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Vancouver Canucks Game Review: Cory Schneider Triumphs, Pedan Recalled |
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Sunday November 22 - New Jersey Devils 3 - Vancouver Canucks 2
If you're a fan of Cory Schneider or Mike Cammalleri, you may have enjoyed the entertainment value provided by the Vancouver Canucks' Sunday-night game against the New Jersey Devils.
Otherwise, the game was a bit of a snoozer, played in a mostly library-quiet Rogers Arena. Here are your highlights from the Canucks' one-goal loss.
If this had been the WWE instead of the NHL, we would have seen the Canucks rain down payback for all the injustices they suffered during their loss in New Jersey two weeks ago. But Brandon Prust did not get the opportunity to defend his team's honour thanks to a disjointed game that featured a boatload of ticky-tack penalties in both directions and a linesman that spoiled the main event when he stepped between Prust and villain Bobby Farnham. Maybe they were building anticipation for the Pay Per View?
After his hat-trick performance on Saturday, Daniel Sedin continued to shoot the puck with impunity, but his only point of the night was an assist on Henrik Sedin's shorthanded goal in the third period.
Hey—the twins were killing a penalty with their team down 2-0—and it worked! Good job by Willie to mix things up a bit and lean on his hottest players in an unusual situation.
Henrik played a Torts-like 24:07 on Sunday, with Daniel right behind at 23:33—their highest totals of the season. Both got more than nine minutes of power-play time alone during the game and Daniel led the team with eight shots on goal.
It was a treat to see the Sedins so fired up this weekend, and got me thinking—this is probably Daniel's best stretch of hockey since he took that awful elbow to the head from Duncan Keith back in March of 2012. For a long time, there was talk that he'd never be the same player again but I'm hopeful that his play in the last two games is an indication that, even at 35, he still has some dazzling hockey ahead of him.
Even the NHL noticed. Daniel was just named the league's Second Star for his league-leading five goals last week. Daniel's assist also moved him up to fifth place in the NHL scoring race, while Henrik is tied for 10th.
The only other player in his 30s up at that level? Mike Cammalleri, who torched the Canucks for five of his 21 points in two meetings over the last two weeks.
I'll also throw a bouquet in Radim Vrbata's direction for his play last night. After sitting out for two games with a groin strain, he looked engaged and confident. He fired five shots on goal and was rewarded with a last-second goal that hopefully helps to make up for the one he had called back in Montreal earlier in the week.
Vrbata is money in the shootout, but his move let him down when he took a second-period penalty shot on a well-prepared Cory Schneider.
Despite Schneider's stickhandling gaffe that led to the twins' shorthanded goal, there's no doubt that he outplayed Jacob Markstrom on Sunday. Schneider made some spectacular plays in stopping 36 of 38 shots, while Markstrom saw just 22 shots from the Devils.
Markstrom's whiff on Andy Greene's power-play marker in the second period was the defining moment of his game.
I would have liked to see Markstrom lock things down a little tighter, but when the team in front of him has now allowed three goals or more in each of its last 10 games, the issue probably runs system-wide.
After a weekend in the press box, Taylor Fedun has been re-assigned to Utica today, while big Andrey Pedan has been called up.
Pedan's 1-6-7 on the season in Utica and leads the team with 28 penalty minutes. He's also listed at 6'5" and 215 pounds compared to Fedun's 6'0" and 200 pounds, so I think it's pretty clear what the Canucks will look for if he gets into the lineup on their upcoming road trip.
The Canucks are taking Monday off, then will practice on Tuesday morning in Vancouver before they hit the road for four tough games. They play Minnesota on Wednesday and Dallas on Friday before stopping by to see the Ducks and Kings for a back-to-back early next week.
Pedan was acquired last season from the New York Islanders organization in exchange for Alexandre Mallet and a third-round pick. The 22-year-old is listed as having been born in Lithuania on his NHL.com bio, but HockeyDB.com pegs him as a native of Moscow.
Either way, he'll be the seventh Canuck to suit up for his first NHL game if he gets into the lineup while Ben Hutton is sidelined. We got a little more information on Hutton's status yesterday:
Not great news, but once again, one player's injury is another player's opportunity.
I'll wrap up today with one last thought on the lack of hats on the ice for Daniel's Saturday night hat trick. It hasn't been that long since Canucks fans saw a home-ice hat trick—Shawn Matthias did the deed last February 13 in Vancouver's 5-2 win over Boston.
He got a garbage can full of hats!
My best explanation? In that game, Matthias got two first-period goals, then didn't get his third till the 6:05 mark of the third period, giving fans lots of time to consider the possibility of a hat trick and be prepared when the moment struck.
In Daniel's case on Saturday, his second and third goals came just 2:01 apart in the third period—and at a time, after Chicago had tied the game 3-3, when fans were bracing for another late collapse.
I think the hat trick was just *so* unexpected that fans were caught off guard—preparing for disappointment instead of celebrating excellence.
If this was still 2011, they would have been on it, I think.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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