You probably already knew this, but there was an NHL team in Vancouver before the Canucks. The Vancouver Millionaires came into the league in 1912, and won Vancouver's only cup in 1915. In honor of 100 years of pro hockey in BC, the Canucks wore the ugliest maroon/white jerseys, which I wrote about some time ago. Notice how no one is smiling in any of those photos? These jerseys would get you bullied in hockey school.
Kassian was out with an injured back, so Sestito was in. He played on the 4th, and Weise was bumped up to the 3rd line with Higgins and Booth. Vancouver was looking to bury the bad memory of a recent 8-3 loss to Detroit, and came out strong.
Just off the opening faceoff, Daniel Sedin broke the Detroit line and passed to Burrows, who one timed it past Howard and in. Past that Burrows was on fire, moving through the Detroit defense like they were standing still. All seemed well, until Detroit lucked out 6 minutes in. Datsyuk cut down the right wing, pushed away from Hamhuis, and threw the puck to the net. Abdelkader was in front of the net, battling with Garrison, and the puck went off his skate and in. For once, a terrible goal didn't come at the expense of Bieksa.
Minutes later, on a delayed call, Burrows almost got his 2nd of the evening. Henrik rounded the net and tossed the puck crease to Burrows, whose wrister was labeled top shelf, but was somehow stopped by Howard. Late in the first, Booth was taken down in the corner. He took a while to get up, and when he did, he skated gingerly back to the bench. Judging by the way he held his leg up, it was either a skate problem or ankle injury. Other than that, the first was a great period for Vancouver. The passing was there, everyone was in position, they just had a few unlucky bounces.
Booth wasn't on the ice to start the 2nd, and it was revealed that he wouldn't return to the game. Early on, Bieksa put the Canucks on the powerplay, and they looked ridiculously dangerous. They might've scored, but Burrows took a high sticking penalty in the final minute of the man advantage. Moments later, Lappiere took a tripping penalty, giving Detroit a 5 on 3. The Canucks didn't just hold the Wings off, they didn't allow them a single shot. Burrows had a great short handed breakaway, but bobbled the puck.
6 left in the 2nd, and Detroit took the lead. A passing flurry involving Datsyuk, Franzen and Zetterrberg ended in Zetterberg burying the puck out front. Moments later, Hansen sprung past the Detroit defense and was hauled down, penalty shot. After deking Howard just out of position, Hansen's wrist shot hit the post.
Wings up 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Almost off the puck drop, the Canucks fell apart. With Vancouver's forwards off in la-la land, Detroit's veterans were left to pick apart the defense. Filppula shot a perfect cross ice pass on the rush to Zetterberg, whose shot beat Luongo going the wrong way. From there, the Canucks literally just gave the puck to the Wings. 6 minutes in, Cleary's shot beat a screened Luongo on the rush, 4-1 Wings. All hope seemed lost. Then, a 5 on 3 with 8 minutes left in the game. Ah wait, I forgot. This is the cursed Canucks powerplay. Nothing on it, and then Detroit scored again. Another lucky bounce, this time off Adbelkader's chest and into the net.
Burrows potted his second of the night, backhanded off of a rebound, late in the third. It didn't matter, because with only a few minutes left on the clock, there was no chance of a come back. Game over 5-2 Wings.
Tidbits:
- PP: 0/5. Honestly not all that bad, seemed like it had it mostly together from the first attempt. Got Garrison's point shot off a few times.
- PK: 2/3. Killed off a 5 on 3, but was picked apart on the third one.
- Bieksa: Looked a heck of a lot better than Thursday night, was joining rushes, and didn't turn the puck over. Drew a penalty or two.
- Burrows game opening goal was just 6 seconds in, and is now the club record for fastest goal. Previous was held by Trevor Linden, 9 seconds. Fastest opening goal in NHL was 5 seconds.
After the first period, it seemed like the Canucks, well... Gave up? No chance they're tired, playing the last few games at home, with a days break in between. So what happened? I've decided this post is too long, so i'm gonna write my "WTF Happened" post tomorrow afternoon.
Next game is Monday against the Wild at 7.
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