You know, I find it somewhat remarkable that before last night’s 4-3 victory against the Colorado Avalanche the Canucks were sitting in a tie for last place in the Western Conference. With the two points, the Canucks are six points back of the Minnesota Wild for the division lead. And, while it may be too early for confidence and optimism, last night’s effort against the Avalanche was the first effort I have been pleased with since the Canucks’ 5-2 victory against Edmonton which seemed oh so long ago.
The remaining seven games on this Northwest stint will either make or break this team, we’ve talked about this before. With the Canucks holding a startling 4-0 advantage against Northwest opponents this season, it’s confusing that they have remained superior against Northwest foes while struggling against bottom-feeders like Nashville.
Alas, the victory last night still presents a ray of hope and an ounce of confidence for a Canuck lineup which up until Saturday couldn’t score on rookie Dan Ellis against Nashville. We saw a show from Roberto Luongo, who made critical and key saves throughout the course of the contest and some fantastic play from some Canuck forwards. Let me go a little in-depth into the Canuck lineup:
- Ryan Kesler: 1st Star in my opinion. Showed so much poise with the puck, skating hard and drawing penalties. I loved his finesse, his determination and feisty play. This is the Ryan Kesler that Canuck fans once proclaimed could be a future captain.
- Jannik Hansen: Looked to be clicking with Kesler, especially on a second-unit PP which allowed them to move the puck well together. I’m hoping a line of Pyatt - Kesler - Hansen remains intact for the next couple games.
- Alex Edler: Looked more and more confident as the game went on. Took the bull by the horns and even looked dangerous on the point on a PP unit with Luc Bourdon. Did I mention he played a huge 22 minutes?
- Luc Bourdon: Saw only 14 minutes, but looked exceptional in those 14 minutes. Could use a little more physical play but it’ll come with more confidence, something which seems to be budding.
- Mike Weaver: I’m eating crow on this guy after his game; he was exceptional. He played 20 minutes and made all the safe plays you’d expect Weaver to make. He made a huge block towards the end of the game which may have saved Luongo’s bacon.
The latter three are all defencemen, and call-up/press-box defencemen, at that. They all had a play in the Canucks’ success and with Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo gone long-term, if these three can continue to contribute like they did last night the Canucks may get out of this eight-game Northwest series with a positive record.
