Game in Review: Canucks at Sharks, R1G3, May 5/13

As the Canucks touched down in San Jose, it was announced Cory Schneider would be in net for game 3. Not that Luongo has played badly, quite the contrary in fact, but the fanbase seems to be a little more comfortable with Schneider in net. The Sharks were a tough team to play in San Jose this season, losing only 2 games in regulation with the home ice advantage. Vancouver will need all 4 lines working in top form in order to pull off a win tonight.

 In what can only be described as a 'clinging to hope,' AV placed Burrows with the Sedins once again. Hansen was bumped to line 2 with Higgins and Kesler, while Kassian and Raymond were the wingmen for Roy. Ebbett was scratched in favor of Sestito, who played with Lapierre and Weise on the fourth. The ever reliable defensive pairing of Hamhuis and Garrison stayed together, but Edler and Corrado were placed with each other on the second. Bieksa was stuck with clean up duty, manning the third and final defense pairing with Alberts.

It was a slow start in terms of scoring chances, but there was plenty of speed, and even more of the ruff stuff. It took 5 and a half minutes to get the first shot of the game, but the chances just blew up after that. After Sestito and Burish took roughing penalties against each other, Marleau elbowed Kesler in the head, resulting in a 4 on 3 powerplay. Only 1 shot on the 4 on 3, but the chances were there. It was at this point things got especially violent. Any place the puck slowed just a little, there was a pile of players all trying to kill each other.

Unfortunately, Weise received a well deserved roughing penalty in one of those scrums. Even worse, Hamhuis took a slashing penalty just 30 seconds into Weises penalty, resulting in a 5 on 3 powerplay. With less than 30 seconds left on an almost successful kill, the Sharks struck. After getting set up for the first time, they began closing in. In quick succession, the puck went from Thornton to Couture to Pavelski, who caught Schneider on his belly. End of the first period, 1-0 Sharks, shots 14-13 for the Canucks. Hits 14-12 for the Canucks.

For whatever reason, both teams came out rather flat in the second. Asides from an early canucks penalty kill, it was almost... boring for 5 minutes. Then: probably the weirdest goal I've seen in a long time. After a San Jose clear, the Canucks were casually skating back into their own zone after the puck. Wingels beat the defense to the puck, and took a weak shot from the blueline. Pavelski had gotten to the front of the net by then, and tipped it between Schneiders legs. 2-0 with 12 minutes to play, and the Sharks putting serious pressure on. 

And then the Sedins broke through. After Daniel won a puck battle against the benches, he hit brother Henrik with a perfect cross ice pass. Henrik moved into the zone, evaded the defense, and gave a speedy Burrows a well timed pass. Burrows one timed it past a stunned Niemi, and the Canucks were on the board with 9 and a bit left in the middle frame. As the period was ending, Thornton busted past the Canucks defense on a breakaway. Before he could get to Schneider, the speedy Hansen caught up and knocked him down. Hansen was called for cross checking, and the period ended with 1:30 left on the man advantage. 2-1 Sharks, shots 23-22, also in favor of the Sharks.

After killing off most of the Hansen penalty, San Jose had one last rush with the man advantage. As Couture came down the right wing, he released a weak shot from the right wing that somehow beat Schneider 5 hole. Just seconds later, Marleau cut down the middle of the ice with no coverage, and beat Schneider 5 hole as he fell. Those two goals, just nine seconds apart, looked to be the final nails in the coffin for this game. But no, they weren't. The final nail was the Couture goal a few minutes later on the powerplay. If you're still interested at this point, Schneider was pulled and Luongo was given the final 16 minutes.

Nothing super exciting happened in the final minutes. With less than 7 minutes left, Hamhuis took a pass off the sideboards and rocketed a wrister past Niemi. Game over, 5-2 Sharks.

Tidbits:

 - PP: Good cycling, plenty of zone time, but not enough shots.

 - PK: Didn't let Sharks get set up. Either stopped them at the blueline or hammered it down the ice. Very inconsiderate.

 - Sestito: Actually had an alright game. Got in the Sharks players faces when he needed too, played smart hockey.

 - Bieksa: Speculation is that he's injured. But seeing as he was playing in the final few minutes of a blowout game, he's either fine or AV's being an idiot. Why not both?

Not trying to jump on the 'anti-AV' bandwagon again, but, eh screw it. The man can't get his lines straight to save his life, never mind his job. Players who have shown incredible chemistry are denied being on the same line together. Lines that worked before, but haven't in over a year, are given the go ahead. Same with whoever runs the defense, and the powerplay. They've been running the same plays unsuccessfully for years, and it's time for a change.

As for the Luongo haters: You had this coming.

I'm not giving up hope, not yet. While it seems unlikely, especially with the way they've played, the Canucks can still pull a few wins, or possibly a reverse sweep, out of this series.