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Derek Dorsett has 2-goal, 3-point night as Vancouver Canucks beat Buffalo |
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Friday October 21 - Vancouver Canucks 4 - Buffalo Sabres 2
One day after taking it on the chin in Boston, the Vancouver Canucks bounced back admirably with an aggressive 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Here are your highlights:
Who's got Derek Dorsett in their hockey pool? Do goon pools still exist, or have they disappeared as fighting has become more rare?
With two goals and an assist against Buffalo, Dorsett was named First Star on Friday night. He now leads the Canucks with four goals—and leads the entire NHL with 42 penalty minutes.
During preseason, Dorsett's name was bandied about as a player who could be disposable but in the early going, he has been playing arguably the best hockey of his career, with his 31st birthday approaching in December.
I'm sure he's thrilled to be back on the ice after missing almost a year following that neck surgery. Perhaps he also has a little extra jam in his game now that he's finally pain free?
Dorsett's best quality is his tenacity. I can understand how his work ethic makes him one of those guys who's known to be 'good in the room.' I hope this early-season success makes an impression on some of the Canucks' younger players.
For me, the highlight of Friday's game was this grin. I don't thin I've ever seen Dorsett smile before!
Also impressive on Friday—the Canucks' dominant control of the play through the better part of the first two periods. Through 40 minutes, Vancouver had outshot Buffalo by an astonishing 37-13. With a 3-2 lead, they took their foot off the gas in the third, but their 41 total shots at the end of the game were the most they've taken this season—and only the second time they've gotten more than 30.
Vancouver got to 40 shots three times last season—in wins over Arizona and Colorado and that 3-0 shutout loss on the road to a dialled in Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens.
Asked to start again after mopping up for Anders Nilsson in Boston on Thursday, Jacob Markstrom stayed eerily true to form, giving up a goal on Buffalo's first shot of the game. It was an amazing feed off the side boards by Ryan O'Reilly—and it was the man of the moment, Dorsett, who lost coverage on the scorer, Justin Bailey.
Markstrom has his own thoughts on how to deal with this issue.
The other big story, of course, was the offside challenge on what proved to be the winning goal.
I thought Jake had possession as he crossed the line. He'd knocked the puck down and even though it wasn't on his stick as he crossed, he didn't have any trouble keeping control of it.
After an excruciatingly long review, the linesmen eventually agreed. The call on the ice was confirmed.
The other key point on this goal—it came with Virtanen skating on the right side with the Sedins!
This is a combination that we really haven't seen before. Last night, it looked good.
Virtanen added some speed and muscle to the line. Henrik's personal stat line wasn't great—he was only 25 percent in the faceoff circle and had just one shot attempt, but Daniel recorded four shots, including that winning goal. Virtanen had two shots, went to the net, and cracked 10 minutes of ice time for just the second time this season.
Virtanen's deployment allowed Travis Green to keep his Granlund-Sutter-Dorsett combo together—and for the most part, they did well. Dorsett's goals came shorthanded and into an empty net but the trio combined effectively for Granlund's first goal of the year, in the first period.
With Erik Gudbranson sitting out his one-game suspension, I have to admit that I didn't even notice his replacement. Alex Biega played 11:22, almost all at even strength with Derrick Pouliot, and finished the night as a plus-one—the pair had come on the ice just before Daniel's goal.
If you missed it, Patrick Wiercioch was recalled from Utica before Friday's game—smart timing, given that Utica's only about a three-hour drive away from Buffalo. As a lefty, I expect he'll be the insurance guy in the press box while Alex Edler is sidelined.
Now, it's on to Detroit, for a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Red Wings at the new Little Caesars Arena.
As for the Comets, they play their only game of the weekend later today, in Rochester. Puck drop is at 4 p.m. PT.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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