Game in Review: Canucks 4 - Wild 1

     And the goaltending controversy somehow gets bigger. Who plays next? Schneider didn't have to be great in this game, but he played well enough to show he belongs in the #1 spot. More on that a little later. The first started off a little slow, with no shots for either side 3 minutes in,  until a Vancouver powerplay generated a few.

     7 minutes in, the shots were 7-1 Vancouver as the domination began. Weise dropped the gloves with Konopka early on, and it dragged on for a while before the pair exhausted themselves.Just around the 10 minute mark of the first, Burrows cut  to the net and left a juicy rebound for Daniel Sedin, who buried it. Daniel had been covered by  both Parise and Koivu, but neither checked Sedin's stick, which was way out in front of him. 5 minutes later, Higgins made it 2-0 with his first of the season on the powerplay. It came when Lappiere took a pass just above the faceoff circle from Garrison, and fired it at the net. Higgins stuck his stick in front and redirected it 5 hole on Backstrom.

     After a few powerplays, hits, and some end to end action we find ourselves at the end of the 2nd period. Schroeder's line circled Backstrom like sharks, and looked sharp in doing so. After Garrisons shot from the point bounced towards the corner, Schroeder dove and scooped the puck right to Raymond, who sniped it top shelf. Somehow, Schroeder did not get an assist on the goal. A minute and 35 seconds later, Raymond banked the puck off the boards and dropped it right into Hansen's glove, who was past the defense. Hansen dropped it onto his stick and snapped it top corner on Backstrom to make it 4-0.

     Josh Harding replaced Backstrom in goal for the 3rd, after Backstrom had let in 4 goals on 16 shots. Weise and Konopka dropped the gloves again in the 3rd, but Weise was reluctant to go. Konopka dropped his gloves and hung onto Weise until he dropped his too. Konopka got 5 for fighting, 2 for instigating and 10 for 'inciting,' no different than instigating. A little while later, Gilbert made it 4-1 on the powerplay. Gilbert was fed a beautiful pass just above the faceoff circles, and buried it on a nice slapper as he was left all alone. Schneider got over and almost made the stop, but couldn't stop it on such a close shot. After trading a few more penalties, the game ended. 4-1 final.


So onto the goaltender controversy. I'm going to remain neutral, and just state what I see. Luongo has played terrible in Minnesota, losing his last 3 straight. But he's done well against them at home, so it seems like just a coincidence. Luongo deserved to play this game because he had played so well the last few, and was on quite a hot streak. On the other hand, AV has stated that Schneider is his #1, and the starter should start the majority of the games. But back to the other hand, goalies tire out quickly. Why would you exhaust Schneider? Why not play Luongo as much as possible, to save Schneider for the more important games later on in the season?

Tidbits:

 - Minnesota players were actually boo'ed by their fans after the the periods
 - Schroeder demonstrated a few times he's not afraid to cut to the net, or cut off players
on the way to his net.
 - Schneider is still stone handed when it comes to handling the puck. Almost gave the puck away after bobbling it in his feet towards the end of the third.
  - Minnesota actually outhit Vancouver 23-11, and out shot them 23-22.
 - Powerplay: Meh, went 1/6 but had trouble crossing the blue line and frequently coughed up the puck.
 - Penalty Kill: Again, not as great as it has been. Still playing the collapse around the net, but when it fails it leads to an easy open man. Take a look at Gilbert's goal tonight, he was wide open 25 feet from Schneider.