks. He took heat from the Twitterverse for putting Jayson Megna on the 5-on-3 near the end of the second period, but I was more intrigued to see Alex Burrows turning back the clock as a net-front presence with the man advantage.
Burrows is averaging just 21 seconds of power-play time per game this season, but he was out there for 3:18 last night.
Ben Kuzma suggested in his post-game story in The Province that perhaps Burrows was being showcased for a possible trade.
Kuzma reported that Montreal's western regional scout Sean Burke was in the house at Rogers Arena last night to watch the game. "It’s not a stretch to suggest that Burrows was being showcased to some degree because who wouldn’t want his playoff game that’s predicated on energy, agitation, defensive awareness and 19 career goals in 70 post-season games?," suggested Kuzma. "The Habs are chasing a centre and defenceman, but also have other needs. So do the Rangers."
Makes sense.
Despite letting in the softie from Giordano to give Calgary the single point, Ryan Miller was deserving of his first-star status. Calgary outshot Vancouver 18-2 in the third period and 36-19 on the night.
But overtime gave us this beauty goal from Chris Tanev!
"I skated as fast as I could and that's all I remember! What a pass from Danny!" - Tanev, the OT hero pic.twitter.com/RAtMvSNQwN
Tryamkin only played 12:11 last night but he made his minutes count. I'm constantly impressed by how much he directs traffic when he's on the ice, making sure his teammates cover open men.
Also, the big Russian got name-checked after the mini minor-hockey game in the first intermission. Host Hannah Bernard always ends her interview with one of the kids by asking who's their favourite Canuck. The Sedins generally get a lot of love; last night's the first time I heard one of the youngsters choose Tryamkin. The legend grows!
• After they both missed time due to injuries earlier this week, I think Bo Horvat's probably struggling more than Brandon Sutter at this point. The clearest manifestation of Sutter's injury is the fact that he didn't play a single second on the power play, which is part of what led to the deployment of Megna and Burrows. But he was decent on draws and did plenty of time on the penalty kill.
Horvat's 18:59 of ice time, in all situations, was second-most among forwards, behind only Henrik's 19:02, but I thought he had trouble with his mobility. I noticed a few times where he didn't have the same explosiveness that I'm used to seeing, particularly when pucks got past him on passes or plays along the boards. I'd bet his injured foot is still bothering him pretty significantly.
Sunday February 19 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Philadelphia Flyers - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet 360
Vancouver Canucks: 59 GP, 26-27-6, 58 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
Philadelphia Flyers: 58 GP, 27-24-7, 61 pts, sixth in Metropolitan Division
So—one more game for the banged-up Canucks to struggle through before their much-needed five-day break.
After watching them hang on by their fingernails in the third period last night, I wonder how much gas they have left in the tank. I'm crossing my fingers for a good game but bracing myself for a potentially rough outing.
It sounds like Reid Boucher will draw back in for Vancouver after being scratched last night. Jack Skille left Saturday's game during the second period with what's believed to be a groin problem.
And yes, after his strong performance last night, Ryan Miller will get the call in net once again.
Coach Desjardins confirms Ryan Miller will start tonight against Philadelphia.
The Canucks had just four players on the ice at their optional skate this morning, so any other details on line combinations and such won't emerge until warmup.
As for the Philadelphia Flyers, they've enjoyed two days off since their 6-3 defeat in Edmonton on Thursday. The Flyers also dropped a 3-1 decision to the Flames on Wednesday, so they're 0-2 on their Western Canadian road trip so far—and 4-5-1 in their last 10 games. The Flyers are now sitting a point behind the surging New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division standings, and are just one point ahead of the New Jersey Devils. They're also now a point behind the Buffalo Sabres, who have gone 3-0 since their loss to Vancouver last weekend, so the Flyers have dropped to 12th in the 16-team Eastern Conference, three points out of the second wild-card spot with three teams to pass.
It has been just over a month since the Flyers beat the Canucks 5-4 in a shootout in a spirited game in Philadelphia back on January 12. With any luck, some of that emotion will spill over into tonight's contest, amping up the entertainment value.
Rookie Jordan Weal is now on the shelf with an upper-body injury after being hurt in Edmonton on Thursday, just a week after being called up from the minors. We also won't get to see Bo Horvat's cousin Travis Konecny, who suffered what's believed to be an ankle injury earlier this month.
That means ex-Canuck Dale Weise draws back into the lineup. After signing a four-year free-agent contract with the Flyers with a cap hit of $2.35 million per season, Weise has just two goals and five points this season. He has been a healthy scratch in seven of the Flyers' last 12 games, including the two games in Alberta this week.
The Canucks come into today's action four points behind Calgary for that last playoff spot in the West, with Los Angeles and Winnipeg still in their way. It's a busy Sunday around the NHL, with 11 games on the schedule. Keep a particular eye on Winnipeg at Ottawa (2 p.m. PT) and Los Angeles at Anaheim (6 p.m. PT).
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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