Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
The Vancouver Canucks finished their four-game, six-day road trip on Thursday night with a 3-2 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues at the Scottrade Center.
Alex Burrows and Jason Arnott each scored twice for their respective teams. The Canucks, for now the tenth game in a row, jumped out to an early lead at 2:48 of the first period as the puck came out in front right on Burrows’ stick, who roofed it over St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliott. Arnott replied less than a minute later after Canuck rookie Cody Hodgson, fresh off his selection to the All Star festivities, gave the puck away when his clearance attempt was intercepted and the puck found its way to Arnott in front of the net.
The teams also traded goals in the second period. In one of the strangest goals of the year, Canuck netminder Roberto Luongo made a save on Arnott, but the puck got caught up in his jersey. Luongo didn’t know where the puck was, and has he spun around, it fell out of his paraphernalia (hat tip to Don Taylor) and into the net. The Canucks then proceeded to play their worst hockey of the road trip for the rest of the period, completely dominated by St. Louis. Against the run of play, Burrows tipped in a point shot from Alex Edler with just over two minutes left in the middle stanza.
The teams couldn’t solve anything in the third period, which saw the Canucks improve significantly in their own end. Neither team was able to generate much in the way of scoring chances. St. Louis forward David Backes took a boarding penalty with twenty seconds left, which gave the Canucks a chance with a 4 on 3 power play to open the overtime. After T.J. Oshie broke his stick, he inexplicably left the ice to get a new one, which opened up a passing lane for the twins, and Daniel Sedin buried it to end the game. After the game, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock took the blame, as there was some confusion about whether or not to get a stick while penalty-killing.
The Canucks certainly didn’t play their best hockey tonight, nor have they on this entire road trip after the Boston game. However, they were able to claim six of a possible eight points on the trip. Considering that three of the four opponents were leading their division, that is a points percentage that I am more than willing to accept. At the end of the day, this is why Vancouver is so good. They can afford to have poor games, but if the other team rests on its laurels for even a second, the Canucks can make them pay. Tonight, the Canucks were completely out of it in the second period, eventually outshot 16-10 and barring a late power play, it would have been worse. However, Burrows comes off the bench, goes to the net, the St. Louis D don’t pick him up, and he deflects the puck and gets the tying goal. Same thing on the OT winner â€" Oshie left for just a couple of seconds, and Vancouver buried it when they had the chance. While they don’t always look good doing it, the Canucks continue to pile up points, good enough now for first overall in the NHL (noted: a few teams with games in hand could overtake them).
FATIGUE APPEARING TO BECOME A MAJOR ISSUE
In continuing a recent theme, the Canucks looked completely exhausted tonight. The schedule has been unkind to Vancouver: this road trip featured four games in six nights; games against three of the other five division leaders (one of whom is a huge rival, both emotionally and physically); and travel to the furthest point possible on the continent (Florida). The Canucks are also battling a few injury problems, with Salo out and their depth at forward being tested with injuries to Booth and now Ebbett. For all these reasons, the Canucks were beaten all over the ice tonight.
St. Louis was better than Vancouver in almost every conceivable way:Â they were faster and quicker to loose pucks; they were better in puck battles; they outhit, outshot, and outchanced the Canucks; they held a massive territorial advantage; they received more power plays; they were better in the faceoff circle; and they created way more turnovers.
The Canucks’ back end was in shambles for much of tonight’s game. Bieksa and Hamhuis had their worst game since very early in the season, with a few blunders and gaffes that almost cost the team. The Edler/Sulzer pairing was decent tonight, but again, at times had trouble getting the puck out of the defensive zone. I thought the team’s best pairing tonight was Andrew Alberts and Aaron Rome, who returned to the lineup after missing 12 games due to a broken thumb. Although he appeared a bit rusty, Rome was steady and Alberts’ size is nice to have in the lineup. Their foot speed (or lack thereof) was, however, exploited at times by the speedy Blues.
Couple the D’s recent struggles with some “missing†forwards (I wasn’t sure that Kesler, Raymond, Higgins, and Hodgson were even playing tonight), and it really just looks like the team is worn down. The game in Boston was a HUGE emotional victory for the team, and they haven’t had enough in the tank to bring their “A†game ever since. By the way, if anyone finds Kesler’s effective wrist shot out there, can you please return it to him? He’s missing it.
BLUES DOMINANT BUT LUONGO STANDS TALL
While the Blues were dominant in almost every facet, there were two areas where the Canucks were better:  goaltending and penalty killing. Brian Elliott was good tonight, but Luongo was absolutely stellar.  The fact he wasn’t named one of the game’s three stars is a joke. He made a number of top-quality saves; his only gaffe was on the Blues’ second goal, and even on that, it’s impossible to blame him â€" he had already stoned Arnott and had slid over to make a great save on the rebound. Not only that, but on a late second period power play, he denied the Blues a go-ahead goal as he stopped both Backes and Oshie and on successive breakaways. He made a ton of great saves tonight. The game was very one-sided at times, St. Louis wound up with 33 shots, but had 20 before the midway point of the second period. The entire time, Luongo stood tall and kept the puck out of the net, enabling his tired teammates to equalize and eventually win.
The other area where the Canucks were very good was on the penalty kill. St. Louis ended up 0 for 4 on the power play, but it was the effectiveness at which the Canucks were able to clear the zone and deny the Blues any good chances that was most impressive. The Canucks gave up power play opportunities in couple key moments of tonight’s game, and it was important that they keep the puck out of the net at those times.  They did this perfectly.
TRADE DEADLINE LOOMING, GILLIS STATES HE IS “OPEN FOR BUSINESSâ€
It’s worth mentioning that GM Mike Gillis stated on Team 1040 yesterday that he’s “open for business†and that he and his player evaluation staff (i.e. the coaches) would be determining what they felt the team needed moving forward. Most speculation is that the braintrust believes the team needs more toughness/size, with perhaps some Stanley Cup experience. One name being mentioned as a possible trade candidate is Travis Moen of the Montreal Canadiens, who must be nearing the selling stage (perhaps the Cammalleri trade tonight is the beginning) â€" Moen plays a tough, two-way game and won a Cup with Anaheim.
The problem with Vancouver’s ability to make deals is they have a lack of assets from which to deal. Obviously bringing in a forward will shine the lights most brightly on Mason Raymond, but his lack of point production this year and last limits his value. Moving any other pieces from the top 9 forwards would be a difficult, because it seems improbable that another team would give much for anyone except the Sedins, Kesler, or Burrows, and they aren’t going anywhere.  Clearly the most obvious “movable†piece is Cory Schneider, but Gillis has stated that he’s too important to give up at this point. It would take one hell of an offer for Gillis to consider this, because if he trades Schneider, you have hitched your wagon to Luongo for better or for worse.
This leads me to believe that if the Canucks make any moves, it might be something of a major deal. The Canucks lack a top-notch, physical, tough, nasty defenseman, and those players are invaluable come playoff time. They are also difficult to find. However, the ongoing situation in Nashville makes me wonder if Shea Weber is a remote possibility. I am not sure the Canucks could offer a package that would suit Nashville’s wishes, nor do I have any idea of what it would take to sign Weber here long-term or if he’d even want to play here. It would certainly take a lot to get a player of his stature, and a key piece (or two) would have to go the other way. But I do know that having a player like him might just put the Canucks over the top as they gear up for their Fight for Stanley.
Stay tuned on this front in the coming weeks.
PARTING SHOTS
Comments on the Opposition: St. Louis impressed me tonight. They are using their speed very well and are very hard on the forecheck, which created a lot of problems for Vancouver. They are also very big â€" on the broadcast, it was noted that Backes is their smallest centre on the top three lines, and he weighs in at 220 lbs.
They are playing good defense with a collection of young players and no-namers. This is, of course, expected of any Ken Hitchcock-coached team. But their goaltending has been tremendous. Brian Elliott has been selected as an All-Star and recently, Jaroslav Halak has looked like he’s returning to much better form, which gives the Blues many options as they themselves head into the deadline.
I think Chicago will win the Central Division, but I sure wouldn’t want to draw the Blues as a first-round opponent. They are going to be an extremely tough foe in a 7 game series.
Broadcast observation of the night: I normally can NOT stand the camera angle from the camera that is attached on top of the glass directly behind the net. U.S. broadcasters (oh, and TSN) like to use this for power plays. Personally, I think it’s a horrible angle and the screen can only fit half the zone in â€" so the camera has to keep making fast movements, side to side, to keep up.
However, tonight I saw a different camera angle for one of the power plays. This camera is again situated at the top of the glass, however, it’s in the corner of the rink. I thought it provided a much different angle on the play, also while getting you closer to the action, all without having too much camera movement. I wouldn’t want this angle permanently, but for 30 seconds here and there, I’d like to see more of it.
Looking ahead: The Canucks return home for a six game homestand against western conference foes. Next up are the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.
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