Well there was certainly lots to talk about in this game and it will probably seem like I’m ranting at times here because I didn’t necessarily like the way the game played out at times; whether it was the referees, the penalties or the Canucks being physically outworked for a lot of the game. Despite that, it was the definitely an entertaining and dramatic game. Rypien and Prust had a few good tilts and Henrik was able to pad his NHL point lead on Joe Thornton.
One thing that quickly became evident was that Shane O’Brien was well out of his comfort zone playing as the fourth defenseman. On the first goal he couldn’t handle Rene Bourque and let him cut right to the net. Bourque, being the skilled player that he is, was able to use his speed to keep Luongo deep in the net and roof it. It wasn’t so much the amount time that O’Brien played that made him look so bad as it was the players that he was forced to go up against. 17 minutes is not any more than he normally plays and he actually went over the 20 minute mark Tuesday against Columbus. In the end, O’Brien ended up taking two penalties and finished a -1. I’m ok with the first penalty; he was trying to establish some sort of physical presence early in the game and got his gloves up a bit too high. The second was just careless as he ended up shooting it out. Automatic penalties like that appeared to be the only ones the refs were interested in calling. Christian Ehrhoff also received a rare minus on that goal but was able to get back to even before the night was over.
Other than O’Brien the top four played pretty well despite giving up 40 shots. Alex Edler may have had his most gritty effort of his career playing 32:16. For those mathematically challenged, that is mere seconds away from playing half the game. Likewise, Christian Ehrohoff played 32:20. In a game as physical as this one was, these guys should be commended for their efforts. Willie Mitchell wasn’t quite as dominate as he normally is in the shutdown role as Iginla and Jokinen both had a number of great scoring chances but was still respectable in his 27:33.
In their Canucks debuts, Brad Lukowich and Evan Oberg weren’t too spectacular. Lukowich was noticeable a few times out there and played physical when the opportunity presented itself. I thought he was caught out of position a few times but I suppose that is to be expected for someone playing their first NHL game of the year. He ended up playing 12:47 which is significantly less than the top four. Oberg was seldom used and while playing so little can’t be good for his development you can’t blame Vigneault for not having the confidence to go with him. Like Lukowich, I thought he was caught out of position a few times and was physically overmatched. He was most active in the first period where he received 4 shifts compared to just 2 each in the final two periods.
One thing you can say about the Canucks offense is that they are at least making the most of their opportunities without getting that many shots on goal. The first goal tonight featured some great work down low by Mason Raymond. He was able to use his speed to help shield the puck from Robyn Regehr and find Samuelsson shockingly wide open in the slot. McGratton definitely blew coverage on that play but thats what happens when you get the fourth line against the Canucks second line.
On the second goal it showed exactly why the Sedin’s as so good together. Henrik just knew that Daniel was going to be coming behind him and was able to get the saucer pass over the stick of the Flames defender and over to Daniel. It’s not so much the play itself that impresses me, but the fact that Henrik had the confidence to make that pass when he was on a partial breakaway. Unfortunately for Vancouver the lead didn’t hold up that long.
On the Flames second goal, it wasn’t much more than a fluke play. The puck was redirected about three times including the final one off the stick of Willie Mitchell. Luongo can sometimes come up with those but that one managed to slip through his pads and in. It was unfortunate that the Canucks couldn’t come away with two points on a goal like that because Luongo was playing absolutely fantastic tonight. Without him playing so well they would have been out of it well before the shootout. It’s hard to single out just one or two saves that he made that were game changers because they all started to blend together. There were definitely a couple where he moved from post to post that really impressed me. Kiprusoff had a few of those as well. He didn’t see a lot of shot but the ones that we did we pretty good quality.
Of course Kiprusoff also had to deal with a green laser pointer from a fan tonight. Part of me finds it funny but in the end I realize it was pretty classless by that one particular fan. I’m not sure how long it actually went on for because I couldn’t see it from the upper bowl at the game and didn’t know it happened until I heard about it on the radio. I did see a fan shining a bright white light in the third period but I don’t believe he was kicked out. Anyway, this didn’t really have any effect on the outcome of the game but I wonder what Flames fans will do next time Vancouver is in Calgary. We’ll have to wait awhile since they don’t have another game scheduled this season.
I also can’t leave out the fights from Rypien and Prust. I think we all knew that these two were going to drop the gloves at some point tonight. They gave us not just one but two great bouts. Rypien absolutely destroyed Prust in the first two fights between the two but tonight Prust held in there pretty well. I’d say the first fight was probably a draw. Rypien seemed to have the upper hand in the beginning and the end, but Prust really came on in the middle part after Rypien fell and got back up. The second meeting, the homer in me wants to give it to Rypien. The people at hockeyfights.com would side with me on that so I must be right!
Now here’s the part that is going to seem like a rant. I thought the officiating tonight was horrendous. I get the whole “let the teams play” thing because after all I did grow up in the 90s, but there was also so much inconsistency in the games and non-calls. It’s the biggest thing as a fan and player that bothers me. Just be consistent. Case in point, Tanner Glass got hammered from behind by Bourque which was a blown call no matter how you look at it and then Glass makes the same hit two minutes later and goes to the box. There were other examples that I don’t really want to go into detail about, but I will say that Bill McCreary should have realized whos payroll his father was on (haha?). For the record, McCreary and Stephen Walkom are supposed to be two of the best refs in the league. I didn’t see it tonight. I’ll admit that the better team won the game but the refs have to be better. I don’t get why the league mandates every tap get called a hooking penalty while guys can be hit from behind into the boards with no call all the time. It seems silly.
