Tuesday, January 06, 2004
SHARKS 2, CANUCKS 1
Before getting to the game, two members of the Vancouver press have given out their midseason Canuck MVP honors. Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province votes for Mattias Ohlund while his colleague Gordon McIntyre votes for the more obvious (though easy) choice of Markus Naslund.
The Canucks have been doing fairly well lately, though the home play is a far cry from the unbeaten-at-home streak that began the season. Tonight, the Canucks ran into a fairly hot team of Sharks. The Sharks are now 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
All of the goal scoring in this game occurred in the third period. Judging from the shot totals, the first period was probably like watching paint dry. The second period was frustrating for Canuck fans everywhere, as the Canucks outshot the Sharks 14-4 and couldn't convert on four power plays. The first goal of the game was scored by Henrik Sedin (3rd of season) at the 7:14 mark of the third period. Of course, sometimes Dan Cloutier doesn't like to hold a lead for too long, so he waited only 92 seconds before letting a Scott Thornton shot through.
The winning goal, though, was scored after a Trevor Linden turnover at his own blue line. Pat Marleau scored the winning goal (his 18th goal of the season) with 38.6 seconds left, effectively screwing the Canucks out of at least one point in the standings.
Even with regular goalie Evgeni Nabokov out while attending a funeral, the Canucks couldn't solve Nabokov's backup Vesa Toskala. He fended off the Canuck power plays in the second period, and ended up with 37 saves.
Not good for the Canucks, but I have to tip the hat to Pat Marleau, a former Seattle Thunderbird and one of the awesomest Seattle Thunderbird players in their franchise's history. That guy tore up the WHL the year before he got to the NHL.
The Canucks have been doing fairly well lately, though the home play is a far cry from the unbeaten-at-home streak that began the season. Tonight, the Canucks ran into a fairly hot team of Sharks. The Sharks are now 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
All of the goal scoring in this game occurred in the third period. Judging from the shot totals, the first period was probably like watching paint dry. The second period was frustrating for Canuck fans everywhere, as the Canucks outshot the Sharks 14-4 and couldn't convert on four power plays. The first goal of the game was scored by Henrik Sedin (3rd of season) at the 7:14 mark of the third period. Of course, sometimes Dan Cloutier doesn't like to hold a lead for too long, so he waited only 92 seconds before letting a Scott Thornton shot through.
The winning goal, though, was scored after a Trevor Linden turnover at his own blue line. Pat Marleau scored the winning goal (his 18th goal of the season) with 38.6 seconds left, effectively screwing the Canucks out of at least one point in the standings.
Even with regular goalie Evgeni Nabokov out while attending a funeral, the Canucks couldn't solve Nabokov's backup Vesa Toskala. He fended off the Canuck power plays in the second period, and ended up with 37 saves.
Not good for the Canucks, but I have to tip the hat to Pat Marleau, a former Seattle Thunderbird and one of the awesomest Seattle Thunderbird players in their franchise's history. That guy tore up the WHL the year before he got to the NHL.