Canucks Record: 39-16-6 (2nd in Western Conference)
The Canucks shattered Detroit’s 23 game win streak last night 4-3 in shootout. Daniel Sedin was nothing short of heroic as fans were treated to a glimpse of what they spend all season salivating about: playoff hockey.
The Canucks were absolutely flying for the first period, outshooting the Wings 17-5. But halfway through the period, a boneheaded play at the blue line by Bieksa created a 2-on-1. The end result was an embarrassingly soft goal by Darren Helm on Luongo.
Daniel Sedin tied the game up in the second after Edler shot the puck towards the net, which was slowed down beautifully by Henrik, for Daniel to tuck into the net around Howard. Pure Swedish magic.
The third had all the makings of a classic and it didn’t disappoint. Kyle Quincy punished the Canucks after bad defensive-zone play, but it was quickly tied up by Hodgson who threw the puck towards the net and deflected it off Kronwall’s skate. But in heartbreaking Canuck fashion, just 20 seconds after Cody tied it, Abdelkader managed to force a loose puck through Luongo for the go ahead goal.
I was distraught. All hope was lost. Then, flashback to Bieksa tying the Colorado game after a diving save or Kesler storming through San Jose in the playoffs with 17 seconds left, Daniel Sedin tied it up after a terrible icing by Detroit with just 15 on the clock.
Que overtime. It couldn’t be solved so let’s head to shootout. All that recent practice really showed with Luongo stopping all 3 shots. Burrows got the winning goal to break the Wings’ home streak and leave fans at the Joe slack jawed and stunned.
Thoughts on the game:
- Burrows got to show off his skills and celebrate his 501st NHL game after the Nashville game was a bust; that was Jimmy Howard’s first shootout loss this season – he also repped a classic “fake stick-break over the knee” to show Detroit what ball hockey champions do to NHL records
- Despite ample opportunities, neither team was able to capitalize on the PP
- The Sedins were fantastic tonight, But Datsyuk was missing….*cringe*…..
- Daniel easily could have picked up the hatty tonight with that vicious crossbar. I can still hear it ringing
- Luongo played hard, contested shooters, and made Holmstrom look like he had no idea what to do in the crease
- The Canucks are now the a point behind the top team in the West and have a game in hand on Detroit. With a fairly easy schedule leading into the playoffs, the President’s trophy is once again well within their reach
- There are A LOT of banners at the Joe Louis. That is some serious mental warfare. ‘Nuff said
- Booth is fast. And strong. And everything Mason Raymond wants to be when he grows up. He ripped through two defensemen like paper to nearly tie the game up in the third. Props to him for not just playing his first game in his hometown, but he putting on a show to boot
- Luongo celebrated pretty hard after the shootout win but nobody came to join him. Forever alone
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