After the first 10 minutes of this game, I assumed a 5-1 Ducks victory. The Canucks defense was so porous that the Ducks basically walked in and rammed into Schneider. That changed after Aaron Volpatti dropped the gloves against Matt Beleskey, and Beleskey ended upon his knees looking up at Volpatti's fist. Later on, Daniel Sedin finished off a great passing play on a 5 on 3 powerplay by tucking the puck past Hiller to make it 1-0. After that, the defense tightened up and Anaheim started taking stupid penalties. Raymond batted his own rebound out of mid air late in the first on the powerplay to make it 2-0, and things only got better.
Volpatti picked up a loose puck in the 2nd and buried it to extend the lead. Kassian finished off a Sedin passing cycle with a nice shot over Hiller's pad on the PP to make it 4-0. Beleskey, still mad about beaten by Volpatti, came back and duked it out with Bieksa in the 3rd. Also received a penalty for attempting to do the same thing with Hamhuis. Ballard got his can kicked minutes later, against Perry, as the Ducks got progressively madder as the game went on. Schroeder earned his first career point, after feeding a great cross ice pass to Raymond, who buried it under the cross bar with 4 and a half minutes left. Through all of this, Schneider stood tall and made save after save on goal worthy attempts.
After a rough start to the season, the Canucks finally seem to have their feet under them. All 4 lines are clicking, and turning into a well oiled machine. The powerplay went 3/9, and proved to be effective enough to keep us on our feet early in the game. Schneider's 30 save performance earned him his 5th career shutout, and he truly deserved it.
Tidbits:
- Malhotra was a healthy scratch, his wife gave birth earlier in the week. Ebbett took his place on the 4th line.
- Weise can't keep his head up to save his life, but it drew a penalty.
- The Canucks powerplay was still insistent on performing the back pass in the neutral zone. IT FOOLS NOBODY.
- Mason Raymond seems to be slowly getting over his fear of going into corners and crashing the net (Caused by his broken back sustained in the Cup Finals a few years ago). He crashed the net a few times, drawing a penalty once and scoring on another.
- Ballard is becoming an anchor for the 3rd defensive pair. Solid play in his own end, seems to be reading plays well. Also came to the defense of Edler in the 2nd when Perry tried to fight him.
- Canucks PK seems to be content to collapse back around the net, letting the passes roll around the outside and the Ducks take the point shots. Plenty of blocks.
- Schneider still stick handles like an elephant in handcuffs, should be kept on a leash. Almost gave the puck away behind the net.
- Burrows was given a penalty shot in the 2nd, but bobbled it and failed. 0/4 in his career.
- Kassian almost made a beautiful no look pass to Daniel Sedin, but it was picked off. Showing great chemistry on the 1st line.
- The Canucks looked very mature, didn't react to cross checks or shoves, and were rewarded with a whole bunch of powerplays..
- Late 3rd period powerplay group turned into Lapierre, Weise and Volpatti.
The Canucks play on Sunday in San Jose, then Monday in Los Angeles. San Jose is a perfect 3-0-0 this season, and LA hasn't won a game since hoisting the cup.
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